OOSTERHOUT/LOCHEM - Jean van Erp sent a nice message from faraway Lochem: Netherlands 4 - Rest of the World 0. The player from Brabant, playing for SIS Schoonmaak from The Hague, referred to the double encounter between his all-Dutch team and Bousema Lochem, all hired guns from abroad. The Dutch won 5-3 in The Hague, 6-2 this time in Lochem. Their lead in the league is solid, a place in the play-offs is secure. HCR Prinsen is almost certainly the second team to be safe of extended league play. The chasing pack for the last spot now has a new leader: De Eekhoorn.
The 16th day of play had a wealth of quality matches. Birol Uymaz beat Thorsten Frings in 12 innings (40-20), Eddy Merckx won the classic against Frédéric Caudron in 12 (40-34) and Eddy Leppens needed just a single inning more in his drubbing of Ad Broeders (40-8 in 13). The other noteworthy facts: Peter Ceulemans shone with a high run of 18, Glenn Hofman had an astonishing lead over Murat Naci Coklu at some point (32-7), and his teammate did similar things to Wesley de Jaeger (35-10). Kurt Ceulemans finished his match against Dieter Grossjung with six consecutive runs of 2!
SIS Schoonmaak overcame a dangerous opponent in Lochem. Glenn Hofman played Murat Naci Coklu for the third time this season; he had lost 40-37 twice but made up for it today with a 40-22 in 23 win. Jeffrey Jorissen was head and shoulders too strong for de Jaeger (40-14 in 18), Jean van Erp again got the better of Martin Horn (40-26 in 22). Only Raimond Burgman lost, he could not keep up with Stefan Galla in the second half of the match: 40-30 in 23.
The winner of the day was Team Eekhoorn, with their 6-2 victory over De Veemarkt that jumps them to third position at the expense of DPC. The team from Vlaardingen recorded a disappointing 4-4 draw against the already relegated MCR. ,,Atrocious'', said team captain Danny Molier, but he was not referring to the magnificent match played by Birol Uymaz. The Turkish lead player started with 7 and 8 against Thorsten Frings, scored 26 points in the first five innings and added a run of 11 in the 11th inning: 40-20 in 12. It was not even his best match of the season: Uymaz earlier beat Capak in 8 innings. Was Molier disappointed? ,,Yes, you can certainly say that, because this is our second draw against MCR. Those two points could be costly at the end of the race. And who expects MCR to score a team average of 1.413, against our 1.476?"' The MCR winners were Sciacca against Spoormans (40-21 in 23 and Hoefnagels against Melnytsjenko (40-27 in 28).
Eddy Merckx was put on the back foot by Caudron (18-4 after 3 innings, but he found another gear before it was too late. ,,I got back as far as 33-27 and ran a 12, so a single point from the finish.'' The win gave L&B Ledermode a certain point, because John Tijssens had no trouble against Berry Dallinga, 40-18 in 25. Jean Paul de Bruijn (40-36 against Christiani) and Steven van Acker (40-38 tegen Valentijn), in 26 and 32 innings, gave the Sluiskil team their half of the cake.
HCR Prinsen was never in danger against 't Hartje/Van Wanrooy, with Leppens as the best winner in just 13 innings, Jaspers beating Frank Martens in 18 (40-19). Raymund Swert had played some brilliant balkline on Saturday and could not find his 3-cushion touch that quickly. He did beat Volkan Cetin but it took him 55 innings. Jelle Pijl got past van Cromvoirt in 33.
Best man at De Eekhoorn was Kenny Miatton, who finished with a pair of sevens against René Dericks (40-18 in 23). Frans van Kuyk was not at his best against Wilkowski (40-24 in 32) and Jerry Hermans was surprised by Erik Vijverberg (40-34 in 27). STZ Zundert won at home, with Peter Ceulemans as their best winner: 40-22 in 17 against Martien van der Spoel after a run of 18 in the 5th inning. Roland Forthomme lost to Rudolph, 40-37 in 32. Barry van Beers beat Blauwblomme 40-16 in 26, and the minimal win by Raymon Groot over Kay de Zwart )40-39 in 25) was enough to give Zundert full points.
The table after the 16th round:
1 SIS Schoonmaak 28 points
2 HCR Prinsen 25
3 Team Eekhoorn 19
4 DPC 18
5 L&B Ledermode 17
6 A1 Biljarts 16
7 STZ Zundert 16
8 Dallinga 15
9 Bousema 14
10 't Hartje 11
11 De Veemarkt 10
12 MCR 3.