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Sharm El Sheikh, December 13th 2025.
He’s the younger of the two Karakurt brothers, both richly talented. Berkay is 30, and he has just played the tournament of his life. In a nervy final, he shattered the dream of Sameh Sidhom, who was also in the hunt for his first World Cup, and might have won in in front of his home crowd. The Turk just edged the Egyptian in the end: 50 – 46 in 32. Berkay had a billiard upbringing; his father was his teacher. His game is very complete for a 30-year-old, and his stroke is gun barrel straight. His wins over the likes of Zanetti (twice) and Jaspers means he’s the real deal and we’ll see a lot of him in years to come.
Karakurt had yet another flying start in the final, where he took a 17-4 lead, later 26-14 after only 8 innings. Everything changed in the second half of the match, when nerves crept in and mistakes were made by both players. Obviously, neither player cared about innings anymore, it was all about the win. The tournament was anybody’s for the taking at 45-46, and Sidhom drew the short straw after he left Karakurt a good bank shot.
In the first semi, Sameh Sidhom had beaten Peter Ceulemans, who reached his third WC podium. Both players were very productive early on: 31-18 in 10 to Sidhom. The Ceulemans production dried up in the second half, and with 7-0-3 in the last three innings, Sidhom got the job done. He’ll have to wait for that first World Cup, though.
Dick Jaspers was, on paper, possibly the favorite against Karakurt. But the Turk walked on water, and enjoyed all the little rolls and nudges that worked in his favor. His focus was perfect, and he took full advantage of his decent starting positions. It was an uphill battle for Jaspers, and even a late run of 11 couldn’t change the Dutchman’s fate: 50-32 in 17 to Karakurt.
The elimination of Jaspers meant that the Overall World Cup of 2025 was won by Myung Woo Cho, giving the Korean a nice 30K bonus. It’s the first OWC for the Korean, who won two World Cups this season.
The tournament average (last 32) in Sharm was 1.498.
The best individual average was played by Phuong Vinh Bao: 2.048.
The best match was also played by Bao: 3.636.
The tournament high run was made by Ja In Kang: 17.
There’s no need to wait until 2026 to watch these players in action. From 18-21 December, the first 3-cushion Challenge will take place in Blois, France. The best 20 on the world ranking and four wildcards will compete for a total prize fund of 200K, with 30K going to the winner.
Sharm El Sheikh, December 12th 2025.
Could Sidhom do it in Egypt?
He’s a regular in quarterfinals and semifinals now: the stylish Egyptian Sameh Sidhom. He has the game, he can play the averages. But he is still waiting for that big win, and how nice would it be if Sidhom could claim his first World Cup on home turf? He made big steps towards that goal on Friday, with a stellar victory over Myung Woo Cho in the round of sixteen (50-24 in 17) and a solid 50-34 in 26 in the quarterfinal against Birol Uymaz.
Sidhom’s opponent in the semi will be Peter Ceulemans, who first survived the Belgian group of death, then beat his Dutch teammate Nikos Polychronopoulos in the round of sixteen (50-45 in 35/34) and Tayfun Tasdemir in the quarters (50-39 in 38/37). Like Sameh, Peter had a long learning curve. But they spent those years well: both have a great talent for continuous improvement. They keep adding to their arsenal, and they get a little better every year.
Dick Jaspers, again wearing glasses, did not have the perfect start. He struggled somewhat in the group stage and averaged below his usual level. But the Dutchman can rise to an occasion like no other player. He beat two dangerous foes today, Martin Horn by 50-28 in 21/20, then Haeng Jik Kim by 50-38 in 27/26. And the law says: if Jaspers is still in the tournament, he’s the favorite. Should he win, it would be his 33d World Cup.
