ZUNDERT - The best year of Dick Jaspers long career was closed with a fitting final in Zundert this Sunday. The Brabant world champion won the Christmas tournament, cheered by his own crowd. The final match between two world class players was won by 2018's best player, Dick Jaspers. Jaspers defeated Frédéric Caudron 6-3 in sets. Peter Ceulemans was the number three on the podium.
When the final could go either way at 3-3 during the stop, Jaspers showed why he is number one this year. Three sets later, with scores of 9-1, 9-1 and 9-0 (27-2 in total), the Dutchman had impressed his opponent, Frederic Caudron. The Christmas tournament finished with a Dutchman on top, for the first time in seven years. Jaspers won his three matches in the group stage against Peter Ceulemans, Eddy Merckx and Gerwin Valentijn, beat Roland Forthomme in the semi-finals and in the final Frédéric Caudron. Jaspers won the tournament two times before in 1987 and again in 1996. After that, he often preferred a short holiday in these last days of the year over participation in the Christmas tournament.
The short sets, with an ultra-short time clock of 30 seconds, seemed more in favour of the faster players from the circuit. But Jaspers can change everything into gold this year, regardless of the system or the tournament. In the final score, the world champion topped the ranking with the maximum match points, won the most sets by far (23) and played the best general average with 2.287.
The tournament was given a Belgian-inspired final round, even after the unexpected elimination of Eddy Merckx and Eddy Leppens.
The final ranking (match points, won sets, average)
1 Dick Jaspers 10-23-2.287
2 Frédéric Caudron 6-14-1.951
3 Peter Ceulemans 4-10-1.800
4 Roland Forthomme 4-10-1.646
5 Eddy Merckx 2-9-1.871
6 Barry van Beers 2-8-1.311
7 Eddy Leppens 2-7-1.370
8 Gerwin Valentijn 0-4-1.292
