Kees de Ruijter (carom player)

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Kees de Ruijter
Billard Picto 2-white-l.svg
Biljarten Nederlandse kampioenschappen ereklasse 472 te Nijmegen, Kees de Ruyte, inventory number 910-8855.jpg
De Ruijter in 1959 at the Dutch Cadre 47/2 Championships
Personal details
birthday March 23, 1925
place of birth Waalwijk NetherlandsNetherlandsNetherlands 
date of death February 10, 1983
Place of death Waalwijk NetherlandsNetherlandsNetherlands 
nationality NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands
Nickname (s) Keesje
Achievements
Unless otherwise stated,
the information relates to the “three cushion” discipline.
Continental Championships:
1 × Free game
1 × Cadre
Other tournaments:
s. successes

Cornelis (Kees or Cees) Henricus Rochus de Ruijter also de Ruyter (old spelling) (born March 23, 1925 in Waalwijk , Netherlands ; † February 10, 1983 ibid) was a Dutch carom player in the classic disciplines of free game and cadre . He is the older brother of Henny de Ruijter , also a successful carambola player.

Career

Children's career

Keesje at a screening in his father's café in 1937, at the end of the video together with his younger brother Henny de Ruijter
Advertisement about the “Wunderknaben” in the Algemeen Handelsblatt on February 8, 1938

In 1934, Drik de Ruijter, Kees' father, opened the “Café City” on the Waalwijk market and was able to quickly expand it into a billiards center by organizing all kinds of tournaments. Kees was so fascinated by billiards that he had the courage to go to a café by himself one morning and play. So he was literally "discovered" by his father, who then let him play during the day. Because he is still too small, the 11-year-old often has to lie down on the pool table or uses a box that he stands on in order to be able to play. Its bumps astonish many visitors to the café. He's doing streaks of over 100 in the free game almost every day , but Kees doesn't shy away from Cadre either . "His Masses and piqués are exceptionally good," is 1939 in De Telegraaf . The other players found it funny with the "Manneke" and taught him technique, tricks and tricks. However, Keesje soon defeated his teachers. “Keesje - the Waalwijk billiards prodigy”, as he was called back then, often demonstrated his billiards skills in the café with his brother Henny . The Waalwijkers should not be able to keep it to themselves for long, however, because the first articles about Keesje appeared in the regional newspapers as early as February 1937. These reports were soon taken up by the national and international press and invitations to demonstrations came from all over the country. At the end of 1937 there was also an invitation to tour America. That was also the reason why Polygoon-Film came to shoot him in 1937 (see web link). As a result of these films, the father had advertising brochures made for his company with bus and train timetables on the back. At the beginning of 1938 a first lawsuit was brought against Drik de Ruijter for “child labor under 14 years” and further demonstrations were banned up to the age of 14.

“Zaterdagavond heeft de gemeente-politie te Vught, op verzoek van de arbeidsinspectie,  proces-verbaal opgemaakt tegen the impresario van the 12-year-old Keesje de Ruijter uit Waalwijk, het zg 'biljartwonder', wayens het doiden doen work . ”

"On Saturday evening, at the request of the Labor Inspectorate, the city police in Vught wrote an official report against the impresario of 12-year-old Keesje de Ruijter from Waalwijk, the so-called 'billiard miracle', in which a child is supposed to do work."

- N / A : Algemeen Handelsblad in February 1938

When Keesje had celebrated this and invitations came again, a lawsuit was filed for “youth work under 18 after 8:00 p.m.”. The verdict followed in 1939: Keesje's game of billiards was not viewed by the judge as “work within the meaning of the law”. The prosecution appealed, but the Supreme Court rejected it in January 1940. In 1939, Keesje was invited to hold a series of demonstrations in Argentina. As a result, Polygoon traveled to Waalwijk again and took him in again, this time with Henny.

Carefully planned by the father, a tour leads through the Netherlands, from Groningen and Den Helder via Vlissingen to Roermond, from Zwolle to Maastricht and through several smaller towns. This was not without criticism abroad, as the “Sumatra Post” wrote in March 1940 under the title “What Keesje brings in per week” that he earns over forty guilders (today more than three hundred euros) per night.

In addition to billiards, Kees works in his father's café. In July 1950 he left for Amsterdam to become manager of a billiard room, then he was homesick and a month later he was back in Waalwijk. Further takeovers of other cafés in other places always end up in his hometown, where he then opened his own “Café Kees de Ruijter” in the Grotestraat in 1964, which is now run by his son of the same name.

First successes

National championships

In 1942, Kees became a member of the Dutch Billiards Association. Because of his strong game, he was immediately transferred to the second class match pool ; However, he was only allowed to take part in championships when he celebrated his 18th birthday. Shortly before that day, however, he won undefeated the Brabant preliminary round games for the Dutch championship of the 2nd class at tournament billiards (small table) in Cadre 35/2. The officials of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Biljartbond (KNBB) gave him permission to take part in the final in Amsterdam, where he won the bronze medal. In 1944 he became Dutch champion in the same discipline in the 1st class and immediately caused a stir when he finished a match with a series of 400. On November 25, 1951, de Ruijter was again Dutch champion and improved his own record high to 487. Immediately afterwards, a ceremony took place in his honor, for which even the mayor of Hengelo had traveled.

From 1949 to 1963 he was almost continuously on the podium at the national free game championship, including nine finals with five gold medals. In the Cadre disciplines, old master Piet van de Pol was his greatest competitor, and later Cees van Oosterhout was newcomer .

