PORTO – The French team from Soissons (Caudron/Bury) and the Turkish team from Göztepe (Tasdemir/Kiraz/Karakurt) are hunting for gold in the European Cup for club teams in Porto. In the final round, the semi-finals, they will face two seasoned and strong opponents: defending champions Varde BK and organizers FC Porto. For Soissons and Göztepe, qualification was a pretty easy, while Varde BK and FC Porto had to fight until the last carom for a place at the final podium.
Göztepe and Soissons finished with the maximum match points. FC Porto took second place on Saturday evening with a win over Cues&Darts (8-0), while Varde BK secured an important win against Team Eekhoorn. That meant elimination for the two Dutch teams.
Soissons will play Varde BK in the semi-finals at 9.30 Portuguese time, while Göztepe will play FC Porto at 11.30. The final between the winners will be at 16.30.
Soissons remained undefeated on Saturday with three players in the group with three opponents. Frédéric Caudron, Jérémy Bury and Mikaël Devogelaere achieved maximum wins. Caudron did so with the best average of the entire field: 40 in 18, 19 and 21 turns, averaging 2.068. Jérémy Bury won in 31, 23 and 21, good for an average of 1.600.
The best games in the preliminary round of the semi-finals came from Dick Jaspers (40 in 15), Frédéric Caudron (40 in 18, 19 and 21), Frans van Kuyk and Jerry Hermans (40 in 18), Eddy Merckx and Peter Ceulemans (40 in 20), Marco Zanetti and Tarik Yavuz (40 in 21).
The overview of Group A and Group B in the penultimate phase:
Group A:
For the final session, Göztepe Spor is unbeatable with 4 match points from 2 despite two notable losses by Tayfun Tasdemir. The Turkish team is the very best thanks to Tolgahan Kiraz, Berkay Karakurt and Tarik Yavuz. Göztepe's final match against Varde is only important for the Danes' second place at that moment. The reigning champion, Varde, has three points out of two due to the draw against Team Eekhoorn. The Dutch have 1 match point and, in the best-case scenario, can equal Varde by winning against Andernos (which has been eliminated) if the Danes lose to Götzepe.
The outcome is exciting until the very end: at one moment, Frans van Kuyk for Eekhoorn leads 37-9 against Gwendal Maréchal and Jerry Hermans leads 31-13 against Jérôme Barbeillon. And in the interim results, Varde is not doing so well against Göztepe, as Jean Paul de Bruijn, Dion Nelin and Allan Schröder are in danger of losing.
Eekhoorn's fate is first and foremost in the hands of Peter Ceulemans, after Van Kuyk and Hermans have won their matches against Maréchal and Barbeillon 40-15 in 18 and 40-20 in 18. However, Ceulemans is defeated by Forthomme 40-35 in 22, ending Eekhoorn's adventure.
Tarik Yavuz is the only one with the maximum match points in the group. Berkay Karakurt gets 5 match points from three thanks to his draw against Dion Nelin. Eddy Merckx only loses his last match to Tasdemir 40-35 in 25. Jean Paul de Bruijn decides Varde's place in the semi-finals: after two very mediocre matches, the Dutchman is the winner against Kiraz, causing Varde to lose 5-3. And because Eekhoorn does not get beyond 4-4 against Andernos, Göztepe Spor and Varde BK are the semi-finalists.
The final standings in Group A (match points, game points, average, series):
1 Göztepe Spor 6-17-1.364-11
2 Varde BK 3-13-1.348-9
3 Eekhoorn 2-10-1.489-10
4 Andernos 1-8-1.306-9
Group B:
The only match that counts in the last round is that from FC Porto against Cues&Darts. The leader after two rounds, Soissons, has earned 4 match points against Porto and Cues&Darts and is therefore out of reach. FC Porto and Cues&Darts are playing for the victory and second place, which entitles them to a place in the semi-finals.
Frédéric Caudron is by far the best player after two rounds, with victories of 40 in 18 and 19 innings. Jérémy Bury also has the maximum match points in the French top team, which is heading for a logical victory against Mister 100.
All attention is on FC Porto against Cues&Darts, in which the Dutch must win to advance and the organizer only needs a draw.
Dick Jaspers takes a quick lead against Jef Philipoom, who looks exhausted in his last games after ten long days. Jaspers takes a 22-10 lead in 12 and wins after a run of 10 with 40-14 in 15, the best game of the day.
FC Porto needs to win one more match in this phase. Manuel Rui Costa seems to be doing just that, with a lead over Huub Wilkowski. Jose Miguel Soares is also putting his team in a favorable position. With the score at 14-14 against Therese Klompenhouwer, the young Portuguese player scores a run of 12, bringing the score to 26-14.
Caudron, Bury and Devogelaere are the players with the maximum score for Soissons. Jose Miguel Soares is the big earner for FC Porto, where Dick Jaspers only loses to Caudron. Cues&Darts loses its chances because Klompenhouwer loses three times out of three and Philipoom, Wilkowski and De Kok lose twice in three matches.
Soissons and FC Porto are heading to the final round for the battle for European gold without any real threat.
The final standings in Group B:
1 Soissons 6-20-1,430-9
2 FC Porto 4-16-1,351-12
3 Cues&Darts 2-5-1,041-7
4 Mister 100 0-3-0,825-6
Dick Jaspers, the leading player in the Porto team, scored the best match
Berkay Karakurt