# UMB World Three-cushion Championship

The UMB World Three-cushion Championship is a professional carom billiards tournament in the discipline of three-cushion billiards, organized mostly annually by the Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB). Until 1953 it was organized by the UIFAB (Union Internationale des Federations d'Amateurs de Billard). During a dispute between the UMB and Billiards World Cup Association (BWA), the UMB decided not to organize the championship between 1988 and 1993. Instead the overall winner of the World Cup was announced as also the world champion.$^{:p785}$
From 1928 to 1958 and from 1985 to 1987, matches were played as a single frame with a run to 50 points (or 60 points between 1960 and 1984). From 1994 to 2011 the tournament was played in a set-system, the winner achieving the best of five. Since 2012 it has been changed back to a single frame with the run to 40 points.

## Prize money and ranking points

| Rank | Prize | Ranking points |
| Winner | 40.000 € x 1 | 120 |
| Runner-up | 20.000 € x 1 | 081 |
| 3. & 4. Rank | 12.000 € x 2 | 057 |
| 5. – 8. Rank | 6.000 € x 4 | 039 |
| 9. – 16. Rank | 3.000 € x 8 | 024 |
| 17. – 32. Rank | 2.000 € x 16 | 012 |
| 33. – 48. Rank | 1.000 € x 16 | 08 |
| Total | 188.000 € | |

## Tournament records timeline

General Average (GA) :
| GA | Name | Year |
| 0,552 | Edmond Soussa | 1928 |
| 0,720 | Emile Zaman | 1929 |
| 0,755 | Claudio Puigvert | 1935 |
| 0,859 | Edward Lee | 1936 |
| 0,884 | Augusto Vergez | 1938 |
| 0,922 | José Bonomo | 1948 |
| 1,070 | Pedro Leopoldo Carrera | 1952 |
| 1,089 | René Vingerhoedt | 1958 |
| 1,307 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1963 |
| 1,345 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1966 |
| 1,478 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1973 |
| 1,500 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1976 |
| 1,679 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1978 |
| 1,745 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1986 |
| 2,015 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1997 |
| 2,122 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 2010 |
| 2,123 | Ma Minh Cam | 2017 |
| 2,352 | Dick Jaspers | 2018 |
| 2,463 | Tayfun Taşdemir | 2021 |
Special Average (SA) :
| SA | Name | Year |
| 0,746 | Emile Zaman | 1928 |
| 0,961 | Emile Zaman | 1929 |
| 1,136 | Claudio Puigvert | 1932 |
| 1,162 | Augusto Vergez | 1938 |
| 1,562 | Alfredo Fuentes | 1948 |
| 1,612 | René Vingerhoedt | 1952 |
| 1,612 | August Tiedtke | 1958 |
| 2,068 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1963 |
| 2,500 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1966 |
| 2,631 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1986 |
| 2,812 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1988 |
| 2,812 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1991 |
| 2,812 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1997 |
| 2,812 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 2001 |
| 3,461 | Daniel Sánchez | 2005 |
| 4,500 | Dick Jaspers | 2011 |
| 5,714 | Kang Dong-koong | 2013 |
High Run (HR) :
| HR | Name | Year |
| 09 | Edmond Soussa | 1928 |
| 10 | Enrique Miró | 1931 |
| 10 | Claudio Puigvert | 1932 |
| 12 | Edmond Soussa | 1933 |
| 12 | Alfred Lagache | 1938 |
| 12 | Alfredo Fuentes | 1948 |
| 12 | Bernard Siguret | 1952 |
| 12 | August Tiedtke | 1953 |
| 13 | Johann Scherz | 1958 |
| 14 | Raymond Steylaerts | 1964 |
| 14 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1974 |
| 15 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1975 |
| 15 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1980 |
| 15 | Rini van Bracht | 1982 |
| 15 | Avelino Rico | 1986 |
| 15 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1991 |
| 15 | Jozef Philipoom | 1995 |
| 15 | Marco Zanetti | 1997 |
| 15 | Daniel Sánchez | 1998 |
| 15 | Raimond Burgman | 1998 |
| 15 | Sang Lee | 1999 |
| 15 | Marco Zanetti | 2000 |
| 15 | Eddy Merckx | 2010 |
| 17 | Frédéric Caudron | 2012 |
| 17 | Frédéric Caudron | 2013 |
| 18 | Pedro Piedrabuena | 2014 |
| 19 | Sameh Sidhom | 2015 |
| 19 | Tonny Carlsen | 2018 |
| 20 | Martin Horn | 2021 |

