LIVE SCORE
http://umb.cuesco.net/competition/liveScore?idx=194#content
SOOP STREEMING & MORE
https://billiards.sooplive.co.kr/moments/match
OFFICIAL RESULTS & INFORMATION
https://www.umb-carom.org/PG344L1/Union-Mondiale-de-Billard.aspx
Cartagena, September 28th 2025.
The title holder was the favorite: Seymen Özbas. But Mexico’s Ubaldo Sanchez had other ideas. He beat his Turkish opponent in a dramatic and tension-filled final: 40-37 in 37/36, to hand his country their first-ever world title for a 3-cushion junior.
Ubaldo had the lead for most of the match, but Seymen Özbas stayed alert and caught up after a few unforced errors by his opponent. It went to 33-33 when the red ball nestled in the corner and both players could only play defense for several innings. The Turk played one of the worst short-angle shots of his young career, and it cost him in the end. There was one more miss by a hair from the Mexican, but after an unnecessary kiss from Seymen, Ubaldo finished the job with a routine round-the-table. The emotion was dripping from his face, even before the joy broke through.
In the semi’s, there was another top performance from Seymen: he beat his countryman Ataberk Çerkez 40-18 in 20. With numbers like that, the future of Özbas looks very promising indeed.
Ubaldo Sanchez survived a semifinal thriller against Korean Kim Do Hyeon: 40-39 in 30. It’s now almost a shock, when there’s no Korean player in the world junior’s final.
Sanchez made an impression when he went to his chair after a (two rail) point had been awarded by the referee. It was a classic case of good sportsmanship, and to demonstrate that kind of character when you’re in the final of a world championship, at that age, is outstanding.
The best general average in Cartagena was played by Seymen Özbas: 1.456.
The best match average was played by Özbas as well: 2.000.
The tournament high run was made by … Özbas, with 12.
The tournament average was 1.041.
Cartagena, September 27th 2025.
Özbas means business, he wants to keep his title.
It is not unusual for a junior world champion to successfully defend their title: Kasidokostas, Haeng Jik Kim, Javier Palazon, Myung Woo Cho all did it. Seymen Özbas is two matches away from getting into that select group.
Ataberg Cerkez took on Arturo Zotov, and it turned out to be a difficult match for both. Cerkez won, but the 40-38 in 48 showed that it could have gone either way.
Seymen Özbas had a brilliant finish against Toni Garcia: he turned 25-26 into 40-26 (in 21) in the space of five innings.
Hyeon Woo Kim, only 15 years old, had a chance against his countryman Do Hyeon Kim, but the older Korean finished well and won 40-37 in 30.
So much talent in the Spanish-speaking countries of the CPB, and a young Mexican proved it. Ubaldo Sanchez beat Jose Martinez 40-26 in 37 to book his place in the semifinal.
The high run was on the low side in this round of sixteen and eight: an 8. Earlier in the tournament, Özbas ran an 11, and there were several runs of 10.
All four semifinalist are young enough to return to this championship next year. For Daniel Sainz Pardo, Luis Pinto, Valentino Oliveto, Jorge Insignares, Jun Hyuk Son, Sang Uk Jung and Muhaned Khaled, this was their last participation.
Tomorrow’s matches:
Do Hyeon Kim – Ubaldo Sanchez
Seymen Özbas – Ataberk Cergez
Final.
All matches are streamed on Soop.
Cartagena, September 26th 2025.
Defending champion Seymen Özbas from Turkiye and Korean talent Hyeon Woo Kim have sailed through the group stage of the U22 world championship. With 1.463 and 1.578 respectively, they signaled their interest in a bid for the title.
Another Turkish hopeful, Ataberk Cerkez, was on that same level with 1.463. These are the averages the juniors will need to put out consistently, to survive in the senior circuit.
European junior champion Marcos Morales was the most notable victim of the group stage. He was unlucky to be in a strong flight, because his 1.166 would certainly have been good enough in several other groups.
Luca Philipoom, the son of former world champion Jef Philipoom, has elected to represent the Netherlands. He has a Belgian and a Dutch parent, and he could have gone either way. Luca is still in the race; he ended second in his flight with a respectable 0.964.
These are tomorrow’s K.O. matches:
Jun Hyuk Son – Hyeon Woo Kim
Daniel Sainz Pardo – Do Hyeon Kim
Ubaldo Sanchez – Luis Pinto
Jose Martinez – Valentino Oliveto
Muhaned Khaled – Ataberk Cerkez
Luca Philipoom – Arturo Zotov
Tangui Duriez – Toni Garcia
Seymen Özbas – Amir Ibraimov
K.O. matches are to 40 points, without equalizing inning.
All matches streamed on Soop.
