LIER - The match on centre court at the Mister 100, played for the Belgian team league, turned into a whirlwind performance by German Tom Löwe this Monday evening. The 24-year old frontrunner in the team of De Witte Molen shone in an ambiance where the home team Mister 100, on chasing for the title, defended its leading position in this final part of the competition. Tom Löwe played the best match in his career against Peter Ceulemans (40-21 in 9!), Mister 100 suffered a totally unexpected loss 6-2. That's why the Op de Meir team, if it wins against De Ploeg tonight (Tuesday), can come within one point of Mister 100. Next week Tuesday is the match between the two contenders for the championship.
Tom Löwe still enjoyed his great luck after his fantastic performance. ''I still can't believe it'', he said the next morning, still in a euphoric mood. ''It makes me so happy, especially after the frustrating World Cup tournament I played in Las Vegas. It was so important to get back into good shape quickly.'' The scoring was impressive: Tom started with 1, 9, 2 and 6, then took a big lead over Peter Ceulemans and continued with 1, 8, 1, 6 and 6. The best match in his entire career so far, in which he was, among others, 2nd at the European Junior Championship in Murcia, 2016, following Andres Carrion and 3rd in the German Championship in 2021 following Martin Horn and Cengiz Karaca.
The match in the Mister 100 should give a boost to his further development. Tom: ''It was a lot of ups and downs so far, because I don't have the consistency and security, especially in the international tournaments. But I've been training more than ever since we can play matches again after the pandemic. That paid off in this match. I feel at home in my Belgian team and I am grateful to play with these guys.''
About his match against Peter Ceulemans he says: ''It felt like a training match. The table ran exactly like my training table with Royal Pro cloth. I knew exactly what the table did, I had confidence and I could play my position play. I had a better focus than ever and I enjoyed playing in this great billiard centre. I didn't get the hardest positions from Peter and of course I hit 2, 3 thin and hit the right side of my third ball a few times. But I also broke the hard positions at the crucial moments to continue my runs.''
Tom, who was brought into the De Witte Molen team by Francis Forton, will certainly play the World Cup in Porto this year, but will skip Vietnam. With BC Weywiesen he shows up into the European Cup in Porto. Tom Löwe is 24, lives in Nettetal (10 minutes from Viersen), studies mathematics and plays for the teams BC Weywiesen in Bottrop, De Witte Molen in Belgium and BC Tegelen in the Netherlands.
De Witte Molen is in the top five of the Belgian league after the 6-2 victory. The other winners against Mister 100 were Francis Forton (against Jerry Hermans 40-25 in 19) and Ad Broeders (against Bart Ceulemans 40-28 in 29). Only Kurt Ceulemans, who played an unfortunate match in the Netherlands on Sunday, took revenge and won against Dirk Weeremans 40-14 in 32.
Op de Meir plays De Ploeg tonight to reduce the margin with the leader. Biljart Express beat De Leug 8-0 on Monday in the battle for third place. Eddy Merckx, Frans van Kuyk, Gerwin Valentijn and Martin Spoormans won from Loncelle, De Jaeger, De Groof and Schrauwen in 16, 27, 25 and 26 innings.
BC Den Eik and Zanzibar (without Forthomme, who is playing the Kozoom Challenge in France) drew against each other. Glenn Hofman and Davy van Havere were the best winners against Andy de Bondt (40-23 in 16) and Kenny Miatton (40-30 in 22). Ludo Dielis and Jef Gijsels lost to Thibaut and Thon (40-39 in 60 and 40-35 in 41).
Tom Löwe played an exciting match in the Mister 100, where his team De Witte Molen beat the Belgian leader