The classic place for East and West to meet is Istanbul, but Ankara does just as well if you’re a billiard player. In a symbolic balance between Asia and Europe, the semifinals of the Ankara World Cup are confrontations between Myung Woo Cho and Phuong Vinh Bao on the one hand, and Dick Jaspers versus Marco Zanetti on the other.
There’s nobody at the table who has not been the 3-cushion world champion at least once.
The competition got steamy in the round of sixteen, as several favorites were eliminated. Merckx went out against Jaspers (50-43 in 27), Sidhom lost to Salman (50-35 in 21/22) and Frédéric Caudron lost to Martin Horn (50-42 in 21). That was the second win by Horn over Caudron in this event, and the fourth in the past months. Blomdahl found himself in the last eight after a good win over Ruben Legazpi (50-37 in 26).
Quarterfinals:
Marco Zanetti may be the senior on tour, he’s still incredibly hard to beat as Gokhan Salman found out. 50-29 in 23/22 gives the Italian position play specialist another chance at a World Cup win, it would be his sixth World Cup gold if he did it.
Dick Jaspers, playing without glasses but with lenses, had the tough task of controlling Martin Horn who had confidently beaten Caudron twice. In a high-quality encounter, the Dutchman was marginally the better player: 50-44 in 19.
Myung Woo Cho has become the undisputed world number one, and his pace is just too much for most opponents. Blomdahl couldn’t keep up: 50-32 in 26/25 to the Korean.
Phuong Vinh Bao, the 2023 surprise world champion, proves time and again that he was not a one-hit-wonder. He’s here to stay. Few opponents are more stubborn than Thanh Luc Tran, but even he had to surrender: 50-42 in 28.
The first semi to be played is Cho -Bao, at 10.30 local time. Zanetti – Jaspers follows around 13.00. The final is scheduled for 17.00.
Ankara: The big names make no mistakes.
June 12, 2026
The main event group stage is like an obstacle course, or like a Wild West town where on any roof there could be a sniper. Easy opponents are nowhere to be seen, and the world’s best are extra alert. They need to win at least twice, get into that round of 16 and take it one match at a time from there. Myung Woo Cho, Dick Jaspers, Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx did just that. No mistakes from Bao, Zanetti, Sidhom or Horn. Tasdemir is the name missing from those “usual suspects”.Jung Han Heo shone on two occasions: he made 40 in 13 and 40 in 12.
Group A.
Myung Woo Cho was very much the boss of this group, with Jung Han Heo and Bong Joo Hwang fighting for second place. Heo won their confrontation 40-38 and he advances with Cho. Wildcard Piedrabuena could not make an impression.
Group B.
The two ex-world champions Phuong Vinh Bao and Eddy Merckx were a level above J.P. de Bruijn and Tolgahan Kiraz, as the averages show. Bao was the group winner after he defeated Merck 40-38 in 35.
Group C.
Dick Jaspers made no mistakes: 6 points. Behind him, Gokhan Salman advanced. The friendly Turk who won a bronze in the Porto World Cup in 2025 keeps knocking on the door. Panaia did well (1.525) but he only won once. The red lantern was for struggling Haeng Jik Kim.
Group D.
It looked like smooth sailing for Glenn Hofman, but Ömer Karakurt managed to beat him in the third match. That made Torbjörn Blomdahl the group winner, thanks to his escape against Karakurt (40-39) and his dominant win over Tayfun Tasdemir (40-18).
Group E.
Zanetti wins twice and draws once; he advances comfortably. The cards looked favorable for Nikos Polychronopoulos after two rounds, but Ruben Legazpi had other ideas. A classy win at crunch time (40-22 in 14) put the Spaniard in the last 16. Nikos played very well, but has nothing to show for it.
Group F.
Sameh Sidhom is bound to win a World Cup one day, his game has become so steady and his feet are planted more firmly than ten years ago. He’s a force. Quyet Chien Tran, who missed the last 16 in the previous WC, joined him. Ho Chi Minh hero Hong Chiem Thai can’t repeat his performance, and Sam van Etten is still growing. Figuratively, that is.
Group G.
