Raimond Burgman makes new start after Zundert

HEEMSTEDE - He's not that player who is in the spotlights throughout the year. Sometimes it can be quiet for weeks and months around Raimond Burgman, who's a player in the shadow of the top players in the world, who rarely has high peaks, but never failes remarkably. Top three in the Netherlands for so many years. And sometimes with another highlight in his career, like in the final weeks of last year. The victory in the Christmas tournament made Raimond Burgman completely revived again.

He has enjoyed it very much, says Burgman in the days before another great challenge in his program: the Masters in Kapelle. ,,I really was no fan of facebook, but now I realized it's really funny to read so many reactions.''

Three days  before the Masters, time for a chat with Raimond Burgman (May 12, 1964) from Heemstede.

Frits Bakker: What a bustle in the otherwise so quiet life of Raimond Burgman, after the win in the Christmas tournament?
Raimond Burgman: ,,Yes of course it has been a wonderful week, first the tournament itself and then so many people who have congratulated me after the success. That's very nice of course, it is a confirmation of what you know for yourself, but it has come true finally in this tournament. It's definitely a new impetus to my career.''

FB: What gave you the most satisfaction in Zundert?
RB: 'The victory against Frédéric Caudron for sure, who, as we all know, is such a great billiards player. Beating somebody like him, that's amazing, I must confess. And I must admit. They always say that I'm a cool frog, but I couldn't handle with myself at the end. In the Kozoom interview I couldn't deal with my emotion.''

FB: The reason was, maybe, what happened to you in your last inning, as you told me later?
RB: ,,That's true, I couldn't really miss my match point. But suddenly I felt something strange. I stood up straight, I went for the stroke again, but I missed the ball, for me unbelievable. Frederic, who also knows about my past, reacted as a great sportsman. He asked me, should we just ask for a break, Raimond?''

FB: What is that memory, what happened with you and how it's still in your head?
RB: ,,I'll never forget, of course, it was September 16, 2003, exactly one month before our daughter was born.''

FB: For those who don't know, what happened that day?
RB: ,,My wife Natascha was highly pregnant and asked me that evening to go for some fries. I took the car and drove away to buy some. I stopped at the fries center, but then my keys fell on the ground. I wanted to pick them up and I got a strange feeling. My right side failed. I went home, but when I came there, I couldn't speak. So I was taken to the hospital. I stayed there for one night and they have determined that it was a small brain haemorrhage.''

FB: What were the consequences for the days and the weeks after it happened?
RB: ,,I got my feelings in a few days, so it was not too bad. And it didn't happen to me again thereafter, but sometimes strange things happened to me. So one time, I was practicing with Arno Peterson. And when I wanted to make a round the table shot, the stroke was normal, but the ball missed about forty centimeters. That couldn't be normal.''

FB: Do you still take any medication to prevent it in the future?
RB: ,,I still use blood diluting pills and I will always have to do, I think. And occasionally I have a check, but they never can see any abnormalities. But still... If you feel something, like in that match against Caudron, there is always a little scare.''

FB: And the tension in that match, of course. We were in the stands with your father in law, who said: Raimond always says he has no nerves, but as now, I've never seen him before.
RB: ,,That's true, I felt really strange, like I had once when I could win a match against Raymond Ceulemans. And now again against Caudron it was the same. I felt pretty nervous in the last innings.''

FB: Well, but to win the Christmas tournament, it must give a boost to your career.
RB: ,,For sure, because it's a very important tournament with very strong players. I really enjoyed it for a week.''

FB: And now? Off to the Masters in Kapelle with a lot of confidence?
RB: ,,We're all looking forward, the Dutch players, I like the battle for the title. Last year I played the final against Dick Jaspers. I hope to come far now as well. The confidence and the form are there in any case.''