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 Belgian
professional Bjorn Haneveer won the InterConnect Dutch
Open Snooker in the De Dieze Snooker Centre in Den Bosch,
Holland.
In the final against Lennon Starkey from Amsterdam,
Haneveer claimed a 6-1 victory thanks to back to back
centuries of 107 and 121, to take home the first prize of
2750 Euro.
Starkey collected 1000 euro, Reind Duut from Groningen 300
euro for the
 top
break of 126. A record number of 160 players took part in
the fifth Dutch Open. The InterConnect Dutch Open was the
first Dutch snooker tournament ever that could be watched
live on the internet via www.dedieze.com.
Haneveer, who started the pro season as no 53 in the
world, is twice the European Champion and was the winner
of the World Games in Akita in 2001, took the first frame
of the final. Lennon Starkey, the surprise of the event,
levelled the match, but then Haneveer pulled away with
breaks of 107 and 121 to lead 4-1 at the interval. After
the break, it was one way traffic in favour of the
experienced Belgian, who won 6-1.
Haneveer had reached the semi final after beating five
times Dutch champion Raymon Fabrie from Rotterdam (4-2)
and Reind Duut (4-1). Duut made the highest break of the
tournament (126) and took over the lead in the Dutch
Rankings from Mario Wehrmann, from The Hague, who lost in
the last sixteen to Yvan van Velthoven from Belgium.
In the semi final Haneveer beat Rolf de Jong (runner-up in
the IBSF World -21 in 1999) 5-1, with a 106. De Jong had
been responsible for knocking out Xander van Rossem. Van
Rossem had beaten Lee Richardson, the losing finalist of
the last Dutch Open in 1992!
Starkey beat his teammate Karan Chand from Amsterdam and
Marco Haverkotte from Purmerend. Surprisingly, he than
beat former Dutch champion Roy Stolk from Zeist (4-3) and
overcame former Belgian champion Yvan van Velthoven from
Antwerp in the semi final (5-3), helped by a break of 97.
But in the final, Haneveer was way to strong. Starkey's
progress saw him produce the sort of form that gained him
a WSA Challenge Tour place in 2003, when he won through
the EBSA European Play Offs in Germany.
Reigning Dutch champion Stefan Mazrocis from Kerkdriel,
who plays in SC De Dieze, blocked the route for his club
mate and tournament director Joris Maas from Den Bosch.
Mazrocis himself got beaten in the quarter final by Roy
Stolk (4-2).
Apart from Richardson, who lost to Rolf de Jong, another
player from the UK also lost in the earlier stages. Former
European champion David John, from Wales, lost 2-4 in the
last sixteen to Dutchman Rene van Rijsbergen.
In the Dutch Snooker Ranking Reind Duut now leads,
followed by Wehrmann, Mazrocis, De Jong and Stolk. Starkey
leaps up to the fifth place.
The InterConnect Dutch Open was the fifth edition of this
prestigious tournament, that hasn’t been held since the
halcyon days of snooker in the Netherlands in the late
eighties and early nineties, when snooker was new and hot
in Holland. The event has been revitalised by SC De Dieze
in Den Bosch and InterConnect, in cooperation with the
Dutch association KNBB Snooker. The total prize money for
the event was 6000 euro.
The first Dutch Open in 1987 in Ahoy Rotterdam was won by
former world amateur champion Jon Birch from England, who
beat Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins in the final. In 1989 in Het
Slaakhuys in Rotterdam Mike Hallett took the trophy by
beating Darren Morgan, Stephen Hendry lost in the semi
finals. The third Dutch Open in 1990 in De Lijnbaan in
Rotterdam went to Peter Ebdon, who proved to strong for
Tony Knowles in the final. The fourth Dutch Open was held
in 1992 in Het Turfschip in Breda. Hallett won again by
beating Lee Richardson in the final.
Report
by Peter de Brie
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