## List of champions

This is the list of UMB three-cushion billiards world champions, from 1928 to present.$^{:pp799–853}$
| No. | Year | Venue | Winner | Avg. | 2nd | Avg. | 3rd | Avg. |
| 01 | 1928 | Reims | Edmond Soussa | 0,552 | Carel Koopman | 0,493 | Otto Unshelm | 0,489 |
| 02 | 1929 | Brussels | Edmond Soussa | 0,604 | Emile Zaman | 0,720 | Arnoud Sengers | 0,542 |
| 03 | 1930 | Amsterdam | Hendrik J. Robijns | 0,587 | Edmond Soussa | 0,541 | Arnoud Sengers | 0,542 |
| 04 | 1931 | Barcelona | Enrique Miró | 0,551 | Edmond Soussa | 0,632 | Arnoud Sengers | 0,571 |
| 05 | 1932 | Vichy | Hendrik J. Robijns | 0,679 | Claudio Puigvert | 0,698 | Franz Aeberhard | 0,557 |
| 06 | 1933 | Cairo | Hendrik J. Robijns | 0,628 | Edmond Soussa | 0,593 | Claudio Puigvert | 0,547 |
| 07 | 1934 | Barcelona | Claudio Puigvert | 0,695 | Jacques Davin | 0,590 | Jean Albert | 0,508 |
| 08 | 1935 | Algiers | Alfred Lagache | 0,656 | Claudio Puigvert | 0,755 | Emile Zaman | 0,643 |
| 09 | 1936 | New York | Edward Lee | 0,859 | Eugene Deardorff | 0,665 | Edmond Soussa | 0,631 |
| 10 | 1937 | Köln | Alfred Lagache | 0,696 | August Tiedtke | 0,680 | Arnoud Sengers | 0,603 |
| 11 | 1938 | Buenos Aires | Augusto Vergez | 0,884 | Jean Francisco Vergez | 0,677 | Alfred Lagache | 0,745 |
| | 1939 to 1947: not held | 1939 to 1947: not held | 1939 to 1947: not held | 1939 to 1947: not held | 1939 to 1947: not held | 1939 to 1947: not held | 1939 to 1947: not held | 1939 to 1947: not held |
| 12 | 1948 | Buenos Aires | Rene Vingerhoedt | 0,877 | Jose Bonomo | 0,922 | Augusto Vergez | 0,819 |
| | 1949 to 1951: not held | 1949 to 1951: not held | 1949 to 1951: not held | 1949 to 1951: not held | 1949 to 1951: not held | 1949 to 1951: not held | 1949 to 1951: not held | 1949 to 1951: not held |
| 13 | 1952 | Buenos Aires | Pedro Leopoldo Carrera | 1,070 | August Tiedtke | 0,961 | Carlos Friedenthal | 0,943 |
| 14 | 1953 | Antwerp | Enrique Navarra | 0,937 | Rene Vingerhoedt | 1,001 | Pedro Leopoldo Carrera | 0,921 |
| | 1954 to 1957: not held | 1954 to 1957: not held | 1954 to 1957: not held | 1954 to 1957: not held | 1954 to 1957: not held | 1954 to 1957: not held | 1954 to 1957: not held | 1954 to 1957: not held |
| 15 | 1958 | Barcelona | Enrique Navarra | 0,913 | Rene Vingerhoedt | 1,089 | August Tiedtke | 0,921 |
| | 1959: not held | 1959: not held | 1959: not held | 1959: not held | 1959: not held | 1959: not held | 1959: not held | 1959: not held |
| 16 | 1960 | Buenos Aires | Rene Vingerhoedt | 0,961 | Carlos Monestier | 0,811 | José Bonomo | 0,887 |
| 17 | 1961 | Amsterdam | Adolfo Suarez | 0,997 | Egidio Vieira | 0,801 | Bernard Siguret | 0,905 |
| | 1962: not held | 1962: not held | 1962: not held | 1962: not held | 1962: not held | 1962: not held | 1962: not held | 1962: not held |
| 18 | 1963 | Neuss | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,307 | Johann Scherz | 1,077 | Enrique Navarra | 0,817 |
| 19 | 1964 | Ostend | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,231 | Marcelo Lopez | 1,040 | Roger Hanoun | 0,939 |
| 20 | 1965 | Hilversum | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,290 | Johann Scherz | 1,152 | Koya Ogata | 1,127 |
| 21 | 1966 | Buenos Aires | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,191 | Enrique Navarra | 1,006 | Alfonso González | 0,878 |
| 22 | 1967 | Lima | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,345 | Humberto Suguimizu | 0,957 | Keizo Kubo | 1,003 |
| 23 | 1968 | Düren | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,227 | Koya Ogata | 0,910 | Johann Scherz | 1,009 |
| 24 | 1969 | Tokyo | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,276 | Koya Ogata | 0,992 | Diego Martínez | 0,906 |
