ZOERSEL - 25-year-old Stef van Hees from Turnhout has prolonged his title as best Belgian junior under 25. In De Ploeg, the billiard centre in Zoersel, the eldest of two billiard brothers triumphed in the Belgian three-cushion championship on Sunday. He finished ahead of his younger brother Kevin (22), against whom, in the mutual match, he lost in 30-29 in 38 innings. Kevin in turn lost to Nick Rosier and finished second on average.
The 1.80 m tall Stef van Hees, preventive advisor by profession, did not play the best tournament of his career. Earlier in the season, he was one of the better players at the European Championship for players under 25 where he finished on the podium.Stef van Hees won his 31st Belgian title in various disciplines. He confessed: ''I'm not doing so well lately, but this weekend was really disgraceful. Even a match with 0,560... To be honest, I'm not very proud of it and will be happy when the season is over. Then I can stop for a while and hopefully go for it again next season.''
It was for Stef his last year in the juniors. ''I will do my very best among Belgian's best players next year. But I was also surprised by my opponents this weekend, who have made a lot of progress. So I am sure that it will be a nice fight in the years to come.''
The four participants in the Belgian championship were Stef van Hees from KBC Biljartvrienden, Kevin van Hees from De Ploeg, Nick Rosier from BC Sleepbootje and Tim van Hoeck, also from De Ploeg. They played a full competition against each other.
The final ranking:
1 Stef van Hees 6-0.727-7
2 Kevin van Hees 6-0.635-7
3 Nick Rosier 4-0.649-5
4 Tim van Hoeck 0-0.574-4.