LIER - The Belgian league for teams reached the 14th round this week, in which one match still has to be played. Mister 100 won the encounter with De Witte Molen 6-2 and is the leading team 3 points ahead of Den Eik's team, 8 points ahead of the reigning champion Op de Meir and Herstalien, that still has to play a match against Bruges. Mister 100, with Peter, Kurt and Bart Ceulemans and Jerry Hermans, has an excellent season. The title was lost in last competition to Op de Meir on the last day. The Ceulemans team is now well on its way to the championship for the Mister 100 team, in which the all-time champion, Raymond Ceulemans (father and grandfather of the three players in the team) was one of the regulars for many years.
The pursuers, however, are still in the race. Den Eik partly due to the 7-1 win that the team with Jean van Erp as leader (Eddy Merckx plays in Korea) achieved against KBC Kortrijk this week. Op de Meir made a half misstep against Mr. 100 Lier 2, Herstalien can still take the number 3 position on Friday evening if it beats Brugse.
For the leader, Peter Ceulemans won this week in the match against De Witte Molen 40-28 in 20 innings against Tom Löwe. Kurt Ceulemans defeated Francis Forton 40-25 in 24, Bart Ceulemans beat Ad Broeders 40-38 in 33. Only Jerry Hermans had to leave the win to the opponent: loss against Dirk Weeremans 40-25 in 38.
In the match between Den Eik and Kortrijk, Jean van Erp, Davy van Havere and Ludo Dielis were the winners against Ronny Brants (40-31 in 25), Martin Ravestyn (40-31 in 26) and Frédéric Beghin (40-38 in 45 ). Richard Bitalis and Philippe Vandendriessche played a draw in 34 innings.
Mister 100 2, the second team of the leader, did a good job for the main force by keeping Op de Meir on a draw. Paul Bruijstens won against Jef Philipoom 40-32 in 31, Erwin Hens against Ivan Stitschinsky 40-35 in 46. For Op de Meir, the Dutchmen Barry van Beers and Roland Uijtdewilligen were winners in 23 and 28 innings against Marc Celen and Leslie van Neyen.
Billiard Promotion and TBA Biljartpalace also shared the points, with Kay de Zwart's striking win over Jean Paul de Bruijn: 40-27 in 25. Danny Geysen and Marc Janssen won for the home team against Frank Martens and Eric Hendrickx.
De Leug was the better team in the match against Biljart Express (6-2) where Guy van Litsenborg was the only winner for the Express team. Huub Wilkowski benefited from a bad start by Martin Spoormans and won 40-23 in 24. Gerwin Valentijn started well with 5 and 6, was leading 15-3 in 5, but then missed some good positions, allowing Wesley de Jaeger to the right moment made an 11 and win the match: 40-30 in 2. Pierre Soumagne won thanks to a run of 12 against Frans van Kuyk: 40-28 in 27. Biljart Express is the opponent of Mister 100 next Monday.
The standings after 14 rounds:
1 Mister 100 14-23
2 Den Eik 14-20
3 Herstal 13-17
4 Op the Meir 14-15
5 De Leug 14-15
6 Biljart Express 14-15
7 De Witte Molen 14-12
8 Kortrijk 14-11
9 Promotion Team 14-11
10 Bruges 13-11
11 Mister 100 2 14-9
12 Billiard Palace 14-7.