SEVENTH LAUSANNE BILLARD MASTERS, THE BEST YET ?
11/12/2019
The field in Lausanne has always been high quality, but this 2019 edition raises the bar. The charity event hosted by CEB president Diane Wild will have the current world champion Dick Jaspers, the under 22 world champion Myung Woo Cho, the European under 21 champion Maxime Panaia and the ladies world champion Therese Klompenhouwer. Since the LBM is played in three flights of four players, that leaves us with eight more names. Here they are, in random order: Jae Ho Cho, Martin Horn,... »
GURI WORLD CUP: EUROPE REFUSES TO HAND 3-CUSHION DOMINANCE TO ASIA
11/10/2019
There’s strength in numbers for the Asians. More and more Korean and Vietnamese players survive the early rounds in world cups. But on the final day, it’s usually Europeans that decide about the medals. Haeng Jik Kim may have won in Veghel, but the other world cups of 2019 were Turkish, Belgian, Spanish, Dutch and again Belgian property. Three Europeans and one Asian made it to the final day in Guri, and there was an unsurprising result: Eddy Merckx won the last two matches... »
GURI IS ALWAYS A GREAT WORLD CUP
11/01/2019
The sixth World Cup in the 2019 series will take place about an hour from Seoul: the Guri tournament will kick off on 4 November. The final matches will be played on the 10th. As usual, fourteen players have been seeded in this event: Jaspers, Zanetti, Tasdemir, Sayginer, Merckx, J.H. Cho, Q.C. Tran, Sidhom, Coklu, Bury, H.J. Kim, Horn, J.H. Heo and Blomdahl. The UMB wild card was given to Pedro Gonzalez from Colombia, the local wildcards went to Myung Woo Cho and Jung Pyo Hong.... »
A KOREA-TURKEY THRILLER ENDS THE VEGHEL WORLD CUP
10/27/2019
The home crowd would have loved to see Dick Jaspers win the Veghel World Cup, but it was not to be: he was denied by Turkey’s Lütfi Cenet. The neighboring Belgians had their hopes on Eddy Merckx, but he was eliminated by Korea’s Haeng Jik Kim. These two were the last ones left standing on Satrurdat afternoon, and the treated the spectators to an exciting final. Cenet had the much better start, Kim had the better finish. To illustrate the way “Veghel”... »
ITALIAN TRIUMPH IN PISTOIA
10/21/2019
A roar and standing ovation at Palacarrara were the sign that a new World Champion was born: Ciro Davide Rizzo won the 24th World Championship 5-pins Individual Open in Pistoia. The result 4 to 1 for Rizzo to Santi Caratozzolo underlines a very good shape of the first one who reached the last 8 beating Gustavo Torregiani with a final score of 4-0 first, and then overcame Marcolin 4-2. Santi Caratozzolo, the silver medal, suffered a bit the game of Rizzo: after winning the first set... »
FIFTH STOP ON THE TOUR: VEGHEL, NETHERLANDS
10/17/2019
After four World Cups in Antalya, Blankenberge, Ho Chi Minh and Porto, it's the Netherlands turn, The fifth event in the 2019 cycle will take place in Veghel. The Netherlands hosted a World Cup for the last time in 2009: Sluiskil. A decade later, world number one and world champion Dick Jaspers gets a chance to play in his own country again, even in his own province. The city of Veghel was home to the Dutch Nationals (Masters) for many years. For the World Cups of 2019,... »
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 5-PINS
10/15/2019
Here we go! All is ready at PalaCarrara in Pistoia (Italy) to start the the 24th World Championship 5-pins individual open. Nine tables, 64 athletes from Europe and South America (16 athletes from qualifications and 48 convened by the various participating federations according to internal criteria established),17 nations. The 64 athletes will be divided into 8 rounds, the best four from each round will go on to compose the 32nd draw. The Italian Federation has done its job and... »
MYUNG WOO CHO FOLLOWS IN HAENG JIK KIM'S FOOTSTEPS
10/06/2019
In the eyes of many, he is the greatest 3-cushion talent in the world. Myung Woo Cho dealt with all the high expectations when he cruised to his third Junior world title, this Saturday. Only his countryman Haeng Jik Kim did better: he won four. It confirmed what we already knew: the European juniors will have a mountain to climb if they want to keep up with the level of play coming from Korea. In Valencia, where the Spanish Federation had combined this championship with the Ladies... »
KLOMPENHOUWER FIGHTS OFF ASIAN CHALLENGE
10/02/2019
The reigning Ladies world champion successfully defended her title in Valencia, Spain. Therese Klompenhouwer from the Netherlands beat her long-time rival Orie Hida from Japan in the final, to complete a dominant championship. She stayed unbeaten through the week, was consistently over 1.000 average, and no doubt the best player in the event. After the preliminaries and K.O. last 16 and quarterfinal rounds, four women were still in the race for the 2019 UMB world title: Therese... »
LADIES FIRST IN VALENCIA THEN THE JUNIORS
09/27/2019
From 30 September – 5 October, Valencia, Spain will be the center of the 3-cushion world. The Ladies will play their world championship first, then the juniors. The Ataneo Mercantil de Valencia is the venue that hosts both championships, and Mr. Eduardo Rifaterra is the tournament director. UMB vice-president Fernando Requena is the organizer, and he has high hopes for the week. “We intend to make it a great event and a major promotion for the sport.” Title holder in... »