Berkay Karakurt completes the foursome of the final day. The younger of the two Karakurt brothers had a surprisingly easy win over Ruben Legazpi, who had depleted his batteries: 50-24 in 32. Next came a second confrontation with Marco Zanetti. They had met in the group stage, Karakurt the winner. And again in the round of sixteen, the Turk had the upper hand: 50-29 in 28. Zanetti had already dug deep in his epic match against Caudron (50-47 in 17), so maybe fatigue was a factor. Caudron, the reigning world champion, looked imperious at times, but Zanetti is his kryptonite.
Semifinals:
Jaspers – B. Karakurt
Sidhom – Ceulemans.
All matches can be viewed on Soop.
Sharm El Sheikh, December 11th 2025.
Sharm has a strong final sixteen.
The last inning played in Sharm on Thursday was by Birol Uymaz in his equalizer against Jung Han Heo. The Turk looked at 40-28, but he didn’t need the missing twelve. He needed only three to advance on average, and ran eleven!
It was not the only group that was decided on a knife’s edge. The “Belgian” group D developed into a three-way fight between Caudron, Merckx and Ceulemans, all with two wins. Ceulemans had more four more caroms and used four fewer innings, which meant an exit for Merckx.
More drama in group E, where Blomdahl had a 35-34 lead over Zanetti. The Swede ran 4 but made a crucial mistake and missed the fifth. Zanetti, cold as ice, ran six and out to win.
Group A: Shaky start for Jaspers, impressive stuff from Bao. The Vietnamese dominated with three wins and 2.500. Jaspers a distant second with two wins and 1.455. Soumagne and Piedrabuena realized they came up short.
Group B: Polychronopoulos keeps playing well, and world champion Cho is simply too good. Both end on five points, leaving Ja In Kang and Ayman far behind.
Group C: Worrying times for Quyet Chien Tran, who was in the world’s top three for some time. He’s lost some of the magic it seems. Horn and Haeng Jik Kim will not be beaten if you don’t bring your A-game. Horn and Kim advance, Tran and Nady out.
Group D: The Belgian foursome. Most would have expected Caudron and Merckx (world championship finalists) to advance. But a stubborn Peter Ceulemans kept giving it his all, and he edged Merckx on average. Caudron and Ceulemans into the K.O., Merckx and Forthomme are out.
Group E: Berkay Karakurt did the hard work when he beat Zanetti, the Italian in turn cherished his 40-39 win over Blomdahl as key to the end result. Jimenez could not impress, and in the end Blomdahl also came up well short.
Group F: Sometimes under the radar, but always dangerous: T.L. Tran. The World Cup winner in Bogota earlier this year came through the group unscathed, with Ruben Legazpi in his wake. Tolgahan Kiraz and Maxime Panaia were eliminated.
Group G: Unlucky day for Myeong Jong Cha, who averaged well above Tayfun Tasdemir but he lost twice in the process. With two wins, Jeremy Bury finishes first. With two wins, Tasdemir is second. M.J. Cha and H.C. Thai are out.
Group H: Three players with two wins, like in group D. Here, Sidhom was always in the driving seat and the battle was between Heo and Uymaz. The Turk stayed ahead of the Korean in average (1.367 versus 1.269). Salman could not repeat his Porto heroics.
It gives us this K.O. draw to look forward to:
Bao – Uymaz
Sidhom – M.W. Cho
Polychronopoulos – Ceulemans
T.L. Tran – Tasdemir
Horn – Jaspers
Bury – H.J. Kim
Caudron – Zanetti
B. Karakurt – Legazpi.
All matches can be viewed on Soop.
Sharm El Sheikh, December 10th 2025.
Sharm: Polychronopoulos and Bao lead the field.
At the end of a long Wednesday under the Egyptian sun, twelve group winners and three best numbers two were placed in the main draw with the seeds and the wildcards. Thirty-two players are still in the tournament, and the group draw had some remarkable results: check out group D.
Of all the day’s winners, two were a cut above. Nikos Polychronopoulos and Phuong Vinh Bao averaged 2.106 and 2.051 respectively, they top the list. Torbjörn Blomdahl and Roland Forthomme sneaked in with a win and a loss. Birol Uymaz qualified for a main draw for the first time since his return to the World Cup circuit.
