LIVE SCORE
https://umb.cuesco.net/competition/liveScore?idx=177#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
Veghel October 26th 2024.
Who can stop the Vietnamese tsunami? Not even Frédéric Caudron could do it. In a tense final where nerves were eating away at both finalists, the precision master from Ho Chi Minh overcame the fluency genius from Turnhout: 50-38 in 28/27 innings.
It may not have been the best final in World Cup history, but it was certainly exciting. A few strange opening innings left Tran, who had won the lag and thus the break shot, on zero points after five attempts. Caudron put in a few unforced errors too, and the match really only came alive after Tran had made a 7 and an 8.
The Vietnamese slowly pulled away from the Belgian, but there was never a knock-out. He finished the match scoring 3-2-2-2-2-3-1-2-3, a score sheet you rarely see in modern 3-cushion. Caudron did not have a lot to work with in terms of position, and he could not do the impossible.
In the fi
rst semi, Caudron had seen off one of the great Vietnamese talents, Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen, who had eliminated Jaspers in great style on Friday. It was close (50-45 in 31), and it was visible that Frédéric was not in the form he had demonstrated earlier in the week.
Quyet Chien Tran had the much better start in his duel with Peter Ceulemans: 20-6 and 27-10 to the Vietnamese. Peter Ceulemans always puts up a fight, and he did this time. But his runs of 5, 4, 6 and 3 were not high enough to do the job: 50-37 in 23/22 to Tran.
Quyet Chien Tran takes the lead in the race for the Overall World Cup of 2024, pulling away from Dick Jaspers. There are two World Cups still to play: Seoul in November and Sharm El Sheikh in December.
Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen wins his first World Cup bronze. It’s the second medal of that color for Peter Ceulemans. Frédéric Caudron wins his thirteenth silver, Quyet Chien Tran wins his fourth gold.
The best general average in Veghel was played by Phuong Vinh Bao: 2.522.
The best match to 40 points was played by Quyet Chien Tran: 40 in 9.
The best match to 50 points was played by Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen: 50 in 13.
The high run of the event was made by Tayfun Tasdemir: 17.
The tournament average (last 32) was quite high, the best we’ve seen since the format change: 1.625.
Veghel, October 25th 2024.
One of the greatest talents the game has ever seen, quite possibly the best player in the world today: Frédéric Caudron is back. His performances in the Veghel World Cup make him the prime candidate for the win on Saturday. But, as he said himself, the world has changed. New and exciting players have created a completely new hierarchy. But when the Fred-diesel is humming, it’s hard to see anyone keeping up with that pace.
Caudron first beat the reigning world champion Myung Woo Cho, 50-37 in 18. A summary of the match? Cho was really, really good, Caudron was better. He then got past Tayfun Tasdemir, who found an extra gear when it was too late: 50-45 in 25. The Turkish ex-world champion did treat the crowd to a fabulous match against Martin Horn in the last sixteen: 50-23 in 14/13.
Peter Ceulemans keeps getting a bit stronger every year, and he proved it by beating Jun Tae Kim 50-44 in 25/24, then outscoring his countryman Roland Forthomme 50-30 in 29. “Peke”, as they call him in Flanders, is no spring chicken, but he has quite a few more years to look forward to than Zanetti or Blomdahl. Grandpa watched from the stands and saw that it was good.
Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen beat Sidhom who couldn’t overcome a poor start, then played the match of his life to eliminate Dick Jaspers. The world number one showed character and fought for what he was worth, but there was no stopping Nguyen. 50-33 in 14/13 innings, it was exhibition stuff from the Vietnamese.
The best player Vietnam has produced so far is Quyet Chien Tran, who has three World Cup wins and a world championship silver to his name. He got past Myeong Jong Cha with ease (50-36 in 28), then disposed of his very dangerous countryman Thanh Luc Tran (50-33 in 29). Tran has a lot on the line: he is in the race for the Overall World Cup of 2024, and he is trying to become the world number one.
Saturday’s semi’s:
Tranh Thanh Tu Nguyen – Frédéric Caudron
Peter Ceulemans – Quyet Chien Tran
Veghel, October 24th 2024.
The fans were eagerly anticipating the Jaspers – Caudron match, but they were treated to so much more. The fifth day of the Veghel World Cup will get a special place in the history books, because the actors on stage all seemed to have their eyes on an Oscar.
Group A. For many years, Jaspers and Caudron were the only true 2.000 average players in the world. How fitting, that they played a 40-40 draw in exactly 20 innings. As expected, both advanced. Mohamed Abdin should be proud of his performance, even though he’s out.
Group B. Quyet Chien Tran head and shoulders the best, and he underlined it with a 40 in 9. Thanh Luc Tran has established himself as a new top player: he could be a future World Cup winner. It was all too much for Hofman and TT Le.
Group C. World champion Myung Woo Cho just sneaks through, behind the ever-smiling group winner Tolgahan Kiraz. Jeffrey Jorissen beat the world champion, but he and Ruben Legazpi came up short.
