UDEN/OOSTERHOUT - The splitting attack came from Dave Christiani, with an acceleration similar to the one Mathieu van der Poel flew up the Poggio on Saturday in the Primavera classic. The Limburg billiard player also had a flashy attack this Sunday afternoon in the Dutch premier league at the billiard, knocking out Eddy Merckx, another cycling name. The billiard match went to the finish line in the most wonderful billiard hall in the Netherlands: Dave Christiani attacked in two innings with runs of 15 and 9 and played out two innings later: 40-23 in 13 innings. That was a scintillating highlight in the 15th round of the premier league where, due to that win by Christiani, SIS Schoonmaak had to settle for a 4-4 against Dekker/AP.
The numbers one and two in the DKM Tools league played an extremely interesting encounter with two undisputed top games. Not only Dave Christiani showed his mental flow, Barry van Beers was also extremely strong against Raimond Burgman, whom he overpowered 40-20 in 18. SIS Schoonmaak restored the balance after wins by Raymund Swertz against Gerwin Valentijn (40-24 in 33) and Martien van der Spoel against Henk Blauwblomme (40-37 in 24).
Dave Christiani analyzed the match after he himself had finished and a sensational 6-2 could come up for his team. ’’We still can beat SIS team, suppose Henk Blauwblomme can win that last game...'' Unfortunately for Dekker, that didn't happen. Martien van der Spoel drew the match. ’’I am very happy with my own match though,'' said Christiani, posing in front of the scoreboard with his son Xavi. ’’This shows again that I have grown mentally after my victory in the Grand Prix. I no longer let my head hang after a bad start. Eddy Merckx quickly ran away to 13-6, but I came back and had that wonderful flow with 15 and 9, what a great feeling.''
The long weekend, which included the 15th round of the premier league, kicked off for Peter Ceulemans and Jeffrey Jorissen in the match where they played together in the French team competition. Then, on Saturday, Jorissen travelled to Spain and Ceulemans to Germany. This Sunday, the third day in a row, they played against each other in the Dutch premier league and tomorrow, Monday, they finish the marathon both playing a match in the Belgian league. They look like professional players, although that is not quite true for Peter Ceulemans.
The match in the Dutch premier league got a break on Sunday after they both won in France, Ceulemans beat Blomdahl 40-39 in the Bundesliga on Saturday and Jorissen lost to Adrian Legazpi in Spain. And in the Netherlands, it was a super-important match. J&F Auto's (with Jorissen) was the number 8 in the premier league until Sunday, Team Eekhoorn (with Ceulemans) the number 9. It turned out to be a 6-2 victory for the home playing Team Eekhoorn. Peter Ceulemans won the match for the maximum win over Jeffrey Jorissen: the Dutchman led 17-9 after two runs of seven and 25-19 moments later, but Ceulemans seized power at 29-28 and eventually won 40-30 in 24.
The Eekhoorn success was completed by wins for Frans van Kuyk over Therese Klompenhouwer (40-22 in 18) and Jerry Hermans against Herman van Daalen (40-35 in 45). For the Hague players, only Joey de Kok won against Kurt Ceulemans 40-35 in 39.
Woonwonder, still in shared third place, made a misstep in the away match against Bousema/JBScues (6-2). The Bousema players had a better day than the opponent. Johan Loncelle won against Erwin Kivits (40-25 in 31), Frans van Schaik against Frank Martens (40-27 in 32) and Sander Jonen against Ivan Stitschinsky 40-36 in 45. Harry van de Ven was the only one to win for Woonwonder against Stefan Galla 40-33 in 35.
Dallinga and Zundert played a draw with Raymond Ceulemans, who has eternal youth, in a win against Sam van Etten: 40-39 in 33. The young North-Holland player had to score five times for a draw, but missed his last carom. Steven van Acker was 'man of the match' with a win over Francis Forton (40-21 in 22). Roland Forthomme beat his compatriot Peter De Backer 40-30 in 27.
J&F Auto's, in search of a new venue, dropped to penultimate place between two teams that played a draw against each other. Burgmans Biljarts against Post Luchtkanalen finished 4-4. The best game was by Eddy Leppens. The PBA pro won after a strong final sprint against Leslie van Neyen, who had led 15-8, 19-10 and 22-11, but was passed in the closing innings. Marc Celen pulled off a fine victory for Post Luchtkanalen over Anno de Kleine (40-29 in 34), Wilco van Wijk beat Johan Roijers 40-28 in 40.
The ranking:
1 SIS Schoonmaak 15-26
2 Dekker/AP Sprundel 15-19
3 Woonwonder 't Hartje 15-18
4 Cues&Darts 14-18
5 Topbiljart Zundert 15-17
6 Team Eekhoorn 14-14
7 Bousema/JBScues 15-14
8 Dallinga 14-13
9 Burgmans Biljarts 14-12
10 J&F Auto's/Jorissen 15-12
11 Post Luchtkanalen 15-5.
Jeffrey Jorissen and Peter Ceulemans, a marathon weekend in France, Germany, Spain, Holland and Belgium