LIVE SCORE
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OFFICIAL RESULTS & INFORMATION
https://www.umb-carom.org/PG344L1/Union-Mondiale-de-Billard.aspx
Binh Thuan , September 29th 2024.
He’s still young, but he carried expectations on his back for the last ten years. Everybody called him “a future world champion”. That’s nice and well-intended, but praise doesn’t make points. Practice does.
In a one-sided final, Myung Woo Cho dominated the surprise from Vietnam, Thanh Luc Tran. The 35-year-old local had eliminated Legazpi, Zanetti, Bury and Jaspers, and a proud man he must be. But in the final, the balls didn’t obey as well as they did against Jaspers. Tran struggled; Cho played billiards. As the gap in points grew, so did Cho’s confidence. He ended the final with a fluke, but the smile on both players’ faces said they didn’t mind. The final score was a reflection of the match: 50-23 in 20/19.
UMB President, Farouk Barki: "15 years later, what an achievement, so happy for you Cho!"
In both semifinals, the European favorite lost. Merckx had played a superlative tournament and outscored everybody. But against Cho, he could not get a meaningful run going until it was almost too late, Cho scored and never seemed to miss anything makeable. He had a 38-15 lead when Merckx ran a textbook 10, but the Korean never lost focus and finished the job at 50-35 in 24/23.
Jaspers was dreaming of a sixth world title, but he admitted to not finding peak form. Tran played as if he walked on water: 43 points in the last 11 innings. It led to 50-32 in 16, surely the highlight in Tran’s career. A very enthusiastic Vietnamese crowd agreed.
It was nice to see that same enthusiasm during the final. You can always count on Myung Woo Cho to produce a few crowd-pleasing shots. How many titles are in his future?
There was an all-Vietnamese final last year (Q.C. Tran - P.V. Bao) and an all-Asian final this year. Europe has not yet been knocked out, but it is on the ropes and the knees are shaking.
The best match in Binh Tuanh was played by Eddy Merckx: 5.000 (40 in 8).
The best general average was also played by Merckx: 2.453.
The high run was made by Mikael Devogelaere: 18.
The tournament average was 1.616 (last 32).
Binh Thuan , September 28th 2024.
Will it be one of the Masters from the Low Countries, Merckx or Jaspers? Will it be the super talent who has carried the label “future world champion” on his back for a decade? Or the dark horse in the race: the very talented Thanh Luc Tran?
Merckx doesn’t waste time this tournament. He keeps making high runs in the early innings of matches, and this time J.J. Garcia was his victim: 50-13 in 17. We all know about Merckx’s reputation in finals: if he’s in one, he usually wins.
Myung Woo Cho always looks at ease when he’s playing one of his “older brothers”. Jung Han Heo had no answer to Cho’s scoring: 50-24 in 19/18. In the round of 16, Cho had beaten Brian Knudsen from Denmark, who can look back on a great tournament.
Jeremy Bury had survived a battle with the 2023 world champion Bao, then eliminated one of the title favorites, Quyet Chien Tran. But unlike 2018, when the Frenchman made it to the final, the quarters were his final station. Thanh Luc Tran had the coolest nerve: 50-47 in 28/27.
Dick Jaspers first beat the stylish Turk Tolgahan Kiraz (50-39 in 19/18), then had to get past Hong Chiem Thai, who had replaced Fadi Abousaleh from Lebanon. Tough luck for Dutchman Glenn Hofman, who could not get to Vietnam in time. Thai made the most of his invitation, and probably played his best event ever. Jaspers was too strong, though: 50-34 in 27/26.
Tomorrow’s semifinals:
T.L. Tran – Jaspers
Merckx – M.W. Cho
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV.
Binh Thuan, September 27th 2024.
In the battle between the three strongest 3-C countries in the world, Vietnam is ahead. Turkiye has one player still in the tournament, Korea has two, Vietnam has five.
The field of 16 is completed by one Colombian, a Dutchman, an Italian, a Belgian, a Dane, an Egyptian and two Frenchmen. Variety is the spice of life, they say.
The round of 32 had no clear high point, such as yesterday’s 40 in 8 by Merckx. But there was no lack of excitement, because several of the matches to 50 points were close: Tran – Karakurt was 50-49, Bury – Bao was 50-47, Kiraz – Morales was 50-48.
Two Koreans with big names were eliminated: Jun Tae Kim by the tournament revelation Mikael Devogelaere, Haeng Jik Kim by J.J. Garcia. Knudsen won the Scandinavian encounter with Pennör, Sidhom eliminated Rodriguez, Cho won but was tested by veteran Vera, V.T. Nguyen beat Takao Miyashita. Bury advances thanks to a closing run of eight, eliminating the reigning champion Bao.
Many eyes were on the nostalgia match between Jaspers and Blomdahl, and it looked like a match for a long time. But from 26-31 behind, the Dutchman ran 14 and 7 back-to-back. That was too much, even for Blomdahl. The legendary Swede realizes his average is slipping.
