German three-cushion championship 1973/74

40th German three-cushion championship 1973/74
The winner: Dieter Müller becomes German three-cushion champion for the first time
Tournament dates
Tournament type:	Ranking tournament
Tournament format:	Minstrel system
Organizer:	DBB
Tournament details
Venue:	Saalbau Kuhaupt, Essen-Kray
Opening:	September 21, 1973
Endgame:	23rd September 1973
Attendees:	12
Defending champion:	Ernst Rudolph
Winner:	Dieter Müller
2nd finalist:	Günter Siebert
3rd place:	Siegfried Spielmann
Prize money:	Amateur tournament
Records
Best GD:	0.819 Siegfried Spielmann
Best ED:	0.937 Siegfried Spielmann / 00000Jürgen Meissburger
Maximum series (HS):	10 Dieter Müller000
Venue on the map
eat
← 1972/73	1974/75 →

The German three-cushion championship 1973/74 (DDM) was the 40th edition of this tournament series and took place from September 21 to 23, 1973 in Essen , North Rhine-Westphalia .

mode

The players were divided into three groups of four players each (GR). During the entire tournament, 60 points were played with an extra kick . The two group best came into the intermediate round (ZR). There were three pairings , ranked according to the general average (GD). The two GD-best winners and the GD-best loser then made it to the semifinals. This form of alignment is also known as the “minstrel system”. A placement game was played for 5th place.

Grouping

Grouping

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Ernst Rudolph	Joseph stooping	Dieter Müller
Dieter Haring	Günter Siebert	Siegfried Spielmann
Jürgen Meissburger	Lutz Schwab	Günter Schüssler
Gerd Pirnay	Hans Ehl	Peter Thunders

Tournament course

The participants (from left to right): Dieter Müller, Günter Siebert, Siegfried Spielmann, Joseph Bücken, Ernst Rudolph, Günter Schüssler, Hans Ehl, Dieter Häring, Gerd Pirnay and Peter Donnert. the 12th player, Lutz Schwab, on the far right is missing.

For the third time after 1937 and 1971 a German championship was held in Essen. With 12 players, the field was bigger than ever before. The local club "Billardfreunde Kray-Süd 1947" acted as the host. It was the first time the club took on this task. Tournaments on the "small board " were organized beforehand, but not on match billiards . The task was successful and they received praise and recognition for their work from the DBB officials. The new " Spielmann-System " was tried out for the first time at a German championship . It should make the tournament more attractive for players and spectators and also give the weaker players a chance to move up to the A-squad.

Preliminary round

Group 1

As the top player in this group, it was assumed that the veteran Rudolph was the group winner from the start. But Meissburger should teach him better. After now 1: 1 sets, the Cologne had to gain in order not to be eliminated early. He won the game against Häring, albeit with a lot of effort, and advanced one round, as did his conqueror. The young player Pirnay was able to keep up, but then had to admit defeat in the direct GD comparison Häring and was last in the group.

Group 2

In Group 2, all signals were in the intermediate lap for Siebert, the title winner from 1971 . Although there was a player in the group with a lot of experience in the championship, he was third in 1970 , but nationwide he was more in the midfield. Ehl and Schwab were young players and were taking part for the first time. In the first game Siebert Schwab didn't give a chance either and brought his victory home safely. In the game Bücken against Ehl it looked like a surprise. Ehl led with 16 points. In a grueling game, Bücken then managed to systematically take away the victory, which he believed to be certain, with calm, serenity and routine. Ehl was visibly exhausted after this three-and-a-half-hour match, but was able to secure his game against Schwab, went empty-handed as a third party in the group, but did not, like Schwab, have to be accused of being overwhelmed by such a difficult discipline as a junior player seemed to be.