International championships

On February 5, 1950, the sensation was even greater, Kees became the undefeated European champion in Cadre 47/2 in St. Etienne (France). When he arrived in Waalwijk a few days later, he was received by many enthusiastic residents. After a ceremony, a chapel accompanied him to the De Ruijter house. The facade of his father's café was provided with the text "Café Kees de Ruijter" in green neon letters. A few months later, on May 1st, Kees received his second European title, in Vienna he became European champion in the free game. As defending champion, Kees took part in the Cadre 47/2 European Championship in Waalwijk in January 1951, where he finished third.

Free game World Cup 1950 in Madrid

Kees was not satisfied with the Free Game World Cup in Madrid. The tournament was held on the fourteenth floor of a hotel. In the beginning it went very well. The Dutch played the first three games averaging 74.00. After that, however, the performance fell quickly, Kees said: “Neither Dufetelle, nor Gabrlëls , nor van Hassel , nor myself had a chance against Pedro Leopoldo Carrera ('Argentina), Joaquín Domingo or Rafael Garcia (both Spain). For the simple reason that the well-known rules of the free game were not applied to them, only to us. It's a scandal, which is why Van Hassel, Dufetelle, Gabriels and I decided to protest against this method. We will never take part in competitions in Spain again. "

The applicable regulations were applied to the French, Belgian and Dutch representatives. "It is definitely wrong to say that Garcia, Dominco and Carrera were so much stronger," says De Ruyter, they are not stronger than the rest, but it was a given that we were allowed to say that. And unfortunately there was nothing to be done about it. It is understandable that the kindness was soon over for us.

We assume that the protest will be dealt with at the next meeting of the “International Billiard Federation” and that Spain will no longer have the opportunity to host a world championship. According to De Ruyter. As a result, the ANP is informed by the KNBB that a report has been received on the De Ruyter incident.

Free game World Cup 1953 in Vigo

Because of a dispute between the Dutch umbrella organization (KNBB) and the Spanish Real Federación Española de Billar (RFEB) over travel expenses, de Ruijter was prohibited by the KNBB from participating in the 1953 Free Game World Cup in Vigo .

Innkeeper

After working in his father's café for many years, Kees de Ruijter went to Amsterdam in mid-July 1950 , where he became director of the Dubois café-restaurant-billiard center on the Ceintuurbaan. However, his homesickness drove him back to Waalwijk at the end of August. After his marriage in 1952, he decided to run the Aux Quatre Saisons café in Maastricht. In Maastricht Kees had endured longer than in Amsterdam, but once again won his longing for Waalwijk and the end of 1954 returned it back. In 1959 he had the opportunity to take over a café in Ulvenhout and Kees decided to accept the offer, but in the following year the homesickness proved to be too great and the family finally returned to Waalwijk. In 1964 he opened the "Café Kees de Ruijter" in 147 on the "Grotestraat".

In the mid-1960s he was diagnosed with a rare muscle disorder that spelled the end of his active billiards career and ultimately made it impossible for him to work as an innkeeper. In order to stay connected to billiards, he began trading billiards and gave lessons from time to time. He died in 1983 at the age of only 57.

successes

International

National

  • Dutch Free Game Championship: gold1951–1954, 1956 silver1950, 1955, 1961, 1963 bronze1949, 1957
  • Dutch Cadre 45/2 Championship: bronze1945, 1947
  • Dutch Cadre 47/2 Championship: gold1951 silver1950, 1953, 1960 bronze1949, 1954, 1955
  • Dutch Cadre 71/2 Championship: gold1954 silver1955 bronze1950, 1951, 1953

Swell:

Honors

  • In 2004 he was accepted into the Holland Sport Gallery of Honor.
  • Waalwijk honored the brothers by naming the “Kees en Henny de Ruijterstraat”. ⊙

Web links

Commons : Kees de Ruijter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Ineke van den Houdt-Swinkels: Van Keesje tot Kees de Ruijter . In: De Klopkei . tape 38 , March 2014, ISSN  0922-1158 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Kees de Ruijter. (No longer available online.) Biljartvereniging Geertruidenberg 1977, August 16, 2015, archived from the original on November 6, 2019 ; Retrieved November 6, 2019 (Dutch).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Matthijs van Nieuwkerk: De Eregalerij met Keesje de Ruyter. Biljarter uit vervlogen tijden. (No longer available online.) Holland Sport, archived from the original on February 9, 2006 ; Retrieved November 7, 2019 (Dutch).
  4. ↑ a b c d Marilou Nillesen: Waalwijks wonderkind Keesje de Ruijter laat wereld vereld doen staan ​​met biljartkunsten. (No longer available online.) Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum (BHIC), November 7, 2018, archived from the original on November 7, 2019 ; Retrieved November 7, 2019 (Dutch).
  5. ↑ a b c Kees de Ruyter is net te spreken over wereldkampioenschap libre te Madrid. (No longer available online.) Leidsch Dagblad, June 6, 1950, archived from the original on November 6, 2019 ; Retrieved November 6, 2019 (Dutch).
  6. ↑ De Ruyter niet nar Vigo. (No longer available online.) Leidsch Dagblad, July 25, 1953, archived from the original on November 7, 2019 ; Retrieved November 7, 2019 (Dutch).
  7. ↑ player profile. Kozoom , accessed November 6, 2019 .
  8. ^ Cees Sprangers, Koninklijke Nederlandse Biljartbond : Encyclopedie van de ereklasse . Historie van de Nederlandse biljartsport. Ed .: Barlandus Boekproducties. 1st edition. Sprangers, 2011, ISBN 978-90-816595-1-2 (Dutch, 815 pages, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 7, 2019]).
personal data
SURNAME Ruijter, Kees de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ruijter, Cornelis Henricus Rochus de (full name); Ruyter, Cees de (old spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch carom player
DATE OF BIRTH March 23, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Waalwijk , the Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 1983
Place of death Waalwijk , the Netherlands