We are just three weeks into the new season, and the Van den Brande brothers from Berlaar have already added three great results to their palmares. They even won the first two prizes on one occasion, which is a feat that will be hard to improve upon.
Frans and Marcel, and Marcel’s son Carl in between them
Diamantverbond
Of the three first prizes that they won, two were claimed in the renowned Diamandverbond Union. This union, named after the region that was once home to a flourishing diamond industry, is still the leading competition in the sprint, with the best sprint fanciers competing against each other every week. These fanciers work hard every week to earn as much prize money as they can. Fanciers are known to basket only their very best birds, and those that fail to deliver several weeks in a row will inevitably be left out. The number of competing pigeons decreases significantly every week due to this fierce competition. As a result, pigeons that would initially win prizes per ten with ease suddenly fail to win a prize per 3, and these kind of pigeons usually have no place in the racing team in Berlaar. It is in this prestigious union, where only the very best fanciers stand out, that the brothers Marcel and Frans Van den Brande have been top performers for years.
General champion
The Diamantverbond Union awarded a title of General Champion Quievrain and Noyon for the first time in 2014. The winners of 2014 were the Van den Brande Brothers. They finished in 2nd place in 2015, before claiming another championship title in 2016 and another second place in 2017. They have repeatedly outperformed their opponents at club level as well, winning the title of general champion in the club 12 times in 18 seasons. They finished in 2nd place in the remaining 6 seasons. They basketed pigeons in Bevel (along the Nete river) for the first time in 2017, and they became 1st General Champion Quievrain and Noyon here as well (Click here for all of their best results over the years). Among the stars that have won so many great results in recent seasons are De Diamant, Blauwe 213, Super Blauwe 401, De Piraat, De Kapitein and Blauwe 512.
Diamant (BE14-6115421)
Diamant was an exceptional racing bird with 8 first prizes (no doubles) to his name:
1st Quievrain 221 p.
1st Quievrain 186 p.
1st Quievrain 186 p.(not the same race as the previous one)
1st Quievrain 126 p.
1st Quievrain 76 p.
1st Quievrain 200 p.
1st Quievrain 76 p.
1st Quievrain 106 p.
He also wins a 2nd/274 p., a 2nd/1086 p., a 7th/863 p. and 44 prizes in total, including mosty prizes per ten. These results led to a title of 4th ace pigeon YBs Quevrain 2014, 3rd ace pigeon YLs Quievrain 2015 in the Diamandverbond Union, and 1st ace pigeon Quievrain in Bevel 2017. He is now the sire of the 730/17, a talented pigeon that claimed a 10th/380 p. and a 27th/717 p. The sire of Diamant became 1st ace pigeon Quievrain in the Diamandverbond union in 2014, and his grandparents were excellent racing birds as well: 2nd/187, 5th/143, 5th/254, 5th/2,224, 20th/922, 24th/1.740, always from Quievrain. Click here for Diamant’s full pedigree.