The French champions of Douarnenez have successfully defended their European team title in the classic disciplines. The winning threesome of Swertz, Le Deventec and Soumagne defeated another French team, Chartres, in the final.
The title holders were also the hosts in this multi-discipline tournament, where 47/2, 71/2 and 1-cushion are the ingredients of all the team encounters. After the group stage, four teams made up the semifinals: De Picardie from the Netherlands (Bongers, van Bochem, Timmers), Douarnenez from France (Swertz, Le Deventec, Soumagne), Chartres from France (Justice, Gerimont, Gretillat) and Bochum from Germany (Havlik, Nockemann, van Etten).
Dutchman Sam van Etten was one of the stars of the tournament. He excelled with a 150.00 average in 47/2 and remained unbeaten in the event. Xavier Gretillat from Switzerland finished a 71/2 match in a single inning. Johan Petit (BC Oissel) played the best 1-cushion match, 120 in 6 with a run of 80.
Douarnenez set aside De Picardie in the semi, thanks mostly to 3-inning matches in the balkline games by Soumagne and Swertz. Chartres won the other semi again Bochum when Gretillat and Justice recorded narrow victories over Nockemann and Havlik.
Raymund Swertz gave his team the lead when he ran his 250 points in 47/2 in the first inning. The Dutchman practices 3-cushion more than balkline these days, but he still produced his best when it mattered. Gretillat evened out at 2-2 when he beat Soumagne in the 71/2: 200 – 96 in 3 innings. The 1-cushion was now the deciding match, and Le Deventec went neck and neck with Justice for most of the match. The home player made the difference in the final innings, to the delight of the Douarnenez supporters: 120 – 94 in 13.
For another year, Douarnenez is “the West of France, the best of France.”
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