OOSTERHOUT – Two teams from Oosterhout in Brabant, a city with 58,500 inhabitants, are leading the Dutch premier league three-cushion for teams. They will meet this Sunday in the battle for the top spots in the Kozoom league. Team Babbelz gathered 9 match points in 5 rounds, while Team Eekhoorn has one point less. Team Eekhoorn plays at home at the campsite this Sunday. In the eight players field, three are coming from the World Championship, which concludes Saturday. Two players have some weeks off from the PBA and are in the line-ups.
Aartsbouw/Domicili, led by Eddy Merckx, is also in the top three and aims to make a jump. The predominantly Belgian team, also featuring Barry van Beers, Wesley de Jaeger, and Ronny Brants, plays a home match against the last-place team, Harwig.
For Team Eekhoorn, Nick Polychronopoulos is the leader on Sunday, with PBA player Eddy Leppens playing in second position. Leppens is a remarkable player in the premier league. The Belgian won the last PBA tournament over a week ago and earned €70,000 with that victory, more than many European players earn in an entire year. Peter Ceulemans and Jerry Hermans complete the team.
Frédéric Caudron is the regular leader in Babbelz team, where Dion Nelin is the second player, with PBA player Savas Bulut and Jack Wijnen in third and fourth place.
Bousema and Dallinga are the next teams in the ranking, closely vying for the high spots. Dallinga visits SIS/Vervoort, including a match between Jean van Erp and Jean Paul de Bruijn, two players who often play key roles in the Masters. Dallinga opened strongly and is the favorite to win.
Bousema is playing an away match against Paperclip, with a promising match on center court: Dick Jaspers against Martin Horn, the winner of the World Cup in Belgium last Sunday. Cues&Darts has slipped slightly to the mid-table and wants to return to the top of the rankings as quickly as possible. The Tilburg team travels to Burgmans Biljarts and will definitely be aiming for the two match points with Legazpi, Philipoom, Wilkowski, and De Kok.
The Zundert team received a new name this week and will continue under the name Van Baal Kelderafdeling. The sponsor is a billiards enthusiast. Louis Havermans, technical director of the Zundert team, said: "We are happy with it; it's an enthusiastic sponsor, and we want to play under this name in the coming years." On Sunday, the team plays its home match against RCN Nieuwegein, both teams looking to escape the lower leagues.
Round 6, Kozoom League
Team Eekhoorn-Team Babbelz
Nick Polychronopoulos-Frédéric Caudron
Eddy Leppens-Dion Nelin
Peter Ceulemans-Savas Bulut
Jerry Hermans-Jack Wijnen
Harwig/OERbesitas-Aartsbouw/Domicili
Andreas Niehaus-Eddy Merckx
Rob Lamboo-Barry van Beers
Tobias Bouerdick-Wesley de Jaeger
Richard Dekker-Ronny Brants
Burgmans Billiards-Cues&Darts/Xtreme
Tom Löwe-Ruben Legazpi
Bart Ceulemans-Jef Philipoom
Erwin Kivits-Huub Wilkowski
Marco Janssen-Joey de Kok
SIS/Vervoort-Dallinga.com
Jean van Erp-Jean Paul de Bruijn
Raimond Burgman-Peter De Backer
Raymund Swertz-Steven van Acker
Harrie van de Ven-Berry Dallinga
Van Baal Basement Division-RCN Nieuwegein
Roland Forthomme-Dave Christiani
Sam van Etten-Gerwin Valentijn
Sergio Jimenez-Philippe Vandendriessche
Thorsten Frings-Henk Blauwblomme
Paperclip-Bousema/JBSCues
Dick Jaspers-Martin Horn
Anno de Kleine-Jeffrey Jorissen
Emilio Sciacca-Stefan Galla
Dan Breur-Frans van Schaik
Eddy Leppens, een week geleden nog winnaar van een PBA toernooi, nu in de Nederlandse competitie.