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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
Three-cushion billiards was once dominated by Americans, in particular Willie Hoppe and Welker Cochrane (and Jay Bozeman). Then later, the Europeans dominated, especially Raymond Ceulemans of Belgium. Ceulemans averaged much higher than Hoppe or Cochrane ever had, partly because of better equipment (tables, cloth, and balls), and partly because of his much more aggressive style of play, and partly because of more accuracy, and also because of highly imaginative shots when in difficult situations. Now, Torbjorn Blomdahl of Sweden is even better, the greatest player ever. His style is also very aggressive, seldom playing a defensive shot. Incidentally, Ceulemans now shoots a higher average than he did when he dominated.
Here are the world champs since 1963, when Ceulemans first won the title:
| 1963 | Raymond Ceulemans, Belgium (amateur) |
| 1964 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur), Arthur Rubin (professional) |
| 1965 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1966 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1967 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1968 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1969 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur), Juan Navarra (professional) |
| 1970 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1971 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1972 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur), Juan Navarra (professional) |
| 1973 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1974 | Nobuaki Kobayashi, Japan (amateur) |
| 1975 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1976 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1977 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1978 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1979 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1980 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1981 | Ludo Dielis, Belgium (amateur) |
| 1982 | Rini Van Bracht, Holland (amateur) |
| 1983 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1984 | Nobuaki Kobayashi (amateur), Ludo Dielis (professional) |
| 1985 | Raymond Ceulemans (amateur) |
| 1986 | Avelino Rico, Spain (amateur), Raymond Ceulemans (World Cup, professional) |
| 1987 | Torbjorn Blomdahl, Sweden (amateur), Raymond Ceulemans (World Cup) |
| 1988 | Ludo Dielis (professional), Torbjorn Blomdahl (World Cup) |
| 1989 | Torbjorn Blomdahl (professional), Ludo Dielis (World Cup) |
| 1990 | Raymond Ceulemans (professional), Raymond Ceulemans (World Cup) |
| 1991 | Torbjorn Blomdahl (professional), Torbjorn Blomdahl (World Cup) |
| 1992 | Torbjorn Blomdahl (professional), Torbjorn Blomdahl (World Cup) |
| 1993 | Sang Lee, USA (World Cup) |
| 1994 | Torbjorn Blomdahl (World Cup) |
| 1995 | Torbjorn Blomdahl (World Cup) |
| 1996 | Torbjorn Blomdahl (World Cup) |
| 1997 | Dick Jaspers, Holland (World Cup), Torbjorn Blomdahl |
| 1998 | Torbjorn Blomdahl (World Cup), Daniel Sanchez, Spain |
| 1999 | Dick Jaspers (World Cup),Frederic Caudron, Belgium |
Until 1987, there were amateur world champions. From 1988 to the present, where were two professional organizations, the World Cup and the Union Mondiale de Billiard. Sang Lee is the first American to win the world championship since 1954. The World Cup is a series of tournaments, leading to a World Championship title. In 1997, a World Championship tournament was reestablished.
Blomdahl's high run is 24, not in a major tournament. There are several people with higher runs. One of Blomdahl's major claims to fame was for averaging more than two (that is an average of more than two points per inning) for an entire tournament. In Hoppe's days, an average of one was very good. Hoppe once averaged 1.333 for an entire tournament. Now several people have averaged over two, for a whole tournament: Ceulemans, Semih Sayginer (Turkey), Marco Zanetti (Italy), and Jaspers have all done it once. Well, Blomdahl has now done it six times, with the world record average for a tournament of 2.506, in 1995. Three people have averaged five, for an entire game, Blomdahl (50 pts in 10 innings), Caudron (45 pts in 9 innings), and Ceulemans (40 pts in 8 innings). In 2000, Blomdahl made 50 pts in 9 innings (average=5.555...). Sang Lee apparently made 50 pts in 4 innings in a local tournament.
Blomdahl is the best. He even dominates, pretty much. But, he doesn't win all of his games, or win all of his tournaments, as you can see. There is a lot of strong talent. That makes the international billiard situation exciting.
Three-cushion billiards is a game played (with three balls) on a carom billiards table (a 10 foot long table with no pockets). The object is to hit both object balls with your cue ball. But, you also have to hit 3 (or more) cushions, with your cue ball, before you hit the second object ball. You can hit the first ball and the cushions in any order, before hitting the second object ball. Normally, you hit ball-cushion-cushion-cushion-ball, but sometimes cushion-cushion-cushion-ball-ball or some other order. And the same cushion can be hit more than once, even three consecutive times.
Willie Hoppe had the reputation of being the best. But in the same era, Welker Cochrane won more 3-Cushion World Championships.