| 25 | 1970 | Las Vegas | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,164 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 0,998 | Johann Scherz | 0,876 |
| 26 | 1971 | Groningen | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,266 | Rini van Bracht | 0,865 | Henny de Ruyter | 0,814 |
| 27 | 1972 | Buenos Aires | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,315 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,025 | Peter Thøgersen | 0,902 |
| 28 | 1973 | Cairo | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,478 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 0,966 | Humberto Suguimizu | 0,811 |
| 29 | 1974 | Antwerp | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,312 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,325 | Yoshio Yoshihara | 1,130 |
| 30 | 1975 | La Paz | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,308 | Rini van Bracht | 0,922 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,206 |
| 31 | 1976 | Ostend | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,500 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,305 | Junichi Komori | 1,238 |
| 32 | 1977 | Tokyo | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,372 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,187 | Yoshio Yoshihara | 1,176 |
| 33 | 1978 | Las Vegas | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,679 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,205 | Junichi Komori | 1,067 |
| 34 | 1979 | Lima | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,384 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,135 | Yoshio Yoshihara | 1,067 |
| 35 | 1980 | Buenos Aires | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,460 | Yoshio Yoshihara | 1,217 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,192 |
| 36 | 1981 | Cairo | Ludo Dielis | 1,222 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,426 | Johann Scherz | 1,271 |
| 37 | 1982 | Guayaquil | Rini van Bracht | 1,043 | Yohio Yoshihara | 1,146 | Carlos Hallon | 1,086 |
| 38 | 1983 | Aix-les-Bains | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,447 | Richard Bitalis | 1,332 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,258 |
| 39 | 1984 | Krefeld | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,388 | Ludo Dielis | 1,278 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,151 |
| 40 | 1985 | Heeswijk-Dinther | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,541 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,364 | Junichi Komori | 1,071 |
| 41 | 1986 | Las Vegas | Avelino Rico | 1,010 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,205 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,745 |
| 42 | 1987 | Cairo | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,099 | Frank Torres | 0,933 | Arturo Bone | 0,778 |
| 43 | 1988 | Tokyo | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,594 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,224 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,293 |
| 44 | 1989 | Yokohama | Ludo Dielis | 1,342 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,389 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,312 |
| 45 | 1990 | Tokyo | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,527 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,619 | Ludo Dielis | 1,300 |
| 46 | 1991 | Tokyo | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,504 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,518 | Dick Jaspers | 1,498 |
| (**) | 1992 | Palma | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,716 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,412 | Sang Lee | 1,511 |
| (**) | 1993 | Gent | Sang Lee | 1,355 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,601 | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,464 |
