ANKARA - The time was ripe for a big trophy and Martin Horn could finally crown himself European champion. The 54-year-old German grandmaster, a brilliant technician, played a flawless tournament in the Turkish capital Ankara, won his matches by a large margin and was the rightful European three-cushion champion. The opponent in the final, also 54-year-old Belgian Roland Forthomme (86 days older than Horn), was defeated 50-30 in 31 innings as well after a magnificent event. The European three-cushion championship got a historic winner. For the 14th time a German billiard player was in the final, after 13 losses now there was a German winner for the first time. Bravo Martin Horn.
The cameras focused for a long time on the German winner, who on the steps of the grandstand hugged his wife Anja, received congratulations from the national coach, from the other players on the podium and later on stage sang along to the German national anthem with some emotion.
The Turkish homage in the federation's great arena was somewhat less exuberant than at the Nations Championships. There, the Turkish team won the gold, now the Turkish favorites at this European Championship did not make it to the final rounds.
The course of the tournament was rather sensational, as Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dick Jaspers, Tayfun Tasdemir, Marco Zanetti and other big guns could not make a run for the medals. Martin Horn and Eddy Merckx reached the podium, Horn as the proud winner. Roland Forthomme and Jeffrey Jorissen were outsiders who claimed leading roles.
For Martin Horn, the championship was special, because so many German players had missed out on European gold in the past, also because he himself lost three times in the final: to Torbjörn Blomdahl already in 1998 and last year in 2024, to Murat Naci Coklu in 2004.
In his early career, the star German player was a specialist in one cushion (world title in Vienna in 1997) and took five European titles in one cushion (2), free game (2) and balk-line 47/1 (1). At the European three-cushion podium, Horn only stood on the European stage in Florange in 2008, where he finished third following Jaspers and Blomdahl.
The German was supreme at this European championship in Ankara with almost unchallenged victories against Bohac (50 in 22, 2.272), Kahofer (50 in 23, 2.173), Legazpi (50 in 20, 2.500), Jorissen (50 in 27, 1.851) and finally Forthomme with 50-30 in 31 (1.612). With his victory, Horn rises in the world rankings from 12 to 9, a place he shares with Korean Jun Tae Kim.
Roland Forthomme was the player left from three Belgians in the best eight of the European Championship, a great success for Belgium. Forthomme particularly impressed with his win against Marco Zanetti, beat Eddy Merckx in the semi-finals, but had no chance against Martin Horn in the final. For Forthomme, it was his first major success after a long time: wins in the Hurghada World Cups in 2005 and Volos in 2006.
The final match with Martin Horn and Roland Forthomme
Martin Horn, the great winner in Ankara
Semi-finals (overview)
Forthomme-Merckx 50-28 in 26
Belgian billiard fans are busy making predictions in the run-up to Merckx-Forthomme, the stunning poster for a place in the final at the European Championships. The favorites are Eddy Merckx, Roland Forthomme is seen as an underdog, despite his sublime victory over Marco Zanetti in the previous round. Merckx passes Bury first in the knockouts and takes out outgoing champion Blomdahl in the next. The Belgian clash itself with two players who know each other inside out has an unexpected start. Forthomme dominates from the start, Merckx's chase just does not get going. The margin is always comfortable for Forthomme, who ends the match at 46-28 with a winning run of four: 50-28 in 26. Merckx' comments? ,,I didn't get many chances from Roland, he was strong throughout the match.'' Merckx's ranking is in no danger. '“I win 22 points”', he calculates himself, which means Merckx climbs from five to four on the UMB rankings.
Horn-Jorissen 50-24 in 27/26
The German/Dutch encounter has a European history. Last year, Horn and Jorissen also faced each other in the semi-finals, with Horn winning 50-43 in 34 after five missed match balls. This time, the match is decided more quickly in German favour. Martin Horn moves into a lead with an early 10, Jorissen remains far from the form he showed on Saturday against Jaspers and Ceulemans and fails to stop Horn. The score is 17-3 in 6, 26-7 in 10, 35-20 in 23 and finally 50-24. Horn is the finalist, Jorissen says goodbye with satisfaction. '“I had a bad year after my previous European podium finish, hopefully I have regained the form now.”' Jorissen, the Hague wizard for his fans, remains the number 29 ranked player with 100 ranking points.
Roland Forthomme after his win over Merckx in the semis
Jeffrey Jorissen, the best of 7 Dutch players at the Europeans
The final ranking at the European three cushion:
- Martin Horn 10-2.032-12
- Roland Forthomme 8-1.446-9
- Eddy Merckx 6-1.695-12
- Jeffrey Jorissen 6-1.568-11
- Marco Zanetti 4-1.909-10
- Peter Ceulemans 4-1.842-11
- Ruben Legazpi 4-1.849-13
- Torbjörn Blomdahl 4-1.696-9
- Jérémy Bury 2-1.607-7
- Berkay Karakurt 2-1.648-9
- Arnim Kahofer 6-1.557-11
- Dick Jaspers 2-1.518-6