3-Cushion
BURSA - Two World Cup winners last year, Semih Saygıner back to the global front, a spectacular growth in their own ranks and great attention to the developlment of youth players. The Turkish billiard sport is in a flowering period under its new president, Ersan Ercan (44), which must lead to more sportive success, organizations of tournaments and the rise of new, young talents.
The Bursa World Cup, the first of the new cycle in 2016, entered the main event today (Friday) with the top of three cushion players in the arena and eight Turkish players of 32 for the knockout stage in a beautiful setting. ,,We are proud that we can organize another World Cup in our country to show the wonderful world of three-cushion.''
He rarely misses a match, is cheering his players, encourages them, and hopes to see a new Turkish winner. The new figurehead spoke with Kozoom about his first impressions, looked into the future and took us along in his love for the sport.
Ersan Ercan, pharmacist by profession, married, father of a 4 year old daughter and since nearly ten years in the cosmetics and hair care business productions, himself a former artistic billiards, playing three cushion nowadays.
Frits Bakker/Kozoom: How was the preparation for this World Cup, how did you experience the preliminaries, was the atmosphere the way you expected?
Ersan Ercan: We were working very hard to organize the best possible World Cup. We prepared a fantastic arena and the atmosphere was already quite good in the starting days. I am more than satisfied.
FB/Kozoom: We are at the start of a new World Cup cycle... how are the Turkish expectations and ambitions after the victories of Tayfun Tasdemir in Ho Chi Minh and Murat Naci Coklu in Istanbul last year?
EE: Of course I would like one of the Turkish players to be in the final are win the tournament. But as everyone knows, there are about fifteen to twenty top players who can win a World Cup. I hope the best will win.
FB/Kozoom: The return of Semih Saygıner on top is a blessing for billiards in Turkey. All fans and players are very happy with his new start.
EE: Semih Saygıner made a fantastic comeback and won the Turkish championship in 2015. I hope his success will continue in the international arena abroad, because not only Turkish billiards, but world billiards need top players like him.
Kozoom/FB: When did you start as the new president of the Turkish federation? And what happened in the meantime? A growing number of players? More interest in international tournaments? How can you summarize your start?
EE: I was elected as president of the federation in May 2014, so now more than eighteen months ago. And I may say that the interest in billiard has increased, the matches are played in better atmosphere, there are live broadcasts regularly, which is a revolution in Turkish billiards. The number of licensed players has increased four times in 1,5 years. We have launched projects to stimulate and increase interest among the youngsters and on schools. I believe are on our way to more and better achievements in the future.
Kozoom/FB: What can you tell us about the development of young players in Turkey? Are there practice schools and trainers for the young talents?
EE: Billiards in schools is the most important aim. We started this with some pilots in a few schools. The objective is to spread it throughout Turkey. In this way, we want to attract more people to like our sport.
FB/Kozoom: Is there a growing interest in organizing tournaments in Turkey? Which plans we can expect for World Cup organizations in the coming years?
EE: We organize tournaments all over Turkey and governorships and municipalities always support us in this and are interested a lot. We are very glad with that. All the organizations have attracted many players and spectators. As for the World Cups: the first tournaments will be held in Turkey in 2017 and 2018. We will host all the players across the world as usual.
FB/Kozoom: The federation pays much attention, not only to the men's top players, also the ladies and artistic billiards are in the spotlights.
EE: Two years ago, we hosted the women's World championship, now we started negotiating with the UMB and CEB. The president of UMB, Mr. Farouk Barki is very positive about our plans. This will be finalized and be in the schedule as soon as possible.
FB/Kozoom: What are your main wishes for international three cushion?
EE: I have two main wishes. First, as in snooker, I would like all the World Cup matches to be broadcast around the world. Secondly, I hope we will find strong sponsors and present bigger prize money. Mr. Barki and I had a long talk. I suppose he agrees with me. These two subjects may not be the solutions of all matters, but can be the main keys.
FB/Kozoom: How many people are playing for your federation? And how many clubs do you have in Turkey? Most clubs are in Istanbul, obviously... and further in the country?
EE: In Turkey, billiards is the fourth most practiced sport. There are a million players at least, only a small part of those are licenced. We aim to include all of those people into the federation. There are about 200 clubs in Turkey, however, most of our licenced players partake in the tournaments individually.
FB/Kozoom: We would like you to finally look into your crystal ball. Who do you consider as the main favourite to win the Bursa World Cup?
EE: First of all, I would like to host you and finalize the tournament. And what I said, as the president of Turkish billiards federation, I would like a Turkish player to win. I have one player in my mind who has the highest percentage of chances to win. I predict that he will win, but I can tell you who he is after the finish.
Ersan Ercan predicts a wonderful future for Turkish billiard
Ersan Ercan (left) with the officials during the World Cup opening ceremony in Bursa