Horn and Caudron advancing, that can’t be a surprise. They did have to deal with a dangerous Korean (Myeong Jong Cha) and European champion Peter Ceulemans, who defeated Horn in 13 innings. But the German and the Extra-terrestrial were (a hair under 2.000) in a league of their own.
Group H.
Berkay Karakurt remains undefeated and has five points. Thanh Luc Tran does just enough with two wins, and Tom Löwe ends a great week for him in third place. The event lasted a day too long for Pierre Soumagne.
Tomorrow’s K.O. matches (to 50):
M.W. Cho – Hofman
Blomdahl – Legazpi
- Karakurt – T.L. Tran
P.V. Bao – J.H. Heo
Sidhom – Salman
Zanetti – Q.C. Tran
Horn – Caudron
Jaspers – Merckx.
Blomdahl is still there, and enjoying it.
June 11, 2026
He’s close to a regular retirement age now, not too far from the magic 65. But he still loves his billiards, and he can do the business. Today, having lost his first match against Wan Young Choi, he grabbed his last chance at a place in the main draw with a win over Gerhard Kostistansky: 40-11 in 16. The Swedish legend was one of four players who managed to advance with just one win. Phuong Vinh Bao and Jung Han Heo were the best group winners on Thursday.
The fifteen who advance are a good mix of European and Asian players, but the talent from South America did not survive in Ankara.
Bong Joo Hwang and Wan Young Choi both ran a 13. Best match of the day was by Jung Han Heo, who defeated Amir Ibraimov 40-12 in 12. The young German star who already played “Viersen” for his country may be out, but he can look forward to a tour of practice & exhibitions with Blomdahl in Korea, later this summer.
Inevitably, the tournament again lost a host of good players: Orak, Catano, Long, Forthomme, Choi, Uymaz, Devogelaere and others.
Thursday’s winners:
P.V. Bao 4 – 2.105
J.H. Heo 4 – 2.000
Ö. Karakurt 4 – 1.777
- Legazpi 4 – 1.666
- van Etten 4 – 1.481
- Ceulemans 4 – 1.428
- Soumagne 4 – 1.333
- Löwe 4 – 1.142
M.J. Cha 3 – 1.818
H.C. Thai 3 – 1.568 - Polychronopoulos 3 – 1.481
- Blomdahl 2 – 2.151
Best seconds:
- Panaia 3 – 1.509
J.P. de Bruijn 2 – 1.916
B.J. Hwang 2 – 1.761
The Main Event will start tomorrow, Friday. All matches can be watched on Soop.
Ankara spectators see a strong PQ round
June 10, 2026
The level was high on the third day of the Ankara World Cup. Of the sixteen group winners, only two averaged below 1.100. The top five group winners were all over 1.700! That’s main event quality, and it’s only the third qualification round. Tom Löwe keeps progressing, as he has done in the past years. His two wins and 2.121 are quite the calling card. Yavuz, Kostistansky, van Etten and Ayman followed in his wake with formidable averages of their own. The French still have three soldiers in the field: Devogelaere, Panaia and Soumagne. Some strong players were eliminated: Akkoca, Papakonstantinou, M.S. Kim who always does so well on the opening days, J.J. Garcia, Jorissen and others. Panaia had the day’s high run with 11, and a handful of 10’s were recorded. The group winners on Wednesday: T. Löwe 4 – 2.121 T. Yavuz 4 – 1.794 G. Kostistansky 4 – 1.750 S. van Etten 4 – 1.707 M. Ayman 4 – 1.707 M. Devogelaere 4 – 1.555 P. Soumagne 4 – 1.400 L. Stamm 4 – 1.400 M. Panaia 4 – 1.372 N.C. Long 4 – 1.346 A. Kiyota 4 – 1.272 K. Kokkoris 4 – 1.186 A. Ibraimov 4 – 1.166 M. Peker 4 – 1.060 D. Seleventas 2 – 1.326 R. Nady 2 – 0.880 Tomorrow, players like de Bruijn, Blomdahl, Ceulemans, Polychronopoulos, Hong Chiem Thai and others will enter the arena. Whoever survives the Thursday will have a spot in the Main Event. 
Kostantinos Kokkoris, Volkan Cetin excel on day two in Ankara.
