3-Cushion
PORTO - The glitter, the podium and the flowers have disappeared after the final day at the European Cup. Today, Monday, a new international event will kick off on the wonderful blue billiard tables in the FC Porto arena. The fourth World Cup of 2019 opens today with the preliminaries over four days. The main tournament with 32 players will fascinate the entire billiard world from Friday. The star players of the European Cup are again among the favorites: Frédéric Caudron, Dani Sánchez, Dick Jaspers and many other big guns are ready for a new battle.
The FC Porto location is one of the most professional on the circuit in recent years. It was a great initiative to organize the World Cups near to FC Porto's legendary stadium ground. The match room is spacious, light and exudes the atmosphere of major sports events. The famous football club can be felt everywhere around, but the support for its own billiards club is also remarkable.
With the European Cup, organized for the third time and for the first time in the days before the World Cup, FC Porto has once again distinguished itself. With 12 days of billiards on a world class level (5 days European Cup, 7 days World Cup), Porto ranks among the most important organizers in international billiards.
What can we expect from the World Cup this week? Defending champion in Porto is Frédéric Caudron, who won the European Cup with his team from La Baule. His top run of 25 in the semis against Tayfun Tasdemir was the highlight of five days European team competition. Tayfun Tasdemir was also the last opponent facing the Belgian in last year's World Cup, where Caudron won 40-21 in 14 innings.
After the victories of Tayfun Tasdemir in Antalya, Frédéric Caudron in Ho Chi Minh and Javier Palazón in Blankenberge, Porto will mark the mid-season and will be followed by Veghel in the Netherlands, a Korean traditional step and Hurghada in December.
The 14 players in the UMB rankings are Jaspers, Caudron, Tran, Sayginer, Merckx, Tasdemir, JH Cho Coklu, Zanetti, Bury, Nguyen, Sidhom, Ngo and Heo. The wildcard of the UMB is for Egyptian Mohamed Andin and the two tickets of the organization are for Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dani Sánchez.
The top 17 of the world ranking after the World Cup in Porto is directly qualified for the World Championship three-cushion in Randers, Denmark, at the end of November. The top 14 is placed for the World Cup in Veghel at the end of October. The leader of the world ranking, Dick Jaspers, has a total of 516 points. He is followed by Frédéric Caudron and Semih Sayginer with 382 e 313. The points obtained in Porto replace those of Blankenberge 2018.
The tournament is broadcast live by Kozoom. The first two days, Monday and Tuesday, are free for members, the following days are reserved for subscribers.