3-Cushion
DUBLIN - The billiard event that was launched in New York as the 'McCreery Champion of Champions' two years ago is heading for the second edition this year. The field of players has been expanded from 12 to 18, the top prize is 200,000 dollars. The top seven of the world ranking has now been invited. The tournament is played at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from 11-17 October. A qualifying tournament will be held before in Dublin with ten players, the top two will be invited to the main event. Contrary to the first edition in New York, both tournaments have public access.
The first seven players who have been invited are:
Dick Jaspers (Netherlands)
Marco Zanetti (Italy)
Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden)
Eddy Merckx (Belgium)
Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey)
HaengJik Kim (South Korea)
Quyet Chien Tran (Vietnam).
That was the top 7 of the UMB rankings at the end of 2019. Two players from the qualification are added to the final field of 18. The other nine players will be announced very soon, with big names from the first event and wildcards.
The ten players for the qualifying round at the Intercontinental hotel in Dublin are:
Lütfi Cenet (Turkey)
Murat Naci Coklu (Turkey)
Roland Forthomme (Belgium)
Jung-Han Heo (South Korea)
Gwendal Maréchal (France)
Dinh Nai Ngo (Vietnam)
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam)
Hugo Patino (USA)
Nikos Polychronopoulos (Greece)
Sameh Sidhom (Egypt).
No prize money has been allocated for this preliminary round of the main tournament. In the 2018 McCreery tournament, the total prize money was $ 600,000. The qualification in Dublin is played in a format with two groups of five players in a full competition, round robin. The numbers one and two of each group play cross finals, the winners receive a ticket to Las Vegas. The matches are to 40 caroms.
The organization intends to introduce three cushion to the United Kingdom with the tournament in Dublin. Snooker and pool journalists are invited to come and see this discipline of billiards. The three tables (two match, one small table in the lobby) are donated afterwards and remain in Dublin.
The qualification event will be played in Dublin