LIER – The third round in the Belgian team competition has further shaken up the top of the rankings. Mister 100 Lier and Herstalien lead the standings with six match points, ahead of T's Place with five and three teams with four match points. Peter De Backer was the best player in this third round with a victory over Frans van Kuyk: 40-24 in 15, 2.666 on average. T's Place won this match 6-2 against Biljart Express. Two other notable matches: Eddy Merckx-Glenn Hofman 40-23 in 22, Ronny Brants-Jean Paul de Bruijn 40-14 in 22.
Mister 100's lead was never really in danger in the match against Zevenbergen (6-2). Peter Ceulemans was a strong leader with 40 in 28, Kurt Ceulemans, extremely busy with the organization of his world tournaments, had an off-day against Tom Persyn: 40-14 in 25. Herstalien remained undefeated in the away match against De Witte Molen (8-0). Roland Forthomme won his match against Johan Loncelle 40-35 in 28, while Thomas Broux was just a little in trouble with Francis Forton: 40-39 in 34.
T's Place more or less surprisingly kept Biljart Express in its grip with Peter De Backer, Steven van Acker, and Huub Wilkowski as winners against Frans van Kuyk, Gerwin Valentijn, and Martin Spoormans. The winners achieved an excellent average: apart from Hofman's loss, De Backer finished with 2.666 and Steven van Acker and Huub Wilkowski with 2 on average.
Op de Meir had a kind of walkover against De Ploeg with victories for Jef Philipoom, Barry van Beers, Roland Uijtdewillegen, and Wesley de Jaeger. Philipoom and Uijtdewillegen were the best winners in 30 and 31. Stef van Hees came closest against Barry van Beers: 40-39.
Koninklijke Brugse also kept their opponents' scoreboard at zero: Mister 100 2 was defeated 8-0. The most excitement was seen in the match between Koen Saver and Marc Celen: Saver won 40-39.
Koninklijke Kortrijkse held De Leug to 4-4, thanks in part to an excellent Ronny Brants. The other Kortrijk winner was Martin Ravestyn against Davy van Havere with 40-24 in 24. Jeffrey Jorissen won for De Leug against Philippe Vandendriessche 40-27 in 22.
The standings after three rounds:
- Mister 100 3-6-1,137
- BC Herstalien 3-6-1,345
- T's Place 3-5-1,276
- BC Op de Meir 3-4-1,352
- Biljart Express 3-4-1,373
- Kon. Brugse 3-4-1,055
- DBC De Leug 3-2-1.098
- BC Zevenbergen 3-2-1.002
- De Witte Molen 3-2-1.005
- Kon. Kortrijkse 3-1-1.042
- BC De Ploeg 3-0-0.980
- Mister 100 2 3-0-0.918
Ronny Brants, winning match against `Jean Paul de Bruijn