Viersen , March 12nd
One of billiards’ great traditions is the annual World Championship for National teams. It is also one of the oldest events in our sport, and the “Festhalle” in Viersen (Germany) is home to this championship. From 14 to 17 March, sixteen countries will once again send their best players to the province of Nordrhein-Westfalen, where they will compete as two-some’s in the Scotch Double format.
Korea is the defending champion: last year Sung Won Choi and Dong Koong Kang successfully defended the title won in 2017 by Sung Won Choi and Jae Guen Kim. Can they make it three in a row, with two different players? Belgium (Merckx – Caudron) even had a four-year streak, from 2012 to 2015. Other countries that did well in the long history of Viersen: Sweden, with Blomdahl and Nilsson, the Netherlands, with Jaspers and Burgman or van Erp, Turkey, Sayginer playing with Yüksel and Tasdemir with Cenet, and of course hosts Germany, most often represented by Rudolph and Horn. Denmark, France and Austria have been very dangerous outsiders in recent history, and Vietnam sends two players who are high on the world ranking. Also, it will be interesting to see if the three teams from the America’s can challenge the European and Asian reputations.
This year’s sixteen countries and their players are:
South Korea: Haeng Jik Kim, Jae Ho Cho
Germany: Horn, Lindemann
Turkey: Coklu, Cenet
Netherlands: Burgman, Jaspers
Greece: Kasidokostas, Polychronopoulos
Denmark: Carlsen, Andersen
Belgium: Caudron, Merckx
France: Bury, Maréchal
Austria: Efler, Kahofer
Colombia: Morales, Catano
Mexico: Munoz, Garcia
Peru: Tevez, Sacco
Japan: Mori, Sakai
Vietnam: Nguyen, Tran
Lebanon: Jihad, Yasser
Egypt: Sidhom, Fouda
Play starts on Thursday 11.00, the final is scheduled for Sunday at 14.00.