ZOERSEL - For the ninth time, without one break, the European ladies title went to the Netherlands with Therese Klompenhouwer. The stronghold of the queen of three cushion has never faltered in all these years. Terri's title race started three days ago in the Belgian town of Zoersel with an absurd walk-over, the final came on Sunday afternoon with a totally unexpected Danish outsider, Charlotte Sörensen. The final gold was hung around the shoulders of the only and deserved champion. Therese Klompenhouwer (39) marked the championship race with two records: a 30-point win in 9 innings (3.333 average) a final run of 15.
The Dutch billiard star, who grew up in her father's billiard cafe, is a home-grown product and a paragon of training and discipline, received a resounding and well-deserved applause from the full billiard arena in Zoersel. The best billiard player of all time, Raymond Ceulemans, even more famous as an unequalled title winner, looked on admiringly and enjoyed the success as if the winner was on her way to becoming his female equivalent.
Therese first encountered Gülsen Degener on the final day, the 53-year-old Turkish player who can always be tricky and threatened the semi-finals with scores of 15-5 and 23-16 in favor of Degener. ''I had to shift my focus'', Therese told later. ''And I won the match on routine anyway.'' She didn't need such a tactical move in the final, although the Danish Sörensen was leading until halfway (15-12). Therese pulled the sprint and could excel with a solo performance: 30-16 in 24 innings.
So the stronghold stood firm in Europe again, in a company in which only the champion played high averages (3.333, 1.562, 1.250 as best) and the opponents did not play one game over one average. The podium radiated routine again with Degener and Jetten and was also reserved for a new face: Charlotte Sörensen, who has always played the Danish 5 pins, so popular in that country, but switched to three cushion over two years ago. She was a torment for Dutch hopes in this tournament, because Wilkowski, Pruim and Jetten were consecutively knocked out of the tournament by the Danish girl.
Therese Klompenhouwer started the European Championship with three walk-overs, because of the unfortunate schedule three times against French Celine Jacques (25-3, 25-5 and 30-1). She did not want to talk about the competition afterwards: ''I play my own tournament, I don't need to load up, because I always come to a tournament fully motivated. I love billiards, train a lot, live my sport to the full and always want to win. And I have said it a few times in interviews in recent weeks: I am doing so well that I sometimes think: gosh, Terri, you are a very good billiard player.''
''I enjoyed the entourage at this European Championship very much'', she wants to emphasize. ''It is a bit my home here in De Ploeg, because I played here for six years. It was all so fantastically organized, such a beautiful arena. Yes, of course, it was very hot outside, which also bothered us at the billiards in that full hall with fans. How wonderful is that: you play the final, Raymond Ceulemans is sitting there with his wife Angèle, wonderful ambassadors. We couldn't wish for a better promotion for women's billiards.''
Therese, the focus on her way to European gold
Charlotte Sörensen, an unexpected finalist for the golden match
The final ranking of the ladies Europeans (match points, average, best runs):
1 Therese Klompenhouwer (Netherlands) 12-1,156-15
2 Charlotte Sörensen (Denmark) 9-0.619-4
3 Gülsen Degener (Turkey) 8-0.622-5
3 Karina Jetten (Netherlands) 8-0.608-4
5 Estela Cardoso (Spain) 4-0.631-5
6 Irena Michalkova (Czech Republic) 4-0.483-4
7 Arzu Gök (Turkey) 4-0.510-4
8 Mirjam Pruim (Netherlands) 6-0,500-4
9 Güzin Müjde Karakasli (Turkey) 2-0.532-7
10 Danielle le Bruyn (Belgium) 0-0.404-4
11 Magali Declunder (France) 3-0.545-6
12 Joke Martijn (Netherlands) 2-0.427-8
13 Jaimie Buelens (Belgium) 4-0.472-5
14 Monika Steinberger (Austria) 2-0.325-3
15 Christine Morel (France) 2-0.469-6