OFFICIAL RESULTS
https://www.umb-carom.org/PG344L1/Union-Mondiale-de-Billard.aspx
afreecaTV
https://billiards.afreecatv.com/
FIVE&SIX LIVE AND RESULTS
http://umb.cuesco.net/competition/liveScore?idx=163#content
Veghel. October 28th 2023.
He may be fourth on the world ranking list after “Veghel”, but in the eyes of many, Dick Jaspers is still the best player in the world. After a somewhat disappointing season, the Dutchman re-established himself with a superior display in the fourth World Cup of 2023. Martin Horn got beaten in a one-sided final of great quality: 50-22 in 12 (!) innings. It was the best World Cup final ever to 50 points.
A Belgian – German encounter in the semifinal saw Eddy Merckx take a 10-point lead against Martin Horn, but Merckx suddenly froze, added just a single point in nine innings and the German took full advantage: 50-45 in 28/27.
The other semi was a Dutch affair, with Jean Paul de Bruijn taking on Dick Jaspers. De Bruijn did not do a lot wrong, but he simply got outclassed and outscored: 50-25 in 19. A difficult bank shot by de Bruijn just missed and Jaspers ran a 12, at the right time, then cruised to the win.
Martin Horn, who can look back on a great week, had the worst possible start to the final. He won the lag but made just a single point and saw Jaspers reply with 10. The tone for the final had been set, and it wouldn’t change. Jaspers treated the crowd to several of his signature sho
rt-long-short shots, a line he controls better than anyone. In the 12th inning he made sure of his 28th World Cup victory.
The best tournament average in Veghel was played by Dick Jaspers, an astonishing 2.480.
The high run was made by Nikos Polychronopoulos, with 25.
The best match average was played by Dick Jaspers: 4.166.
Myung Woo Cho takes over from Marco Zanetti as the world number 1. Zanetti is now 2nd, Blomdahl 3d.
The 2023 season has two more World Cups, first in Seoul (November), then in Sharm El Sheik (December).
For full results of Veghel, check the pages of the UMB and Five & Six.
Veghel. October 27th 2023.
Merckx - Horn, Jaspers - de Bruijn on the final day.
Can anybody stop Eddy Merckx? The way he steamrolled Torbjörn Blomdahl and Jung Han Heo in the last 16 and quarterfinals was impressive. The mighty Belgian is almost unbeatable if he reaches a final: he’s played 12, won 11.
Is Jean Paul de Bruijn back to his very best? A phenomenal sprint brought him victory over Ruben Legazpi, with 6 and 10 in the last two innings. The win over Hong Chiem Thai was easy, because the young Vietnamese (what a great talent) had nothing left in the tank.
Is Dick Jaspers still the best player in the world? He needed to work hard to get past Jun Tae Kim (closing run of 8) and Nikos Polychronopoulos, the man in form. Next: a battle with a Dutch opponent he often has trouble beating.
What a great tournament Martin Horn is playing. A convincing win over Jeremy Bury (50-31 in 30) and an even better match against Haeng Jik Kim (50-33 in 17). The German champion is working hard to improve his ranking.
If Eddy Merckx wins the tournament tomorrow, he will become the new world number one. If he doesn’t, it will be Myung Woo Cho who takes over from Marco Zanetti.
The verdict from the audience is unanimous: Veghel 2023 is a great World Cup. High level of play, many exciting finishes, a surprise here and there. And, let’s not forget: a venue filled to the last seat. That will certainly be no different tomorrow.
Detailed results can be found on the UMB website and the Five & Six website.
Saturday’s semifinals:
12.00 De Bruijn – Jaspers
14.00 Merckx – Horn.
Final: 17.00
Veghel, October 26th 2023
Merckx - Horn, Jaspers - de Bruijn on the final day.
It doesn’t matter if you are Burak Hashas, a former junior world champion, Tayfun Tasdemir, the 2022 world champion, Phuong Vinh Bao, the reigning king, or Marco Zanetti, the world number 1. The Veghel World Cup is ruthless, and if you lose, you’re out.
Day five is always a day filled with drama, when half the field of 32 has to accept defeat. The two most talked-about performances: Sam van Etten coolly eliminating Marco Zanetti (40-39 in 21) and Nikos Polychronopoulos getting close to the high run record for World Cups with a 25. The Greek was unlucky and a few months late: Blomdahl had raised the record to 26 just recently in Ho Chi Minh.
Group A: Jaspers and de Bruijn advance, Hashas and Abdin out.
Group B: van Etten group winner, Hong Chiem Thai second. Marco Zanetti and Ye Sung Yeong eliminated.
Group C: Both Dutchmen out, the elder statesmen Horn and Blomdahl advance.