Group 3

The most difficult group, because it was very well represented by Müller and Spielmann, caught championship newcomer and junior player Peter Donnert. Schüssler, a Berlin comrade of Müller's club, did not make it easy for Spielmann. The Frankfurt old master had to stretch in order not to go into the second round with a defeat on shaky legs in his first game. At Müller against Donnert it looked like a clear outcome of the match. But Donnert was not at all impressed by the previous successes of the Berliner and put this under great pressure. He delivered an impressive game and mastered Müller's game. It was David against Goliath and the audience honored this with storms of enthusiasm. Thunder had made it and was the first to cross the finish line. Müller still needed three points. He got the first two, with the last he was visibly nervous about the difficult position of the balls. He had to think about it for a long time, finally found a suitable design and still reached a draw in the follow-up. This match seemed to be in his bones when he faced Spielmann. The last one brought home the win with two points, albeit close, and went into the next round unbeaten. Thunder was and remained the surprise at this tournament. Even in his games against Spielmann and Schüssler he did not let himself be left behind and only lost them with two or three points. In the end, despite a better game, he was the only newcomer to remain without a win or points.

Intermediate round

After the preliminary round the following results were achieved:

1. Minstrel
2. Siebert
3. Müller
4. Rudolph
5. Meissburger
6. Stooping

This resulted in the following pairings / games:

Intermediate round games

Player 1	Result	Player 2
Minstrel	60 : 43	Stooping
Meissburger	60 : 44	Siebert
Müller	60 : 57	Rudolph

The sensation was perfect. Siebert only got through his better GD (including preliminary round) and Meissburger had become a danger for everyone. Müller was able to save himself into the next round with a three-point lead in a hard-fought game and the Cologne old master was eliminated.

Final rounds

It was initially played in the pairings Spielmann-Siebert and Müller-Meissburger. The hitherto undefeated minstrel apparently had difficulties with Siebert's game and lost this game relatively clearly. Müller had no problems with his opponent and was now fighting for the crown with Siebert in the final. Spielmann and Meissburger played for third place in the small final.

Preludes to the final round

Player 1	Result	Player 2
Minstrel	50: 60	Siebert
Müller	60 : 50	Meissburger

In the battle for the bronze medal, Spielmann had found his way back to his old skill level, showed the art of three-cushion play in the usual manner, Meissburger had lost his vigor in the course of the tournament and no longer had the vigor from the preliminary round and so Spielmann won with a sovereign 60:49 in 64 Recordings.

In the grand finale, Müller initially seemed to have gotten completely off guard, but Siebert, waiting, didn't take his chances. The Berliner then played, among other things, the tournament highest series of 10 and left Siebert no more chance of winning. At the end of the game it was 60:47 in 70 shots. It was Dieter Müller's first title at these German championships.

Closing table

Legend
Abbr.	meaning
Pt.	points scored
Recording	required recordings
ED	Single average
GD	General average
VGD	Relative general average
BMD	Best team average
BED	Best individual average
BSD	Best sentence average
BEVD	Best Individual Relative Average
HS	Maximum series
MP	Match points
PP	Lot of points
GUV	G ewonnen- U nentschieden- V erloren
SV	Sentence ratio
	1st place (gold)
	2nd place (silver)
	3rd place (bronze)
	Best GD of the tournament / round
	Best VGD of the tournament / round
	Best ED of the tournament / round
	Best BVGD of the tournament / round
	Best HS of the tournament / round
(It is possible that not all terms are used or some are not listed. These can be looked up in the list of collision terms .)

Final ranking
round	space	Surname	MP	GD	BED	HS
final	1	Dieter Müller	9: 3	0.771	0.869	10
	2	Günter Siebert	8: 4	0.755	0.845	7th
kl. final	3	Siegfried Spielmann	10: 2	0.819	0.937	8th
	4th	Jürgen Meissburger	6: 6	0.744	0.937	7th
ZR	5	Joseph stooping	6: 4	0.711	0.882	6th
	6th	Ernst Rudolph	4: 6	0.722	0.689	7th
VR	7th	Günter Schüssler	2: 4	0.669	0.612	8th
	8th	Hans Ehl	2: 4	0.620	0.722	5
	9	Dieter Haring	2: 4	0.598	0.697	4th
	10	Gerd Pirnay	2: 4	0.592	0.618	6th
	11	Peter Thunders	1: 5	0.641	0.645	5
	12	Lutz Schwab	0: 6	0.483	-	4th

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Walter Hegenberg: Billard Sport . Ed .: Deutscher Billard Bund. 1st edition. Cologne October 1973, p. 146-147 .
2. ^ ^{A b} Dieter Haase / Heinrich Weingartner : Encyclopedia of Billiards . 1st edition. tape 2 . Verlag Heinrich Weingartner, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-200-01489-3 , p. 945 .