News about 3-Cushion Billiards from around the world.
Therese Klompenhouwer of Netherlands fought a tough tournament to regain her Women's World Championship title defeating perennial rival Orie Hida of Japan in the final match. In the eight installments of this event Hida has won four times and now Therese has won three. Only Natsumi Higasiuchi of Japan can boast a women's world championship title.
Twenty-four started the Survival 3C Masters event in Incheon, Korea. Four remained on the final day. But it was Dani Sanchez of Spain who proved the most resilient as he outlasted his remaining rivals Semih Sayginer (TUR), Sung-Won Choi (KOR) and Marco Zanetti (ITA) to win the $50,000 first prize and title of Survival 3C Masters Champion.
Three cushion billiard fans around the world are ecstatic over the wealth of high quality - and high prize money - events in 2018. The McCreery Champion of Champions would be hard to beat for a single prize fund event. But the new 3C Masters series sponsored by the UMB and Kozoom "in total" will give billiard fans many opportunities to see the top players in unusual challenge matches to test their skills. And all the while they will be competing for tens of thousands of dollars in prizes. Next up: the Survival 3C Masters.
Quyet Chien Tran of Vietnam proved once again to be a thorn in the side of World Champion and World #1 ranked Frederic Caudron by winning their final match 40-39 to take the 2018 LG U+ Cup title. As he did on his way to winning the Ho Chi Minh World Cup earlier this year the young Vietnamese player topped Caudron this time in a match that saw the lead change an incredible ten times. But it was the final point which mattered as Tran raised his cue in victory.
Eddy Merckx prevailed for the second year in a row in the all-Belgian Kimchi Superprestige Tournament. Adding to his wins in the 3CC Masters Invitational and the Verhoeven Open, Merckx is surely having one of his best years ever.