ALBERT - The match itself between Albert and Andernos counted only for the position in the French regular team competition: who became 1 and who became 2. For the prestige, the match between Peter Ceulemans and Marco Zanetti was particularly important. The Belgian took a fantastic victory over the European champion winning 40-21 in 16 innings.
There was little else at stake on the last day of the championship in Group B, because the two teams that qualified for the French final were already known. They faced each other in the arena of the 2nd ranked team in the competition: Albert.
Peter Ceulemans delivered a sublime performance by beating Marco Zanetti in an ultra-short match with a riant score: 40-21 in 16 and runs of 7, 8, 8 and 10! He is the only one to win for Albert's home team. Andernos won the other three matches of this 6th day 6-2, allowing the team to consolidate its No 1 position in the group with 11 points (5 wins and a draw). Roland Forthomme defeated Cedric Melnytschenko 40-26 in 26, Jérôme Barbeillon won his match against Thierry Roxo 40-32 in 39 and Léo Dubernet (replacement for Gwendal Maréchal) dominated Olivier Jonard 40-36 in 44. It was the first defeat for the Albert team this season.
In Laxou, without their leader Torbjörn Blomdahl, who had to undergo groin surgery, the quartet Philipoom-Van Erp-Panaia-Le Roy won 6-2 against Gravelines with a team average of 1.457 against 1.336 for the northerners. The best game was played by Dutchman Jean van Erp against Martin Ravestyn 40-34 in 22, followed by Maxime Panaia against Frédéric Beghin 40-33 in 25 and Jef Philipoom against Philippe Vandendriessche 40-36 in 28. Only Xavier Le Roy lost to Frederic Roelants 36-40 in 32.
The rankings in this group (match points, individual, average, highest series):
1 Andernos 11-38-1,310-16
2 Albert 7-30-1,201-13
3 Laxou 5-20-1,290-10
4 Gravelines 1-8-0,988-14
The teams Laxou and Gravelines of which Laxou remains in the highest league