Polychronopoulos 4 – 2.106
Bao 4 – 2.051
Jimenez 4 – 1.739
Ceulemans 4 – 1.739
Legazpi 4 – 1.600
Thai 4 – 1.568
Salman 4 – 1.428
Uymaz 4 – 1.365
Cha 4 – 1.212
Panaia 3 – 1.668
Blomdahl 2 – 1.731
Forthomme 2 – 1.362
Haeng Jik Kim, Ja In Kang (run of 17) and Soumagne were the best numbers two, they also qualify. Sam van Etten was the unlucky fourth on that list, missing out by a single carom. It gave us these groups for tomorrow:
A. Jaspers, Soumagne, Bao, Piedrabuena
B. M.W. Cho, J.I. Kang, Polychronopoulos, Ayman
C. Q.C. Tran, H.J. Kim, Horn, Nady
D. Merckx, Forthomme, Caudron, Ceulemans
E. Zanetti, Blomdahl, B. Karakurt, Jimenez
F. T.L. Tran, Panaia, Kiraz, Legazpi
G. Tasdemir, M.J. Cha, Bury, H.C. Thai
H. J.H. Heo, Sidhom, Salman, Uymaz
All matches can be viewed on Soop. Full results are available on the websites of Five & Six and the UMB.
Sharm El Sheikh, December 9th 2025.
The cream starts to rise to the top.
On day three in Sharm El Sheikh, the averages went up considerably. Serious players dominated the arena and did what they do best: make 35 points before the opponent does.
Best of the bunch was Jose Juan Garcia, who is one of the most successful of the many strong Colombians (next to Alexander Salazar). He won twice and needed 42 innings for his 70 points: 1.666. Gwendal Maréchal and Arnim Kahofer were not far behind. Atsushi Kiyota was the only player to advance with an average under 1.000.
The French are a strong presence with their four horsemen: Maréchal, Devogelaere, Panaia and Soumagne. They all won their group. The highest ranked Frenchman, Bury, was seeded and he’ll be in action later on.
Kostistansky, Mas, B.Y. Lee, Soares, Cetin and Yavuz were among the ones that didn’t make it.
The day’s group winners:
Garcia 4 – 1.666
Maréchal 4 – 1.521
Kahofer 4 – 1.521
Özbas 4 – 1.489
Devogelaere 4 – 1.489
N.C. Long 4 – 1.458
De Bruijn 4 – 1.458
Uymaz 4 – 1.400
Seleventas 4 – 1.372
Alp 4 – 1.372
Amir Ibraimov 4 – 1.272
Panaia 4 – 1.272
Bas 4 – 1.206
Löwe 4 – 1.129
Soumagne 4 – 1.111
Kiyota 2 – 0.983
In tomorrow’s Q-round, the Dutch will have a trio of fresh contenders in the arena: Hofman, van Etten and Jorissen. It will also be the first we see of Blomdahl, Ceulemans, Forthomme, Cha, Polychronopoulos, Thai and Legazpi. It’s all about fifteen spots in the main draw!
All matches can be viewed on Soop.
Sharm El Sheikh, December 8th 2025.
Many casualties on day two in Sharm.
Sixteen flights of three players, Round Robin. That’s the menu for day two of a World Cup, and danger lurks everywhere. The matches are short, a couple of medium runs by your opponent and you could be gone. A handful of reputable players did not make it into the PQ round of Tuesday.
Remarkable: of the sixteen groups, fourteen finished with the same final ranking in points: 4 – 2 – 0. One qualifier had three points; one slipped through with just two.
