LA BAULE - At a much younger age, Francis Forton was the Belgian number one player for a while. The careers of Raymond Ceulemans and Ludo Dielis were fading, and Frédéric Caudron was the rising new star. Forton, from Brussels, had won a few national ranking events in the mid-nineties, and even a World Cup (Athens 1996). It took him to the fifth place on the world ranking. But those glory days did not last all that long, for the small-statured Belgian player.
He is 55 now, and already starts to look back at his career. Once a year, most often in Hurghada, he picks a World Cup to play in. This time, he is in the French coast town of La Baule, because organizer Joel Switala has contracted him to play in the French league, second division, and as a substitute for the first division squad. On Monday he survived the first day of qualifying, as the winner in a flight with Jean Reverchon. Today, Tuesday, Forton showed how well he can still play on his good days. he first defeated Frenchman Gregory le Deventec thanks to a closing run of 11, then he got past Korean Kyung-Nam Ko, again with a decisive run of 11. His average of exactly 2.000 made him the best winner of the second day, ahead of Jose Maria Mas, Jacob Haack-Sörensen, Juan David Zapata and Dave Christiani.
Francis Forton knows all too well why his career went into a slump. ,,My first wife died in 1994, and it hurt my billiards. I was in a bad place for a while, and considered giving up billiards altogether. But I was lucky to find a new love soon, and a new lease on life. My current wife Els has given me two more sons (21 and 19 now), in addition to the son I had from my first marriage. It got me back on track, and from 1996 I played billiards with all my heart again.''
He never got back to the ranking level of his best years though. Forton made it to a few finals in Belgium, sometimes shines with good wins in the Belgian league, but his dreams are gone. ,,I was born in 1962, a great year for billiard players. Torbjörn Blomdahl, Marco Zanetti and Frans van Kuyk were also born in that year. "', he sidesteps with a smile. Technically he is still gifted, which accounts for his skill in 1-cushion. But mentally, he is no longer top notch. ,,Two years ago, I almost hit rock bottom. I had no form, no confidence, just nerves. I could have thrown my cue in the fire, that's how poorly I played. But these things happen. It got better, and I feel happy again. I am more relaxed, the nervousness is gone during my matches. I like to play well, of course, but I no longer lose any sleep over a bad match.''
Jose Maria Mas was the other strong actor on day 2 in La Baule. He first beat young Frenchman Maxim Panaia (30-26 in 20), then obliterated Dutchman Volkan Cetin (30-3 in 15). The most remarkable group winner was Adrien Tachoire. The French former junior world champion drew against his countryman Thibaut Espada (30-30 in 34). Both players won their second match, both ending on three points and with the same average (0,857). The high run had to decide who advanced, and Tachoire had made a 7, as opposed to Espada's 5.
Jacob Haack-Sörensen had 4 match points and 1.538, making him one of the best winners of the day. Jose Maria Mas was undefeated and recorded 1.714, Juan David Zapata had 1.428 and Dave Christiani 1.395.
The 16 group winners:
1 Francis Forton 4-2.000-11
2 Jose Maria Mas 4-1.714-5
3 Jacob Sörensen 4-1.538-10
4 Juan David Zapata 4-1.428-7
5 Dave Christiani 4-1.395-9
6 Savas Güngör 4-1.176-8
7 Bernard Baudoin 4-1.111-5
8 Sung Il Jeong 4-1.016-10
9 Apostolos Balogiannis 4-1.016-7
10 Xavier le Roy 4-1.016-5
11 Manol Minaoglu 4-0.984-6
12 Lars Dunch 4-0.967-5
13 Adrien Tachoire 3-0.857-7
14 Chang Hoon Seo 2-1.180-6
15 Kévin Perrotin 2-0.980-7
16 Wilco Meusen 2-0.700-5.
Jose Maria Mas was the second best finisher
Dave Christiani finished in the top five on the second day
Bernard Baudoin reached the third day after another two wins
Jacob Sörensen impressed again in his second performance
Juan David Zapata, promising start in La Baule