| 47 | 1994 | Aalborg | Rini van Bracht | 1,149 | Edgar Bettzieche | 1,038 | Brian Knudsen | 1,194 |
| 48 | 1995 | Grubbenvorst | Jozef Philipoom | 1,494 | John Tijssens | 1,210 | Nobuaki Kobayashi | 1,345 |
| 49 | 1996 | Hattingen | Christian Rudolph | 1,025 | Daniel Sánchez | 1,277 | Gerhard Kostistansky | 0,982 |
| 50 | 1997 | Grubbenvorst | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 2,015 | Raimond Burgman | 1,453 | Marco Zanetti | 1,684 |
| 51 | 1998 | Rezé | Daniel Sánchez | 1,594 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,797 | Christian Rudolph | 1,155 |
| 52 | 1999 | Bogotá | Frédéric Caudron | 1,538 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,769 | Dick Jaspers | 1,614 |
| 53 | 2000 | Saint-Étienne | Dick Jaspers | 1,773 | Tonny Carlsen | 1,502 | Marco Zanetti | 1,590 |
| 54 | 2001 | Luxembourg | Raymond Ceulemans | 1,696 | Marco Zanetti | 1,866 | Luis Miguel Ávila | 1,260 |
| No. | Year | Venue | Winner | Avg. | Finalist | Avg. | Semi-finalists | Avg. |
| 55 | 2002 | Randers | Marco Zanetti | 1,732 | Dion Nelin | 1,519 | Dick Jaspers | 1,687 |
| 55 | 2002 | Randers | Marco Zanetti | 1,732 | Dion Nelin | 1,519 | Ramón Rodríguez | 1,453 |
| 56 | 2003 | Valladolid | Semih Saygıner | 1,868 | Filippos Kasidokostas | 1,268 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,833 |
| 56 | 2003 | Valladolid | Semih Saygıner | 1,868 | Filippos Kasidokostas | 1,268 | Marco Zanetti | 1,211 |
| 57 | 2004 | Rotterdam | Dick Jaspers | 1,907 | Filippos Kasidokostas | 1,399 | Nikos Polychronopoulos | 1,437 |
| 57 | 2004 | Rotterdam | Dick Jaspers | 1,907 | Filippos Kasidokostas | 1,399 | Jacob Haack-Sørensen | 1,442 |
| 58 | 2005 | Lugo | Daniel Sánchez | 1,838 | Jean Paul de Bruijn | 1,566 | Eddy Leppens | 1,551 |
| 58 | 2005 | Lugo | Daniel Sánchez | 1,838 | Jean Paul de Bruijn | 1,566 | Peter de Backer | 1,367 |
| 59 | 2006 | Sankt Wendel | Eddy Merckx | 1,767 | Nikos Polychronopoulos | 1,456 | Peter de Backer | 1,577 |
| 59 | 2006 | Sankt Wendel | Eddy Merckx | 1,767 | Nikos Polychronopoulos | 1,456 | Dick Jaspers | 1,783 |
| 60 | 2007 | Cuenca | Ryuuji Umeda | 1,426 | Daniel Sánchez | 1,805 | Dick Jaspers | 1,484 |
| 60 | 2007 | Cuenca | Ryuuji Umeda | 1,426 | Daniel Sánchez | 1,805 | Ramón Rodríguez | 1,091 |
| 61 | 2008 | Sankt Wendel | Marco Zanetti | 1,871 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,631 | Peter de Backer | 1,481 |
| 61 | 2008 | Sankt Wendel | Marco Zanetti | 1,871 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,631 | Jérémy Bury | 1,478 |
| 62 | 2009 | Lausanne | Filippos Kasidokostas | 1,869 | Eddy Merckx | 1,703 | Eddy Leppens | 1,598 |
| 62 | 2009 | Lausanne | Filippos Kasidokostas | 1,869 | Eddy Merckx | 1,703 | Marco Zanetti | 1,612 |
| 63 | 2010 | Sluiskil | Daniel Sánchez | 1,715 | Eddy Leppens | 1,678 | Choi Sung-won | 1,718 |
| 63 | 2010 | Sluiskil | Daniel Sánchez | 1,715 | Eddy Leppens | 1,678 | Javier Palazon | 1,375 |
| 64 | 2011 | Lima | Dick Jaspers | 1,917 | Marco Zanetti | 1,551 | Javier Palazón | 1,454 |
| 64 | 2011 | Lima | Dick Jaspers | 1,917 | Marco Zanetti | 1,551 | Daniel Sánchez | 1,808 |
| 65 | 2012 | Porto | Eddy Merckx | 1,983 | Choi Sung-won | 1,365 | Frédéric Caudron | 1,711 |
| 65 | 2012 | Porto | Eddy Merckx | 1,983 | Choi Sung-won | 1,365 | Marco Zanetti | 1,515 |
| 66 | 2013 | Antwerp | Frédéric Caudron | 1,951 | Filippos Kasidokostas | 1,923 | Alexander Salazar | 1,433 |
| 66 | 2013 | Antwerp | Frédéric Caudron | 1,951 | Filippos Kasidokostas | 1,923 | Dick Jaspers | 1,822 |
| 67 | 2014 | Seoul | Choi Sung-won | 2,000 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,850 | Seo Hyun-min | 1,350 |