Group D. Jun Tae Kim and Haeng Jik Kim both on 1.5, but Jun Tae wins the group and Haeng Jik ends in fourth place. The Belgian lion Roland Forthomme can still roar, and he is into the K.O. stage. Good tournament for Gökhan Salman, despite third place.
Group E. Nikos Polychronopoulos books three relatively comfortable wins, even without showing the very best he has to offer. Disappointing results for Merckx and Blomdahl, TTT Nguyen wins second place.
Group F. Berkay Karakurt could even afford to lose his third match (against Zanetti). Martin Horn had a must-win match against Bong Jo Hwang, and he brought it home. Marco Zanetti had the group’s best average, but he ends in third place.
Group G. Everything was on a knife’s edge in this flight. Peter Ceulemans narrowly defeated H.T. Nguyen thanks to a courageous final bank shot. But he still needed Tayfun Tasdemir to equalize against Jung Han Heo. The Turk (2.142 general avg) made no mistake. Tasdemir and Ceulemans in, Heo and Nguyen out.
Group H. The 2023 world champion Phuong Vinh Bao must be the unluckiest player of the tournament. His matches lasted 18, 15 and 11 innings, and he averaged a truly impressive 2.522, only to finish last. Strong play by Orak as well, but Sidhom (2.181) and Myeong Jong Cha (2.245) advance to the K.O. stage. What a group result, and what a level of play!
Can this World Cup get any better?
This is what awaits us tomorrow:
Sidhom – TTT Nguyen
B. Karakurt – Jaspers
Caudron – Myung Woo Cho
Polychronopoulos – Forthomme
Tasdemir - Horn
Jun Tae Kim – Ceulemans
Kiraz – Thanh Luc Tran
Quyet Chien Tran – Myeong Jong Cha
All matches are streamed on Soop (formerly Afreeca TV).
Veghel, October 23th 2024
“One of our best World Cups”, said UMB president Farouk Barki. He was not kidding. The fourth day of play in Veghel was like a highlight reel, with Thanh Luc Tran, Frédéric Caudron, Ruben Legazpi and Thanh Tien Le producing phenomenal averages.
Twelve group winners go into the main draw, and the three best numbers two. Sometimes it looks as if the fight for those three spots is the hardest of all. Three Frenchmen were in the running (Maréchal, Bury and Panaia), only Maréchal made it.
Berkay Karakurt ran a 14 and made 40 in 10, the best match of the day. In groups F (won by T.L. Tran) and G (won by Caudron), not a single match lasted 20 innings! That could well be a first.
The organizing country lost all their players. The Netherlands will now rely on wildcards Jorissen and Hofman, and of course Dick Jaspers.
Here are today’s winners:
T.L. Tran 4 – 3.076
Caudron 4 – 2.424
Forthomme 4 – 1.632
TTT Nguyen 4 – 1.538
B.J. Hwang 4 – 1.481
Ceulemans 4 – 1.428
M.J. Cha 4 – 1.428
Orak 4 – 1.428
H.T. Nguyen 4 – 1.403
B. Karakurt 3 – 1.739
Polychronopoulos 2 – 1.945
Salman 2 – 1.275
The three best numbers two:
Legazpi 2 – 2.166
TT Le 2 – 2.096
Maréchal 2 – 1.657.
If this is any indication about the main event, we are in for a treat on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Watch it all on Soop (formerly Afreeca TV).
Veghel, October 22th 2024
While still living in the Netherlands, Raymon Groot was a good player, but he was one of many. Now, a few years later, he has risen to the top of 3-cushion in the USA. Name their best half-dozen, and he’s one of them.
In today’s PQ round in the Veghel World Cup, Groot impressed with a 35 in 14 match and an average of 1.842. His great showing wasn’t even the best of the day: Belgian veteran Peter de Backer also made 35 in 14, and the 1995 world champion Jef Philipoom recorded 35 in 11. Things ended well for De Backer: despite his one loss he advanced. Philipoom also had a win and a loss, but he finished second in his group, the Greek talent Seleventas taking first.
T.T.T. Nguyen, one of the more dangerous Vietnamese players, didn’t advance. Neither did one of the best Spaniards: Sergio Jimenez. Unluckiest number two was probably Muammer Rahmet, who made 69 of his 70 points but did not qualify.
Of all the group winners, only one was below 1 average, fifteen were well over. No shortage of high runs either: there were 11’s, 12’s and 13’s galore.
Here are the day’s winners:
Groot 4 – 1.842
Soumagne 4 – 1.666
Orak 4 – 1.627
Alp 4 – 1.555
N.C. Long 4 – 1.521
Knudsen 4 – 1.521
T.T. Le 4 – 1.400
Szivacz 4- 1.346
Bas 4 – 1.346
H.T. Nguyen 4 – 1.320
J.I. Kang 4 – 1.228
Panaia 4 – 1.060
Löwe 4 – 0.972
Seleventas 3 – 1.147
De Backer 2 – 1.682
Takeshima 2 – 1.196
Tomorrow in the arena: Polychronopoulos, Bury, Legazpi, Caudron, Karakurt, Ceulemans, Forthomme and a host of other strong players.
