After an eventful Friday evening, Gent went home trailing 4-2. They lost the first four matches, and although in “Crawford”-mode, they started a moderate comeback with two wins. The three remaining matches were played a few days later. Johan Vervust kept the match alive with a win over Kristoffer De Weert in Gent. The eight game was played after the Brugge Backgammon Day. Director Geert Van der Stricht beat Zsolt Tasnadi after a gruelling day, and made the score 4-4. In a nearby restaurant, Alain Chif received the message that he had to finish the job.
The last match was played in Asse on Tuesday, March 3rd. Alain beat Johan Huyck and put a sensational comeback to an end.
The captains can now start to make arrangements for the next round in April.
There is a small change in the calendar, which I already discussed with the captains. After the withdrawal of Leuven I, there were two teams (Gent and Hasselt) with only 1 home-match, and two teams (Brugge and Leuven) with 3 home-matches. Therefore, Leuven-Hasselt becomes Hasselt-Leuven (round 4) and Brugge-Gent becomes Gent-Brugge (round 5). I have already changed this in the tournament book.
— LP