| 67 | 2014 | Seoul | Choi Sung-won | 2,000 | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,850 | Jean Paul de Bruijn | 1,269 |
| 68 | 2015 | Bordeaux | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,764 | Kang Dong-koong | 1,621 | Eddy Merckx | 1,940 |
| 68 | 2015 | Bordeaux | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 1,764 | Kang Dong-koong | 1,621 | Dani Sánchez | 1,817 |
| 69 | 2016 | Bordeaux | Daniel Sánchez | 1,983 | Kim Haeng-jik | 2,043 | Semih Saygıner | 1,618 |
| 69 | 2016 | Bordeaux | Daniel Sánchez | 1,983 | Kim Haeng-jik | 2,043 | Eddy Leppens | 1,792 |
| 70 | 2017 | Santa Cruz | Frédéric Caudron | 2,089 | Eddy Merckx | 1,828 | Mã Minh Cẩm | 2,123 |
| 70 | 2017 | Santa Cruz | Frédéric Caudron | 2,089 | Eddy Merckx | 1,828 | Marco Zanetti | 1,673 |
| 71 | 2018 | Cairo | Dick Jaspers | 2,352 | Jérémy Bury | 2,022 | Nguyễn Quốc Nguyện | 1,629 |
| 71 | 2018 | Cairo | Dick Jaspers | 2,352 | Jérémy Bury | 2,022 | Semih Saygıner | 1,568 |
| 72 | 2019 | Randers | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 2,121 | Nguyễn Đức Anh Chiến | 1,606 | Sameh Sidhom | 1,535 |
| 72 | 2019 | Randers | Torbjörn Blomdahl | 2,121 | Nguyễn Đức Anh Chiến | 1,606 | Semih Saygıner | 1,934 |
| | 2020: not held (COVID-19-Pandemic) | 2020: not held (COVID-19-Pandemic) | 2020: not held (COVID-19-Pandemic) | 2020: not held (COVID-19-Pandemic) | 2020: not held (COVID-19-Pandemic) | 2020: not held (COVID-19-Pandemic) | 2020: not held (COVID-19-Pandemic) | 2020: not held (COVID-19-Pandemic) |
| 73 | 2021 | Sharm el-Sheikh | Dick Jaspers | 1,864 | Murat Naci Çoklu | 1,826 | Marco Zanetti | 2,051 |
| 73 | 2021 | Sharm el-Sheikh | Dick Jaspers | 1,864 | Murat Naci Çoklu | 1,826 | Martin Horn | 1,949 |
| 74 | 2022 | Donghae City | Tayfun Taşdemir | 2,244 | Ruben Legazpi | 1,638 | Eddy Merckx | 1,841 |
| 74 | 2022 | Donghae City | Tayfun Taşdemir | 2,244 | Ruben Legazpi | 1,638 | Dick Jaspers | 1,859 |
| 75 | 2023 | Ankara | Bao Phương Vinh | 1,594 | Trần Quyết Chiến | 1,635 | Tayfun Taşdemir | 1,556 |
| 75 | 2023 | Ankara | Bao Phương Vinh | 1,594 | Trần Quyết Chiến | 1,635 | Cho Myung-Woo | 1,561 |
| 76 | 2024 | Phan Thiết | Cho Myung-woo | 2,171 | Trần Thanh Lực | 1,855 | Eddy Merckx | 2,453 |
| 76 | 2024 | Phan Thiết | Cho Myung-woo | 2,171 | Trần Thanh Lực | 1,855 | Dick Jaspers | 1,898 |
(**) unofficially

## Medals (1928-2024)

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Belgium | 31 | 10 | 17 | 58 |
| 2 | Netherlands | 10 | 6 | 14 | 30 |
| 3 | Sweden | 7 | 8 | 1 | 16 |
| 4 | Spain | 7 | 5 | 5 | 17 |
| 5 | Argentina | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| 6 | Japan | 3 | 14 | 12 | 29 |
| 7 | France | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| 8 | South Korea | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 9 | Egypt | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 10 | Italy | 2 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| 11 | United States | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 12 | Turkey | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 13 | Greece | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 14 | Germany | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 15 | Vietnam | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 16 | Peru | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 17 | Austria | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 18 | Denmark | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 19 | Portugal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Uruguay | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Colombia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 23 | Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (23 entries) | Totals (23 entries) | 78 | 78 | 100 | 256 |