TILBURG/LOCHEM - Carl Verhoeven's heart beats faster by the week, now that his top team SIS Schoonmaak is getting closer to the title in the main three- cushion league in the Netherlands. The foursome playing for the Brabant-based cleaning company did not suffer any damage during this weekend's three-day marathon and won two league matches as well as a cup match. Dick Jaspers, the world champion, played in one match for the league, Eddy Merckx, the other world top player, could not play at all due to a Corona stop, but it did not prevent the SIS boys from continuing their victory rush. The lead on the most important competitors, Cues&Darts and Bousema Lochem, is 9 points now with 8 matches to go.
Nothing can happen to the frontrunner, can it, Carl Verhoeven? Surely the championship is just a matter of time for this almost unbeatable team, that has lost one point in fifteen matches so far? Ho, ho, says the team boss. Because, the fact5 that SIS Schoonmaak will end up on top after 22 matches is certain, but the play-offs must decide then in the battle for the real championship.
And just imagine. Cues&Darts and Bousema Lochem are now the teams for the top three, although with 9 points behind. And with Team Eekhoorn lurking. And in the play-offs, first the numbers 2 and 3 are meeting, the winner of that match plays against the league leader, so that will be almost certainly against SIS Schoonmaak. In that jump-off, it's an do or die battle. And what if Cues&Darts can play with Robinson Morales and Ruben Legazpi, at their very best? And that Bousema Lochem plays in that jump-off with Martin Horn and Murat Naci Coklu? So how sure of the championship is the high favorite? It's just to look ahead and not let Carl, the team boss, sink into too many wonderful dreams just yet.
The SIS team won this weekend, in an alternating line-up, against STZ Zundert 8-0 and against Aartsbouw, the number last, 6-2. Dick Jaspers was the best winner for the team against Zundert with a win over Nikos Polychronopoulos (40-17 in 15 innings, 2.666 on average), best second was Martien van der Poel, the man in form, who beat Rik van Beers 40-20 in 17 (2.352 average, best run of 14). Sunday's win over Aartsbouw was 6-2 with Jean van Erp, who was the only one to lose to Dirk Weeremans (40-23 in 26), Raimond Burgman (win against Ronny Brants, 40-24 in 26), Martien van der Spoel (win against Christian Rudolph, 40-36 in 31) and Raymund Swertz, who beat Dutch Master Ludo Kools 40-18 in 26.
What could the two main rivals offer in return?
Cues&Darts travelled to 't Hartje van Oosterhout and won 6-2. Colombian Spaniard Robinson Morales, who comes over for important matches, played in Spain this weekend and shone with a world class match, 40 in 10 innings. Jef Philipoom was his substitute: the Belgian lost the only match for his team to Ismail Yasin 40-29 in 31. Jack van Peer (win in 31 innings), Wesley de Jaeger and Huub Wilkowski (win in 24 innings) brought the maximum victory across the finish line, Wesley de Jaeger was the best man of the day.
This Belgian player from Zandhoven, who has a full-time job as a supervisor at ExxonMobil, owes his top form to the match table he recently got at home. ''I am very busy at work, but I try to plan my training sessions between my jobs. I'm doing well, considering the level I'm playing at now. I have confidence and the right mindset. His match on Sunday, against Harrie van de Ven, was a special one: Wesley de Jaeger bridged the gap with two runs (12 and 11) in a row: Wesley: ''I have done such once before, against Raymond Ceulemans, then I started with two runs of 11.''
Bousema Lochem was able to win the match thanks to a better final sprint by Martin Horn. The German defeated Dave Christiani with a minimal score: 40-38 in 26. Jelle Pijl, against his old club, surprised by winning against Johan Loncelle (40-34 in 28), Anno de Kleine was the better of Kay de Zwart (40-34 in 31) and Frans van Schaik outsmarted his opponent Addy Wienk by a large margin: 40-28 in 29.
Team Eekhoorn won the four-points match against Dallinga for a role in the battle for the top places. The team from Brabant, with Frans van Kuyk as the ever-feared head man, his two Ceulemans mates and the camping boss Jerry Hermans, came back from Sluiskil with a hard-fought 6-2 victory. That was mainly thanks to Frans van Kuyk, who offered Jean Paul de Bruijn a bad day in the match of the leading players: 40-24 in 24. When also Berry Dallinga was devoured by Jerry Hermans (40-21 in 34) in the match of the billiard club owners, it was only up to Kurt Ceulemans to ensure the team win. He kept his team in suspense for a long time, but finally triumphed 40-39 against Steven van Acker. For the Sluiskil team only Peter De Backer won his match vs Peter Ceulemans 40-32 in 25. By this victory Team Eekhoorn climbs to 4th place, Dallinga drops to 7th place.
J&F Auto's, which was counted among the contenders for the leading group, is forced to make a strong final sprint to not have to fight against relegation. The team from The Hague played a disappointing draw against a fellow candidate for the lower places. DKM Tools kept the Hague team on 4-4.
The most striking match was that of Roland Uijtdewillegen against Jeffrey Jorissen. The World Cup player, head man of J&F Auto's, had a total off-day and was outclassed by the Brabant player, who recently recovered from a heart surgery and two Corona infections and won the match vs Jorissen 40-10 in 25 innings. The Hague wins came from Therese Klompenhouwer against Joey de Kok, who is not having his best year so far. Therese stayed far ahead of the Zeeuw, among others by a run of 9: 40-29 in 38. Barry van Beers beat Jack Wijnen 40-33 in 33. The other DKM win came from Eddy Willems against Herman van Daalen: 40-34 in 30.
STZ Zundert recovered somewhat from the 8-0 loss against SIS and won the home game against Dekker Keukens 6-2. Nikos Polychronopoulos took a resounding revenge for the loss against Jaspers and defeated Ad Koorevaar 40-14 in 15. Roland Forthomme needed a long breath to leave Gerwin Valentijn behind and closed the gap after a 9 by Valentijn: Forthomme answered sharply with 10 and was unstoppable afterwards. Henk Blauwblomme won against Thorsten Krings (40-35 in 30), Francis Forton against Bart Leys (40-19 in 31).