CHENGDU – Women's billiards is facing a new challenge in just under two weeks. The new start presents a remarkable picture. For the first time in history, the World Games are on the calendar for women in three-cushion billiards. The world tournament for non-Olympic sports will be held in Chengdu, China, with hundreds of athletes competing in 61 disciplines and 35 sports. The event runs from 8 August to 17 August. Why is this start so unique for women's billiards? Therese Klompenhouwer, the Dutch queen of three-cushion billiards, is starting the year at the World Games without any titles. That has never happened in many years.
Therese Klompenhouwer's story: ’’I am a champion, I want to win and I want my titles back.’ Therese lost the world title, the European title and the Dutch title in one year. The first and most important conclusion is that the competition has become stronger. Denmark's Charlotte Sörensen has become a tough rival and a great asset on the world stage now that several Asian women have switched to the PBA, the Korean professional league. And in the Netherlands itself, Karina Jetten has recently been able to beat Therese Klompenhouwer, who was unbeatable for years.
The multiple champion is highly motivated for the new start and wants revenge for the lost titles. The other explanation for an abnormally bad year, which she prefers to talk about only in intimate circles, is her physical condition: Therese Klompenhouwer played for a year with pain in her arm due to a so-called “frozen shoulder”, in medical terms a stuck and inflamed capsule between the shoulder blade and the upper arm.
Therese did not take the rest she needed before the important tournaments, which doctors and therapists said that it would have been better for her recovery. ’’I assumed too much that it would get better, but that didn't happen. The doctors say: you're lucky that after one year it's getting better, that the pain is lessening or gone altogether. It could have taken three years.’’
The figurehead in her discipline, more or less the Ceulemans of women's billiards, has had a year to forget, both physically and, most of all, mentally. "I dare say it now: I played tournaments in which I couldn't really play with my left hand, in which I couldn't get my back arm high enough to make a picqué or a massé. I was hindered in my playing, but I didn't want to give up. The worst was at the end of last year, just before new year. The European Championships were terrible: I played in a lot of pain and even was planning to quit. That's when I was at my lowest point."
The injury to my shoulder and upper arm started on 29 July last year, so almost a year ago. "Two months ago, I had one last injection, and since then things have been going much better. I am hopeful that it has finally healed. I can train for a few hours without pain, and two weeks ago I was able to play well in Porto in the European Cup. I feel a lot fitter and my shoulder is pain-free. I had the help of a mental coach, the billiards player Stefan Lenting. And physically, I took as much rest as possible during the summer. We went on holiday to Greece and I actually feel completely ready and in top shape for the new year. The year of revenge, that's how I feel. I am a champion and I want my titles back."
What could be better than starting that mission with a title she has never even won before: gold at the World Games. In seven editions of the World Games, women's billiards has never been one of the sports disciplines at this major event. For the first time, along with the men (16 selected players including Dick Jaspers, Myung Woo Cho, Quyet Chien Tran, Tayfun Tasdemir and Martin Horn), eight women have been admitted to the World Games.
Therese Klompenhouwer and Charlotte Sörensen are the big contenders, along with Karina Jetten and Gülsen Degener from Europe, Ayaka Miyashita and Kien Tuong Phuong from Asia, and Claudia Lalinde and Jackeline Perez from South America.
‘I am very curious about the conditions,’ says Klompenhouwer, looking ahead. ‘How hot will it be, how can we deal with jet lag, will we be able to sleep well, eat well? I am really looking forward to it, especially because it is the first time we are allowed to play there. And of course also because I feel completely fit again and want to show what I can do.’’
