ANTALYA – The first final player at the European ladies three-cushion championship in Antalya was announced. Therese Klompenhouwer won a one-way match against Belgian Jaimie Buelens early in the morning, winning by a comfortable margin: 30-6 in 15 innings. The Dutch player is the only one in top form in the entire field. The Dutch/Belgian clash was a prime example of that. Charlotte Sörensen later went on to the final with a win in more than 3 times Therese’s innings fort he win.
Therese Klompenhouwer shone with an average of 2.000 in that match, where almost all participants struggle with averages of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5. The older players, as well as younger ones, are not making any progress.
Therese played the match against Jaimie Buelens strongly and confidently, without an opponent who could even remotely threaten her. The 16-5 score in 8 innings effectively decided the match. The score also reached 25-6 in 13 innings before Therese finished with a 30-6 lead in 15 innings.
Meanwhile, at the other table in the semifinal between Charlotte Sörensen and Gülsen Degener, a brawl unfolded between two players who could barely manage a half-average. Charlotte Sörensen, the reigning European champion, started with 1 carom in 11 innings and only regained some ground at 13-12 in 30 innings.
Fortunately, towards the end of the match, it became clear that Charlotte Sörensen, in her new look with short, gray/blonde hair, still had occasional highlights, demonstrating her three-cushion prowess. She did so with a run of 7, which gave her a nearly safe lead of 26-19 in 38 innings (0.702 and 0.500, still subpar averages for a semifinal). But once again, it's clear how much women's billiards needs a boost from young, ambitious players.
The match ended at 30-24 in 47 innings, after Degener, with a few short runs, had closed the gap and even had a chance to win the match. The final between Klompenhouwer and Sörensen, the only two players with championship potential, is at 11.30 Western European time and can be seen live on Kozoom.