Great start of the season

It's now halfway December, so it's time to look back on the first three months of the season. In the world cup tournament in Suwon (Korea) I've lost the first round to Ma from Vietnam, despite a great match. I was a little disappointed, because I'd hoped for a good result to strengthen my position on the world ranking, but too bad that didn't happen. So I had to set my mind straight for Vienna and give my best to get a good result.

And that happened. I won in Vienna and, as icing on the cake, a world record with an average of 2.420. A tournament to remember. Every match was over 2 and high series, including a series of 13 in the final set in the finale. This made me take home the title and still had the chance to win the world cup.

All hope was set on the last tournament in Hurghada. Unfortunately, I had to leave in the second round. After a beautiful first round with a revenge on Ma with an average of 3 (and outstanding a series of 10 in every set, 14, 11 and 10) I lost to Eddy Leppens after a difficult game. I lost 3-2 and in the lost sets I was stuck on 12, 13 and 13, so I'd had enough chances. My average was higher than my opponent, but he played better in the important parts. So I lost the battle in the world cup against Blomdahl. A second place is also a great result and proves a consistent season.

In September, I've won the Superprestige three cushion in Belgium. This is a super final with the best 16 players in the last year. I won in a super exciting final against Peter Ceulemans, who was very strong. I was very satisfied with the victory, because I was one of the organizers of the tournament (with Eddy Leppens) and in the last three years I wasn't able to win.

In November, I flew to Cervera (Spain) to participate in the European championships one-cushion. And I succeeded to become European champion, despite of lack of preparation. So many matches in three cushion, do not leave much room to train for other disciplines. I played on a high level the last day, which was enough for a spot in the semi-finals and the final. I won with 150 points in 6 turns. The average of 16.,81 wasn't bad. All and all, I can look back on a great start of the season.