BLOIS – The top spot in the French team competition remains firmly in the hands of Soissons. The nr. 1 team won the away match against Courbevoie 8-0 last Friday evening, thanks in part to a stunning victory by Eddy Merckx 40 in 13 innings. The very best player on the fourth day was Marco Zanetti, who defeated Glenn Hofman 40-25 in 9 innings. That victory by the Italian leader of Andernos sealed the fate of Blois, who lost their home match 6-2. Gwendal Maréchal and Jérôme Barbeillon were the other two winners for Andernos against Mikaël Devogelaere and Maxime Panaia. The ranking looks slightly different after four rounds. Soissons won unchallenged, Andernos climbed to second place one match point down, and St. Quentin also lost its position in the top bracket. Dick Jaspers' team lost their home match against Albert 5-3, partly due to Peter Ceulemans' victory over Dick Jaspers: 40-34 in 17.
The match day, with all matches broadcast by Kozoom, was unpredictable due to the sensations at the top. Jérémy Bury and Dimitrios Seleventas were also among the stars of the evening, with high-level matches that gave the French league the luster of world-class matches. The winning team from Soissons left Courbevoie without a chance. Bury defeated Kunt 40-25 in 16, Merckx defeated Echeverry 40-13 in 13, and Soumagne and De Bruijn won in 23 and 26 innings, respectively. Dutchman Jean Paul de Bruijn only could held two caroms against Thomas Le Coat: 40-38.
Blois vs. Andernos was the day's top match, featuring a brilliant Marco Zanetti, who outplayed Glenn Hofman with a top average: 40-25 in 9 innings. Sameh Sidhom defeated Roland Forthomme in the first session, after the Belgian had made a strong start, but was later overtaken by Sidhom: 40-36 in 25 innings. The two Frenchmen from Andernos decided the victory. Gwendal Maréchal defeated Mikaël Devogelaere (40-36 in 23 innings), and Jérôme Barbeillon defeated Maxime Panaia 40-29 in 29 innings.
Albert's Belgian leaders completed a spectacular round. Peter Ceulemans defeated Dick Jaspers in a masterful match 40-34 in 17 innings. Jef Philipoom held Johan Loncelle to a 40-40 in 33 innings after a much better start for Loncelle. That ultimately brought the score to 5-3 for Albert, as Nathan Duriez narrowly missed out against Cédric Melnytschenko in the French matches (40-36 in 47) and Tangui Duriez defeated Thierry Roxo (40-34 in 42).
The other two matches in this round ended in 8-0 scores. Intermarché prevailed against Douarnenez, with Seleventas, Mottet, Boingnieres, and Dubernet winning in 17, 45, 41, and 33 innings. Colmar won 8-0 against Blois 2, with Frings, Broux, Haby, and Riotto winning the matches.
The standings after 4 rounds:
1 Soissons 8-1.497-16
2 Andernos 7-1.419-13
3 Albert 6-1.363-12
4 Saint Quentin 5-1,144-12
5 Blois 5-1.360-14
6 Colmar 4-1.241-8
7 Intermarché 3-1.115-8
8 Blois 2 1-0.840-9
9 Courbevoie 1-0.898-7
10 Douarnenez 0-0.981-15
The winning Albert team with its leaders. left to right Cédric Melnytschenko, Jef Philipoom, Valery Callens, Isabelle, Peter Ceulemans and Thierry Roxo