All matches are streamed by Soop (formerly Afreeca TV). Your user name and login will still work.
Veghel, October 21th 2024
It was a day full of excitement in the Noordkade, home of the Veghel World Cup. Matches that ended in 30-29, matches with world class averages for some, bitter disappointment for others. In short: a day of 3-cushion billiards.
Three Vietnamese players dominated the ranking: Thanh Tien Le, Nguyen Chi Long and Hoan Tat Nguyen. It is amazing how fast Vietnam has become the leading country in our sport, surpassing even Korea by now.
It was a bad day for the organizing country. Jordy de Kruijf was the only qualifier-by-right and his 1.111 must have made him feel proud. More highly regarded Dutch players like Christiani, van Erp, Bruijstens and van Schaik were eliminated.
A remarkable thing happened when the two best losers of the round were announced. In first place, John van der Stappen with 0.731 (3 points) and in second place Barry van Beers with 1.812 and 2 points. The important lesson: always give that equalizing inning your full effort! Both vd Stappen and van Beers advance to the PQ round. Jean van Erp was the unfortunate third on the reserve list.
Today’s winners:
Thanh Tien Le 4 – 2.222
Nguyen Chi Long 4 – 1.818
Hoan Tat Nguyen 4 – 1.395
Knudsen 4 – 1.304
De Backer 4 – 1.224
Panaia 4 – 1.200
J. Philipoom 4 – 1.176
Mortensen 4 – 1.132
De Kruijf 4 – 1.111
Bouerdick 4 – 1.090
Kara 4- 1.090
Bas 4 – 1.000
Moulos 4 – 0.967
Groot 4 – 0.869
Takeshima 3 – 1.224
Löwe 3 – 1.034
In the arena tomorrow: Soares, Mas, Orak, Kahofer, Kokkoris and others. Watch it all on Soop!
Veghel, October 20th 2024
We all know what the first day of a World Cup is like: slippery and sometimes changing table conditions. It’s not so easy to cruise through the early rounds. The three players who did it best on opening day were Jean van Erp (1.578), Kostas Papakonstantinou (1.500) and Mikael Devogelaere (1.395).
Quite a few seasoned players managed to win twice, but used up more innings than they usually do: Knudsen, Philipoom, van Beers, to name a few. Van der Ven, Crespo, Ibraimov and Klompenhouwer had to settle for second place in their group.
Today’s winners:
Van Erp 4 – 1.578
Papakonstantinou 4 – 1.500
Devogelaere 4 – 1.395
Kara 4 – 1.111
Knudsen 4 – 1.016
Cerkez 4 – 1.000
Bruijstens 4 – 0.895
J. Philipoom 4 – 0.895
Vd Stappen 4 – 0.857
Andaluz 4 – 0.845
Wittkopf 4 – 0.508
Van Beers 3 – 1.276
Christiani 3 – 1.224
Van Schaik 2 – 1.153
F. Broeders 2 – 1.090
Cin 2 – 0.810.
Tomorrow, players like Lindemann, Reverchon, Novak and Löwe will enter the tournament.
Soop (formerly Afreeca TV) is streaming all the matches. Full results are available on the websites of Five & Six and the UMB.
UMB.
Veghel, October 18th 2024
It’s the fifth edition of the Veghel (Netherlands) World Cup, and it’s the fifth WC of the 2024 cycle. Who will win this race?
The Veghel World Cup (20-26 October) has built up a good reputation in the past years. Players love the quirky arena and the many catering options that are within walking distance. Spectators are usually there in large numbers. The past winners are Haeng Jik Kim (2019), Dani Sánchez (2021), Torbjörn Blomdahl (2022) and Dick Jaspers (2023).
The UMB has seeded the following players for Veghel: Jaspers, Q.C. Tran, M.W. Cho, J.T. Kim, Merckx, Horn, Tasdemir, P.V. Bao, Sidhom, J.H. Heo, Zanetti, Blomdahl, H.J. Kim and Kiraz. The local wildcards went to Jeffrey Jorissen and Glenn Hofman, the AMECC/UMB wildcard was given to Mohamed Abdin.
The tables in Veghel are Eureka, the cloth is ClassOne B2 Black, the balls are Dynaspheres. The usual ranking points are at stake. In the race for the Overall World Cup of 2024, Jaspers and Q.C. Tran share the lead with 142 points. Heo, Sidhom, Cho and Kiraz are all within shooting distance.
All matches will be streamed by Afreeca TV, which has rebranded itself as Soop. Full match results are available on the websites of SOOP , Five & Six and the UMB.
UMB.
Podium 2023 in Veghel , The Netherlands.