Group D: Berkay Karakurt wins, Jung Han Heo second. Phuong Vinh Bao and Sameh Sidhom go home.
Group E: Myung Woo Cho and Nikos Polychronopoulos into the last 16, Thanh Luc Tran and Barry van Beers eliminated.
Group F: Ruben Legazpi group winner, Jun Tae Kim second. Tayfun Tasdemir and Gökhan Salman are out.
Group G: Eddy Merckx and Jeremy Bury advance, Jun Hyuk Son and Chang Hoon Seo third and fourth.
Group H: Quyet Chien Tran and Haeng Jik Kim survive, Peter Ceulemans (on average) and T.T.T. Nguyen don’t make it.
Tomorrow’s matches in the K.O. stage:
Jaspers – J.T. Kim
Q.C. Tran – Polychronopoulos
Legazpi – de Bruijn
Karakurt – H.C. Thai
Merckx – Blomdahl
M.W. Cho – J.H. Heo
Horn – Bury
Van Etten – H.J. Kim
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV.
Veghel, October 25th 2023.
Tense fights for a spot in the main draw.
The last day of qualifications in the Veghel World Cup followed the trend that was set on the first three days: good averages and lots of tension. Of the fifteen players who advance – twelve group winners and three best nrs. 2 – only two had averaged under 1.500. That’s exceptional.
From Thursday, matches will be direct K.O., to 50 points without an equalizing inning. The seeds, the wildcards, the Q-group winners and the best nrs. 2 in the groups will make up the 32 players in the main event.
Here are today’s group winners:
Y.S. Yeong – 1.951 – 4
J.P. de Bruijn – 1.818 – 4
P.V. Bao – 1.777 – 4
B. van Beers – 1.702 – 4
R. Legazpi – 1.666 – 4
C.H. Seo – 1.632 – 4
P. Ceulemans – 1.600 – 4
T.T.T. Nguyen – 1.509 – 4
J.H. Son – 1.379
G. Salman – 1.379 – 4
T.L. Tran – 1.860 – 3
B. Karakurt – 1.941 – 2
The three “lucky losers”:
G. Hofman – 1.777 – 3
H.C. Thai – 1.972 – 2
B. Hashas – 1.767 – 2
Tomorrow’s groups:
A) Jaspers, de Bruijn, Abdin, Hashas
B) Zanetti, Thai, Jeong, van Etten
C) Blomdahl, Horn, Jorissen, Hofman
D) Sidhom, B.Karakurt, Heo, Bao
E) M.W. Cho, T.L. Tran, Polychronopoulos, van Beers
F) Tasdemir, Salman, J.T. Kim, Legazpi
G) Merckx, Seo, J.H. Son, Bury
H) H.J. Kim, Ceulemans, Q.C. Tran, T.T.T. Nguyen
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV. Play starts at 10.00 local time on Thursday.
Veghel, October 24th 2023
Glenn Hofman leads the field into the Q-round.
There’s one more day of qualifications to go, then the main event in Veghel will start on Thursday. The fourth World Cup of 2023 is shaping up to be a quality tournament.
33-year-old Glenn Hofman from The Hague was the best player on Tuesday, with two wins and an impressive average of 2.222. He ran an 11 and a 14, and looked completely at ease in the venue. Other local (Dutch) players also did well: Barry van Beers (1.818), Huub Wilkowski and Jerry Hermans joined Hofman in tomorrow’s round. Hermans pulled off a stunt when he ran 9 to equalize against unlucky Kostas Kokkoris from Greece, who had just ran a 9 to finish himself.
Here are the group winners in the PQ:
Glenn Hofman – 2.222 – 4
Barry van Beers – 1.818 – 4
Van Ly Dao – 1.666 – 4
Jun Hyuk Son – 1.621 – 4
Burak Hashas – 1.463 – 4
Gökhan Salman – 1.395 – 4
Jerome Barbeillon – 1.333 – 4
Huub Wilkowski – 1.333 – 4
Ye Sung Jeong – 1.200 – 4
Ronny Lindemann – 1.176 – 4
Cenkiz Karaca – 1.090 – 4
Mehmet Gören – 1.000 – 4
Jerry Hermans – 1.463 – 3
Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen – 1.428 – 3
David Pennör – 1.304 – 3
Hyung Kon Kim – 1.843 – 2
Some of the better-known players who didn’t make it: Alexander Salazar, Jean van Erp, Rui Manuel Costa, Tonny Carlsen, Robinson Morales, Ömer Karakurt.
The Q-round will start on Wednesday at 10 AM local time. All matches can be watched on Afreeca TV.
Veghel , October 23rd 2023
The PPQ round on day two of the Veghel World Cup was rich in high runs and strong averages. Jean van Erp, one of the local favorites, was the best player of the day with two wins and 1.875. Barry van Beers (1.621) and Stef van Hees (1.621) complete the top 3.