Here are the day’s winners:
B.Y. Lee 4 – 1.621
Q.T. Pham 4 – 1.578
S. Özbas 4 – 1.578
Amir Ibraimov 4 – 1.304
J.M. Mas 4 – 1.176
M. Minaoglu 4 – 1.071
I. Gazdos 4 – 1.016
A. Malkadi 4 – 0.937
O. Takeshima 4 – 0.882
V. Aykol 4 – 0.845
M. Sabry 4 – 0.821
A. Abdallah 4 – 0.821
Ali Ibraimov 4 – 0.810
L. Egert 4 – 0.759
U. Kapusiz 3 – 1.395
N.C. Long 2 – 1.113
Among the players that were expected to do well but didn’t make it: M. Morales, D.H. Kim, D’ Agata, Tsokantas, Mortensen, Melnytschenko, Szivacz and Demming.
Ivo Gazdos ran a very nice nine-and-out to beat Muharrem Peker. It was also the high run of the day.
In tomorrow’s PQ round, we’ll see players like de Bruijn, Kahofer, J.J. Garcia, Pennör, Wilkowski, Maréchal and Devogelaere enter the arena (among others). All matches can be viewed on Soop.
Sharm El Sheikh. December 8th, 2025
Sharm El Sheikh is the World Cup conclusion of 2025.
Traditionally the final World Cup of the season is played in Egypt, where so much 3-cushion history lies. The tournament has moved to a different resort, but the sun above is the same.
The qualifications rounds started on Sunday, and the averages were modest. Still, several experienced performers managed to win their group and return on Monday. Q.T. Pham was the best of the bunch, with 4 points and 1.176. Tsokantas, Gazdos and Henry are all seasoned players. Melnytschenko recently defended France’s colors in Viersen.
S.M. Yang had the high run of the day with 13, but amazingly he finished third in his group. Of all the group winners, the high run was seven.
Q.T. Pham 4 – 1.176
S. Özbas 4 – 1.090
U. Kaya 4 – 1.034
D. Tsokantas 4 – 1.000
I. Gazdos 4 – 0.895
K. Prassas 4 – 0.869
V. Akyol 4 – 0.857
C. Melnytschenko 4 – 0.833
C. Falangas 4 – 0.821
A. Malkadi 4 – 0.769
A. Abdallah 4 – 0.722
R. Henry 4 – 0.571
M. Sabry 4 – 0.491
P. Coenen 3 – 0.882
F. Orlando 3 – 0.631
D. Kristiansen 2 – 0.809.
All matches can be viewed on Soop.
Sharm El Sheikh. December 4th, 2025
After an eventful year, the World Cup cycle of 2025 will come to a conclusion. From 7-13 December, Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt will host the seventh and final tournament of the year.
Who will win the Overall World Cup for 2025? It’s an honor that sometimes flies under the radar, but the top players take it very seriously. Even more than the world title, the Overall World Cup win proves you were the best player that year. Multi-winners of the OWC are Blomdahl (11 x), Jaspers (9), Caudron (5), Sanchez (4) and Ceulemans (3).
In the 2025 race, Myung Woo Cho leads with 222 points, ahead of Merckx (188), Tasdemir (178), Jaspers (172) and Zanetti (170). With 80 points on the line in Sharm, one of these five players will win it. The earlier World Cups in 2025 had five different winners: Myung Woo Cho (2), Thanh Luc Tran, Jaspers, Merckx and Horn.
The UMB has seeded the following players: Jaspers, M.W. Cho, Q. C. Tran, Merckx, Zanetti, T.L. Tran, Tasdemir, J.H. Heo, Sidhom, Bury, Kiraz, B. Karakurt, Caudron and Horn. The local wildcards went to Mahmoud Ayman and Riad Nady, the CPB/UMB wildcard was given to Pedro Piedrabuena.
The ranking points at stake are, as always, 80 – 54 – 36 – 26 – 18 – 10 – 8.
The tables in Sharm are Gabriels. The balls are Dynaspheres. The cloth is Simonis 330 prestige.
All matches will be streamed by Soop. Full results are available on the websites of Five & Six and the UMB.