June 09, 2026
The Greek has won the European team title with Nikos Polychronopoulos, so far, the high point in his career. Dutchman Volkan Cetin is still waiting for international success, but he has already built up a reputation as a truly global 3-cushion ambassador. The two were the best players on day two of the Ankara World Cup.
Another Greek player, veteran Kostas Papakonstantinou, can still mix it up with the best, as his third place on Tuesday shows. Amir Ibraimov won the flight of the youngsters, where he pushed Seymen Özbas into second place. The Turkish talent advanced as best number two. Established names like Y.S. Jeong, Melnytschenko, Basegmez and Mas didn’t make it.
The day’s winners:
- Kokkoris 4 – 1.764
- Cetin 4 – 1.666
- Papakonstantinou 4 – 1.463
- Crespo 4 – 1.333
M.S. Kim 4 – 1.333 - Ibraimov 4 – 1.276
- Altuntas 4 – 1.111
- Santiago 4 – 1.111
- Kristiansen 4 – 1.071
S.M. Yang 4 – 1.052 - Kahraman 4 – 1.034
- Akkoca 4 – 1.000
- Gomariz 4 – 1.000
H.E. Kim 4 – 0.952
M.R. Kwon 4 – 0.750 - Yilmaz 3 – 0.937
Tomorrow is the PQ round, with players like Devogelaere, Alp, van Etten, Löwe, Jorissen, Nady, Bouerdick and Garcia.
All matches can be viewed on Soop.
First skirmishes in Ankara.
June 08, 2026
This Monday was not the easiest day of qualifications for many. The table sometimes feels like your enemy, and the opponent is no help either. But the field of players soldiered on, and many group winners showed promising averages. Yes, there was also a 92-inning match. Our game can be cruel.
Min Suk Kim was the best of the bunch, with an impressive 1.500. The Turks were, no surprise, a heavy presence in this qualification stage.
Today’s group winners:
M.S. Kim 4 – 1.500
- Yilmaz 4 – 1.333
- Melnytschenko 4 – 1.276
S.M. Yang 4 – 1.276 - Cavuso. 4 – 1.176
- Altuntas 4 – 1.090
- Cetin 4 – 1.071
- Kahraman 4 – 1.034
- Nebuda 4 – 1.016
- Kokkoris 4 – 1.000
M.R. Kwon 4 – 0.952 - Özbas 4 – 0.952
- Kristiansen 4 – 0.909
- Canton 4 – 0.869
H.E. Kim 4 – 0.779 - Cin 4 – 0.731
Some of the players who will appear tomorrow: Ibraimov, Crespo, Szivacz, Salazar, Pennör, Akkoca, Jetten and others.
All matches can be watched on Soop.
Ankara is an anchor in the World Cup cycle.
June 03, 2026
What a beautiful temple of billiards the Turks have built. You can’t walk around in it without admiring the courage and the vision that made it possible. Eight tables await the players, as the Turkish Federation’s Ankara headquarters will host the third World Cup of the 2026 season, from 8-14 June.
To freshen up your memory: the Bogota WC was won by Myung Woo Cho, the Ho Chi Minh WC was won by Frédéric Caudron. The top players will already have an eye on the Overall World Cup that is to be decided over seven events.
The UMB has seeded the following players for Ankara: M.W. Cho, Merckx, Jaspers, Tasdemir, Zanetti, Sidhom, Horn, B. Karakurt, T.L. Tran, Caudron, Q.C. Tran, Bury, Hofman and H.J. Kim. The local wildcards went to Tolgahan Kiraz and Gokhan Salman, the CPB/UMB wildcard went to Pedro Piedrabuena.
The tables in Ankara are Zeki Bilardo, the cloth is Simonis 330 Prestige, the balls are Aramith Prestige. The usual ranking points are at stake: 80-54-36-26-18-10-8. And let’s not forget: the UMB still has that extra prize of 29.000 Euro on offer, for a run of 29 made in a World Cup (or world championship).
The player list shows that a sizeable number of players from Korea and Vietnam will be present. Also, a handful of players from South America who have done really well recently in their home events, will take part. And then of course, there is the large talent pool of Turkish players. It has all the signs of a strong few days of qualifications.
All matches can be viewed on Soop. Full results are available on the websites of Five & Six and the UMB.