Glenn Hofman and Alexander Salazar had a win and a loss, but they won their group anyway. Van Ly Dao, Jean Reverchon and Harrie van de Ven (high run 15) were not so lucky: they also scored a win and a loss, but finished second.
Here are the group winners of the PPQ on Monday:
Jean van Erp – 1.875 – 4
Barry van Beers – 1.621 – 4
Stef van Hees – 1.621 – 4
Tonny Carlsen – 1.538 – 4
Jerry Hermans – 1.500 – 4
Hyung Kon Kim – 1.500 – 4
Jerome Barbeillon – 1.428 – 4
Ye Sung Yeong – 1.276 – 4
Lukas Mortensen – 1.016 – 4
Atsushi Kiyota – 1.000 – 4
Ha Eun Kim – 0.833 – 4
Wilco van Wijk – 0.810 – 4
Christos Falangas – 0.779 – 4
Glenn Hofman – 1.435 – 2
Alexander Salazar – 1.300 – 2
Jeongu Park – 1.083 – 2
Carl Verhoeven’s SIS billiard room in nearby Uden created a lot of goodwill with their shuttle service to and from the venue, allowing international players to practice. A great initiative by the Dutch billiard promotor.
In tomorrow’s PQ round, some of the better known players to enter the event are David Pennör, Burak Hashas, Ömer Karakurt and Ronny Lindemannn. All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV.
Veghel , October 22nd 2023.
Six Dutchmen survive day one in Veghel.
There’s nothing easy about the first day of a World Cup: we all know that 3-cushion is an even more difficult game than normal, when played on brand new cloth. Still, half a dozen players managed well (in terms of average) and some slipped into day two without scoring all that high.
Of the sixteen players that advance, Jerry Hermans from the Netherlands was the best, with 30-point wins in 14 and 26 innings. Two Belgians (Stef van Hees and Steven van Acker), another Dutchman (Kay de Zwart) and a Frenchman (Jerome Barbeillon) make up the top-5 of day one. Other interesting names: Ha Eun Kim, an 18-year-old student from Korea, and Raul Cuenca, one of the world’s best balkline and 1-cushion players.
Here are the group winners:
Hermans – 1.538 - 4
Van Hees – 1.276 - 4
Van Acker – 1.111 - 4
De Zwart – 1.090 - 4
Barbeillon – 1.090 - 4
Van de Ven – 0.967 - 4
Van Peer – 0.909 - 4
Cuenca – 0.789 – 4
Schenkel – 0.759 - 4
H.E. Kim – 0.731 - 4
Demming – 0.697 - 4
Falangas – 0.631 - 4
Kooistra – 0.594 - 4
Gulter – 1.020 - 3
Tachoire – 0.929 - 2
Nebuda – 0.888 – 2
The World Cup tournament in Veghel can be watched on Afreeca TV. All specified results can be found on the UMB website, or the Five & Six website.
Afreeca TV will provide English commentary on the final four days of the event (25 - 28 October).
Lausanne, October 20th 2023.
The fourth World Cup of 2023 will be played in Veghel, the Netherlands, from 22-28 October. The small city in the South of the country has also hosted World Cups in 2022, 2021 and 2019, with Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dani Sánchez and Haeng Jik Kim as the winners. For many years, Veghel was home to the Dutch 3-cushion championship, known as “The Masters”. There’s always an appreciative crowd in the old industrial building “De Koekbouw”, and the 148 player slots are easily filled.
For this event, the UMB has seeded Jaspers, Zanetti, Blomdahl, Sidhom, M.W. Cho, Tasdemir, Merckx, H.J. Kim, Q.C. Tran, Bury, J.T. Kim, Polychronopoulos, J.H. Heo and Horn. The local wildcards were given to Jeffrey Jorissen and Sam van Etten, the UMB/AMECC wildcard went to Mohamed Abdin from Egypt.
The tables in Veghel are Eureka Triangle, the cloth is Classone B2 Black, the balls are Dynasperes. As usual, group matches will be to 40 points with equalizer, the K.O. matches will be to 50 points without equalizing inning.
Following “Veghel”, there will be a fifth 2023 World Cup in Korea in November, and a sixth in Egypt in December. Tran (124 pts), Tasdemir (116) and Blomdahl (116) are currently leading the race for the overall WC of 2023.
All matches will be streamed by Afreeca TV, with English commentary.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
https://www.umb-carom.org/PG344L1/Union-Mondiale-de-Billard.aspx
afreecaTV
https://billiards.afreecatv.com/
FIVE&SIX LIVE AND RESULTS
http://umb.cuesco.net/competition/info?idx=163
