3-Cushion
LOMMEL/SEOUL/NAREJOS - As time goes by, the end of summer is near. And billiard players from each level have started to prepare for the new season. The national leagues are launched as of September, the Superprestige, an annual highlight in Belgium, is on the schedule for next week.
The Kozoom team, still looking back at a wonderful New York event, is ready again for some interesting events in September. The live coverage comes from four major tournaments.
The broadcasts in order of time:
SUPERPRESTIGE IN LOMMEL (28 AUGUST/2 SEPTEMBER)
For years, Eddy Leppens is not only known as a world-class player, also as the organizer of one of the most important tournaments in Belgium. The Superprestige in Lommel, Belgium, is his very personal tournament, bringing together the top sixteen of the Belgian ranking. Leppens, who was second in New York two weeks ago, was the winner of the tournament last year, then organized in the Mr. 100 in Lier. He was on stage there with Eddy Merckx and Kurt Ceulemans. The final match ended in 40-33 in 20 innings. Despite the fact that he has a strong and great team of volunteers, Leppens himself is responsible for the event in Lommel, so his victory last year is exceptional. With a 40 match in 11 innings, he also signed for the best match during the week. Frédéric Caudron, undoubtedly the best Belgian billiard player, finished ninth and did not survive the preliminary rounds.
The Superprestige is played in four groups of four players. Each group is showing up on one evening. The quarter finals are on Friday, the final matches on Saturday.
The group format:
Group A (Monday):
Jef Philipoom
Steven van Acker
Ronny Daniels
Frédéric Mottet
Group B (Tuesday):
Peter Ceulemans
Roland Forthomme
Davy van Havere
Ronny Brants
Group C (Wednesday):
Eddy Merckx
Francis Forton
Kurt Ceulemans
Andy de Bondt
Group D (Thursday);
Frédéric Caudron
Kenny Miatton
Eddy Leppens
Patrick Kesteloot
LG U-PLUS CUP IN SEOUL (5 TO 8 SEPTEMBER):
The Korean billiard players are part of the most impressive nation in three cushion. Last year was probably the most successful year ever for them. Where other nations have one or two contenders to win big tournaments, Korea has at least four or five.
The LG U-Plus Masters is scheduled for the third time on the international calendar and is known for the world's biggest prize fund. The winner in Seoul last year, Choong-Bok Lee, took € 59.000. On the stage were three Koreans and one Vietnamese. All European top guns were outplayed in the group stage. This year, Dick Jaspers, who missed last year, will return. The Dutchman was second to Dong Kong Kang in 2015.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP JUNIORS IN NARANJOS, SPAIN (15 TO 17 SEPTEMBER)
In the Spanish town of Narejos, not far from Murcia, the battle goes on for the junior world title. The home country of the ruling men's world champion has one of the best three-cushion schools in the world and of course Spain hopes to send its own contenders. The ruling champion is the young Korean Myung Woo Cho, a huge 19-year-old talent who's facing a great future. Cho conquered the world title in Hurghada last year and also impressed in the main senior events.
WORLD CUP IN CHEONGJU, KOREA (25 SEPTEMBER TO 1 OCTOBER)
The 2017 World Cup circuit will restart with the fifth edition this year in South Korea. Following the LG U-PLUS Masters, it's the second major tournament in Asia within a month. The location is no longer Guri, but Cheongju, a central city with 600.000 inhabitants. The Koreans are among the big favourits with recent World Cup wins of Jung-Han Heo (Hurghada 2016) and Haeng-Jik Kim (Porto 2017) and Jae Ho Cho in New York.
For Kozoom, September is the traditional kick-off for the new season. We wish all players, members and other fans a wonderful restart of the season.
Young Korean Myung-Woo Cho, defending his title in the junior World championship in Spain