HERSTAL - The leading position of Herstalien, which has won four matches with Roland Forthomme as its leading player, has been taken away by the Belgian federation: a two points penalty deduction has been given due to an administrative mistake. Pierre Soumagne was not yet allowed as a player in the first match in Kortrijk, as the Frenchman had not yet been officially registered. Therefore, the federation converted the 8-0 win over Herstal into an 8-0 loss. According to Louis Masson, the sporting director, Herstalien did not appeal the penalty.
The lead is now taken after four rounds of play by Driebanden Club De Leug with 7 match points ahead of Mister 100 and Herstal with 6 points out of four games. The new frontrunner, De Leug, won 6-2 over De Witte Molen this week. Mister 100 beat BC T's Place 8-0, Herstal won the away match against Op de Meir 6-2.
Louis Masson said about the penalty handed out: "We had not received a registration of Pierre Soumagne in the Herstalien team, which therefore entered that first match with an illegal player. The registration happened afterwards, but for that first match we unfortunately had to convert the win into a loss.'' In that match, Pierre Soumagne won his match against Martin Ravestyn 40-21.
At De Leug’s team, which thus won 6-2 against De Witte Molen, Jeffrey Jorissen was the standout with an exceptional match against Frédéric Mottet. The Dutchman won 40-5 in 15 innings, 2.666 for Jorissen, 0.333 for Mottet. Jorissen even played out the 40 in 11 innings in a Dutch Grand Prix this week, showing wonderful form. For De Leug, Davy van Havere and Mik Durwael scored wins in 19 and 39 innings, with only Therese Klompenhouwer losing to Ad Broeders 40-31 in 25.
Herstalien continued to win despite the setback: the team beat Op de Meir 6-2 and again Forthomme was best man. The leader defeated Jef Philipoom 40-27 in 20 innings. The other winners were Pierre Soumagne and Dany Boutet in 26 and 24 innings against Dutchmen Barry van Beers and Roland Uijtdewillegen.
Mister 100 took the full win against T's Place with a fine win by Peter Ceulemans against Peter De Backer with 40-35 in 24 innings. Kurt Ceulemans was the best man at Mister 1000 with a win in only 17 innings against Freddy Staelens (40-17). Jerry Hermans and Bart Ceulemans won in 42 and 30 innings.
BC De Ploeg was beaten at home by De Leug 2 5-3, partly due to a strong game by Johan Loncelle against Dustin Jäschke (40-25 in 24). Joey de Kok (De Ploeg) was just the better of Frans van Schaik 40-39 in 31 innings.
Royal Bruges showed its best side with an 8-0 victory over Billiard Promotion Team. Steven van Acker beat Jean Paul de Bruijn in a game of two Dutch teammates 40-35 in 28 innings. Henk Blauwblomme won 40-39 in 39 from Kay de Zwart. Koen Saver and Bart Leys were the other winners for Brugge.
Jeffrey Jorissen, a 40-5 win in 15 innings in Belgium