Best match of the day was by Marco Zanetti, who cruised past Hugo Patino: 50-17 in 17/16. Garcia was not far behind with his 19-inning win.
Tomorrow’s last 16:
Merckx – Devogelaere
Garcia – V.T. Nguyen
Knudsen – M.W. Cho
Sidhom – J.H. Heo
Bury – Q.C. Tran
Zanetti – T.L. Tran
Jaspers – Kiraz
H.C. Thai – D.M. Tran
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV.
Binh Thuan, September 26th 2024.
Merckx sends out a warning.
Of the 32 players advancing to the K.O. stage, Eddy Merckx was the most impressive. He won both his matches and averaged 3.200. Gerhard Kostistansky from Austria was only granted eight innings by the mighty Belgian.
Group A: Bao and Miyashita advance, Awwad is out.
Group B: Jaspers wins the group Thai looks strong. Orak is third.
Group C: Q.C. Tran and D. Morales advance, Kokkoris makes 79 of his 80 points but he’s out.
Group D: J.T. Kim and Pennör survive, Umeda goes home.
Group E: M.W. Cho wins, Vera second, Novak third.
Group F: D.M. Tran looks strong, Horn survives, Lindemann is third.
Group G: Merckx is imperious, Garcia second, Kostistansky third.
Group H: Sidhom and Devogelaere advance, Jorissen is out.
Group I: Zanetti rules, Groot second Seo third.
Group J: Knudsen wins the group, Blomdahl survives, Abdin is out.
Group K: Heo first, Costa second, Villlanueva third.
Group L: H.J. Kim wins, Patino second, Labrador goes home.
Group M: Tasdemir wins on average, Rodriguez safe, Ceulemans is out.
Group N: Kiraz group winner, T.L. Tran joins him, T.T. Le is out.
Group O: Legazpi first, Bury second, D’Agata third.
Group P: V.T. Nguyen wins, B. Karakurt advances also, Polychronopoulos goes home.
The tournament will proceed to the round of 32 on Friday. This is the draw; can you spot the “classic” match?
Merckx – Groot
J.T. Kim – Devogelaere
H.J. Kim – Garcia
V.T. Nguyen – Miyashita
Knudsen – Pennör
M.W. Cho – Vera
Sidhom – Rodriguez
Heo – Costa
Bao – Bury
Q.C. Tran – B. Karakurt
Zanetti – Patino
Legazpi – T.L. Tran
Jaspers – Blomdahl
Kiraz – Morales
Tasdemir – Thai
D.M. Tran – Horn
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV. Full results are available on the websites of Five & Six and the UMB.
Binh Thuan, September 25th 2024.
Some say ten different players could win it, others put that number on fifteen or even twenty. Everybody agrees the 2024 world championship 3-cushion is open to a new generation, even if the old champions are still high up on the ranking lists.
Eight of the groups have played two matches on the opening day, eight other groups have only played one. All decisions about the last 32 will come on Thursday.
Title holder Phuong Vinh Bao started off well, with a 40-33 in 22 win over Miyashita. Hong Chiem Thai, brought in as a substitute at the eleventh hour, beat Turgay Orak 40-27 in 16. Jaspers then beat Thai 40-37 in 21, having trailed most of the match.
Quyet Chien Tran opened with a 40-30 in 22 win over Daniel Morales. Jun Tae Kim beat Umeda 40-27 in 23. Myung Woo Cho got past Javier Vera 40-25 in 26, and Horn beat his countryman Lindemann 40-19 in 27. Horn then got beaten by Ho Chi Minh World Cup winner Duc Minh Tran: 40-17 in 20. Merckx needed 17 innings to beat JJ Garcia 40-33. Sidhom and Devogelaere drew 40-40 in 21. Peter Ceulemans made a good start by beating Ramon Rodriguez 40-29 in 19.
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV. Vietnam is five hours ahead of Western Europe.
Binh Thuan, September 22th 2024.
The surprise UMB world champion of 2023, Phuong Vinh Bao, will defend his title from 25-29 September in Binh Tuan, Vietnam. A total of 48 players have been invited to compete, among them top seeds such as Dick Jaspers, Quyet Chien Tran, Jun Tae Kim, Myung Woo Cho, Martin Horn, Eddy Merckx, Sameh Sidhom, Marco Zanetti, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Jung Han Heo, Haeng Jik Kim, Tayfun Tasdemir, Tolgahan Kiraz, Jeremy Bury, Nikos Polychronopoulos and Berkay Karakurt.
There will be sixteen groups of three, two players from every group will advance to the K.O. stage. Games are to 40 points in the group stage, with equalizing inning, and to 50 points in the K.O. stage, without equalizing inning.
The tables are Hollywood, the cloth is Classone B2 Black, the balls are Dynaspheres.
This is the first ever world championship held in Vietnam, one of the countries where 3-cushion has been on the rise for the last decade. The two wildcards included, the home country will have no fewer than six players in the field. Korea has five players, Turkiye has four.
All matches will be streamed by Afreeca TV. Full results are available on the websites of Five & Six and the UMB.
