3-Cushion
The young European talents in three cushion and players from other parts of the world have been held back in their development by this era of COVID-19 crisis. The last World Junior Championship in Valencia 2019 ended with super-talent Myung-Woo Cho in his last Junior year as the winner and three Koreans on stage. The next World Championship event in the Netherlands was postponed, moved to Turkey and certainly will not be played.
Was it a year of standstill and stagnation, of desperately waiting for the new start? How do young players deal with the crisis in this important part of their career? Kozoom went in search and starts a series of interviews from now with young billiard players: about the crisis, the future of their careers, the current conditions in their home countries and life without championships, tournaments and competitions. Today part 2: Gwendal Maréchal from France.
Name: Gwendal Maréchal
Age: 23
Place of residence: Vannes for my study
Relationship: girlfriend
Billiard Club: Lorient Billiard Club and Kozoom Andernos
Sponsor: Longoni
Hobby: Things I like the most are obviously practicing and watching billiards. Not only 3 cushions, also snooker. I like watching films and series, I read some books, very diverse kind, I can read history novels and also read Batman comics.
Kozoom/Frits Bakker: How do you deal with this year in which the COVID crisis dominates all the world?
Gwendal Maréchal: For one year now, we've been living in a world that seems to be at a standstill, but of course health is the priority. For my part, during the first lock down I did'nt play billard for more than 2 months, because I was in an exam period, so I had stuff to do. I am a student in a degree of enonomy and I am in my third year now. When lockdown was over, I restarted to play and practice billiard, even if we did'nt have a lot of competitions in prospect. Now I'm still training to improve my game and to be ready for any future of competitions, I hope there will be some very soon. And I think it's possible if there is a collective effort. Players need competitions, public need them and so does our sport.
2. Is this a time of standstill and stagnation in your young career, in which fast development and progression are so important?
Gwendal Maréchal: Yes, this break time is a little bit too long and it started in a good period for me. I was starting to play well at the international level, I was more and more present in the main tournaments of World Cups, my averages were growing better and better. I've been training at the Lorient billard club since my very beginnings, 11 years ago. But now I'm playing for the Andernos club as well for two years. I'm very happy to be part of this club, which is a kind of family. That's a big luck for me. Before the long stop, I had the ambition to participate in more international events and World Cups, especially those in Korea and Vietnam. I could show my potential on the international stage. I wasted time, but I will continue as soon as we can restart.
3. How is the current situation in your home town and your country in relation to COVID-19?
Gwendal Maréchal: In France there is a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am, the situation is stable. I hope it's under control and it will stay that. The virus is in my region, but there has never been a strong expansion, it might not be like the iodized air of the Breton coasts. But it has taught us that the virus and its variants are quite unpredictable and an increase of cases remains possible. So we must keep our vigilance. We all must participate in the collective effort to come out of this dark time as quickly as possible.
4. How are the conditions for training for you? How much can you practice every day or week?
Gwendal Maréchal: I am lucky to be able to train when I want thanks to my status as a high level athlete. I live in Vannes, but I pratice in Lorient which is 45 minutes by car, so I can practice in the week-end and also in the evening when it's possible. So I think, I can reach 10/12 hours of practice in a week. I can deal with that, its not a problem. I told it in the last interview at the Duke Challenge, I practice less, maybe, but for sure I practice better. More time to think about my weaknesses and think about how I can improve on certain technical and strategic aspects of my game for example. And I also practice on the psychological aspect, like my focus, because I think I can improve myself in that way. And that it will have a big impact on my performances. It had already started to bring good results at the start of the season during the first French national tournament that I won with a good average, 1,740. I hope it will continue to bring me good results.
Gwendal Maréchal during an interview for Ziggo Sport television
5. How does life look for you without championships, tournaments and competitions?
Gwendal Maréchal: Life without competition, without travel and without meeting people who love billiards like I do, it doesn't have the same taste of course. But we have to deal with that. Personally I'm just trying to remain on the positive side, I have more time for my study, more time to see my family and friends. We must be optimistic and prepare new projects when the crisis is over. But like everyone else, I'm looking forward to restart a more important rhythm of competitions, to see again my friends from all around the world again, especially in France and also in Spain, in Gandia, the club where I play for the Spanish league.
6. What is your country or federation doing to develop careers of young talents?
Gwendal: First of all, the French federation provides us, the young players of the French collective, with financial assistance. When we travel to national competitions and some World Cups, we are lucky for that. We all regroup together during internships, most often in summer, to have the possibility to play and progress together. We also have the chance to follow up with a mental trainer, the psychological aspect is often put aside during training when it is essential. The ministry for its part grants us the status of high level athlete, or high level hope for some, which allows us to reconcile studies and progress in billiard at best. For my part, I have good relationship with the federation, in particular with Louis Edelin, our national coach, who brings us a lot thanks to his huge experience. When the competitions resume and I plan to participate in many more international tournaments, I am sure the federation will help me as best as they can.
7. How do you see your future as a sportsman and possibly as a professional billiard player?
Gwendal Maréchal: I hope that the possibilities of professionalization will be more and more important in time. The young people want to be able to live from their passion and be able to promote our sport all around the world just like players in their 50's, like Zanetti, Sayginer and Jaspers (to name just a few) have done in the past and still continue to do so. In ten years, the billiard landscape will be different from what it is today. New players will appear on the international podiums. The young players show lots of ambitions. So, being a professional player, I say to myself: why not me? I have already proved on the international stage what I'm capable to. And I try to continue. I know that there is still a long way to go to make it to the top, but I'm willing to do a lot for that. I am fortunate to be well surrounded, especially by Bernard Baudoin in Andernos, who helps me a lot and who helps the world of billard in general enormously. I am also well surrounded by Pierluigi Longoni and all the Longoni staff. Big thanks to them. I would be open for some others sponsors who want to believe in me and invest in me for the future.
Gwendal Maréchal, we must be optimistic and prepare new projects