SIEBENGEWALD - The title was for Raymund Swertz, the cup went up and the kids celebrated the success with him on the podium. 34-year-old Limburg all-round player took his second title this year at the Dutch championship balk-line 71/2, his 16th championship in total in the premier class. He defeated a surprising opponent in the final match: Germ Bot, the 10-year-older North Holland player from Horna, 200-156 in 8 innings. For Germ Bot this was only the second time on a national podium in the premier class: in 2014 he finished 3rd in 71/2 following Michel van Silfhout and Raymund Swertz. In Sunday's final, he still led 115-64, but Swertz finished after runs of 98 and 32 to the finish line.
On the podium, Raymund Swertz's two children, Yara and Melle, jumped like two routines to join in celebrating the champion’s success. Yara was so happy about it that she took the medal to school on Monday. ''They are two fantastic children,'' Swertz said later. ''The family is complete now, both healthy, what should we want more.''
Swertz told about the final match: ’’It started a bit strange for me, I made mistake after mistake, therefore I had to sit down quickly four times. But Germ Bot, a real ’small player’, who can be very dangerous on the line, couldn't really take big advantage. I exploited that in the end. I did play well at this championship, but had to work hard for it. It wasn't easy. I saw all the guys struggling a bit and at the end I was able to hold on well to my game. So I was able to fight my way to the finish against a player I certainly didn't expect. I had counted to meet Van Silfhout in the battle for gold.''
Raymund Swertz finished in the preliminary rounds with four players in each group with 64.28 ahead of Matthijs Bakker, Harrie van den Boogaard and Sven Nabeurs. Germ Bot won his pool with 14.00 average, Michel van Silfhout with 30.00, Martijn Egbers ,with 14.365 and Lyon Megens with an excellent 23.52 average.
The knock-outs with eight eventually advanced to the final stage: Raymund Swertz won against Roger Schinning 200-57 in 3 (series 103), Michel van Silfhout beat Gert van Beek 200-34 in 15, Germ Bot was the better of Lyon Megens 200-166 in 11 and Martijn Egbers made it against Dennis Timmers 200-87 in 11.
The semi-final against Germ Bot and Michel van Silfhout was a thrilling battle, in which Van Silfhout scored 96 and Bot 92. The victory went to Bot 200-187 in 9. Raymund Swertz showed his high class against Dennis Timmers 200-62 in 2 innings (199 run). That brought him into the battle for gold, in which Swertz had the best final shot. Dennis Timmers won the battle for bronze against Michel van Silfhout 200-183 in 5, highest runs 132 for Timmers, 114 for Van Silfhout.
The final ranking:
1 Raymund Swertz
2 Germ Bot
3 Dennis Timmers
4 Michel van Silfhout
5 Roger Schinning 19.00
6 Lyon Megens 15.09
7 Martijn Egbers 7.90
8 Gert van Beek 4.50
