OOSTERHOUT – The euphoria of Frédéric Caudron's world title victory spilled over into an after-party with his team in the Dutch premier league this Sunday. Team Babbelz's top- match against Team Eekhoorn turned into a celebration for the new Belgian world champion and his teammates. The Oosterhout derby, between the top two teams in the standings, became a game of truth. Team Babbelz delivered a heartfelt knockout in the lion's den. Team Eekhoorn-Team Babbelz finished 1-7!!! That caused a moment of silence at the campsite afterward.
The arrival of the new world champion clearly inspired awe. The scoreboard was already 0-4 when the champion entered the arena. Jack Wijnen and Dion Nelin had already opened the scoring for Babbelz. The unpredictable Dane Nelin shone against Eddy Leppens, who won a PBA tournament two weeks earlier and pocketed €70,000. That apparently didn't impress Nelin, who outplayed the professional player, winning 40-34 in just 16 innings.
In the top match, Jack Wijnen defeated Jerry Hermans 40-27 in 22 innings, and then the three players who were in the World Championship came back into the field. The score was already 0-4, so Babbelz needed one more point. Frédéric Caudron, after the stunt in his home country, put his name to it. He defeated Greek Nick Polychronopoulos 40-24 in 18 innings. The Turkish PBA player Savas Bulut could have made it 0-8, but Peter Ceulemans pulled it off with two short runs to level the match at 40-40.
As a result, the top positions in this sixth round of the Kozoom League are in flux. Team Eekhoorn lost second place to Aartsbouw, which, along with the other World Championship finalist, Eddy Merckx, defeated Harwig 2-6. Merckx defeated the German Niehaus 40-18 in 27. The other winners for Aartsbouw were Barry van Beers and Ronny Brants.
Dallinga had a strong Jean Paul de Bruijn on board for the away match against SIS Vervoort. The Zeeland leader, who defeated Dick Jaspers at the World Championship and was only eliminated in the quarterfinals, was in excellent form: he defeated Jean van Erp 40-34 in 13, by far the best match and the best average in this round. The other Zeeland victory came from Berry Dallinga, not a frequent winner, but now stronger than Harrie van de Ven, winning 40-34 in 39. For SIS, Burgman scored against De Backer (40-34 in 31) and Swertz against Van Acker (40-22 in 23).
Cues&Darts lost one game against Burgmans Biljarts, the third-placed Zeeland player in the premier league. Joey de Kok lost 40-37 in 34 to Marco Janssen. The Tilburg team finished with a winning score thanks to Ruben Legazpi with 40 in 17 and Huub Wilkowski in 18 innings. Jef Philipoom defeated Bart Ceulemans 40-36 in 31.
The Zundert team, rebranded as Van Baal Kelderafdichting, climbed to the lower half of the mid-table with a victory over RCN Nieuwegein. Roland Forthomme lost to Christiani on center court (40-38 in 22), while Zundert's victories went to Sam van Etten (40-20 in 22 against Gerwin Valentijn), Sergio Jimenez, and Thorsten Frings.
Bousema/JBScues is aiming for a return to the top and narrowly escaped victory in its away match against Paperclip. It was an afternoon match between two top players on the world circuit. Dick Jaspers and Martin Horn faced each other. Jaspers made a clear run with a 5 at 35-30, while Horn missed the break, showing that even after two weeks of playing billiards, the break can still be tricky. Galla and Van Schaik secured a victory for Bousema, while Jorissen had a clear victory in sight. He saw Anno de Kleine come back from 36-28 down with a run of eight (36-36), and the score eventually became even (40-40 in 38), so Bousema took the win 3-5.
Frédéric Caudron, after winning the world title, an after-party in the Dutch league
The standings after six rounds:
- Team Babbelz 11 points
- Aartsbouw 10
- Bousema 9
- Cues&Darts 8
- Team Eekhoorn 8
- Dallinga 8
- SIS/Vervoort 6
- Van Baal 6
- RCN Nieuwegein 4
- Paperclip 3
- Burgmans Biljarts 1
- Harwig 1