CEB European Three-cushion Championship

The CEB European Three-cushion Championship is three-cushion billiards tournament organized by the Confédération Européenne de Billard. Held since 1932, it is one of longest-running tournaments in the sport. The 2007 event offered a total purse of €18,500 (US$26,134) with €4,000 ($5,651) for the winner.

Before 1995, there was a third place match played between the two losing finalists, in order to determine the ranking. However, the match has been cancelled since then and the losing finalists are regarded as having the same ranking in the competition.

Since the season 2012/13 the tournament was held in a mammoth event every two years in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany.

History

Until the Second World War the European Championships were held only in the disciplines Balkline 45/2 and 45/1 and in Three-cushion, and that even more irregular. After the war (1947) a regular, annual cycle was introduced. Exception was the season 1995/96. This had to do with the association disputes between the World Federation Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB) and the Billiards World Cup Association (BWA). It also meant that the players which were under contract with the BWA in the years 1993 to 1997 were not allowed to participate at the European Championship.

In the season 1956/57, there have been already two associations. In the dispute over sports and leadership policies within the "Union Internationale des Fédérations d'Amateurs de Billard" (UIFAB) culminated in the founding of the competing "Fédération Internationale de Billard" (FIB) and a "double" European Championships were held in Straight rail, Balkline 71/2 and in the Three-cushion in 1957. The following year, the disputes were resolved and UIFAB was again the only European federation. This fusion was expressed in the founding/renamed into Confédération Européenne de Billard (CEB) on 12. July 1958.^[1]:p855

Prize money and ranking points

[2]	Prize money (€)	Ranking points
Winner	6,000	80
Runner-up	3,500	54
Semi-finalists	2,000	38
5. – 8.	1,000	26
9. – 16.	600	16
17. – 32.	400	8
P-Quali	–	4
Overall	28,700	–
(current state: 7 February 2013)

Tournament records (timeline)

Billiard legend Raymond Ceulemans from Belgium won the tournament more times (23) than any other player. His closest competitors for the record are country fellow René Vingerhoedt and Swedish Torbjörn Blomdahl at a distant 9 and 8 respectively. By delivering the European Champion for 22 consecutive years (1962-1983), Belgium also holds the record for most consecutive wins.

In 2013 Marco Zanetti played a new record General Average (GA) of 2.500. Frédéric Caudron puts up a new European record in High-run of 28 and equalizes the records of Junichi Komori (1993), Raymond Ceulemans (1998), and Roland Forthomme (2012).

General Average (GA)[1] GD Name Year 0,717 Henk Robijns 1932 0,804 Alfred Lagache 1939 0,827 Roger Hanoun 1948 0,890 Alfred Lagache 1949 0,895 René Vingerhoedt 1951 1,023 René Vingerhoedt 1952 1,190 René Vingerhoedt 1954 1,238 Raymond Ceulemans 1963 1,420 Cecilia Luxem 1965 1,538 Raymond Ceulemans 1969 1,621 Raymond Ceulemans 1971 1,808 Raymond Ceulemans 1991 2,314 Frédéric Caudron 2001 2,376 Torbjörn Blomdahl 2003 2,500 Marco Zanetti 2013 2,739 Torbjörn Blomdahl 2013

Special Average (SA)[1] BED Name Year 0,925 Henk Robijns 1932 Jacques Davin 1935 1,041 Alfred Lagache 1939 1,111 Alfred Lagache 1947 1,219 Roger Hanoun 1948 Alfred Lagache 1949 1,428 René Vingerhoedt 1952 René Vingerhoedt 1953 1,515 René Vingerhoedt 1954 1,724 René Vingerhoedt 1958 1,764 Raymond Ceulemans 1964 1,818 Raymond Ceulemans 1965 2,068 Raymond Ceulemans 1965 2,222 Raymond Ceulemans 1969 2,400 Johann Scherz 1971 2,875 Raymond Ceulemans 1972 3,000 Tayfun Taşdemir 2002 3,461 Torbjörn Blomdahl 2003 Frédéric Caudron 2003 5,625 Dick Jaspers 2008

High Run (HR)[1] HS Name Year 08 Otto Unshelm 1932 09 René Vingerhoedt 1939 12 Alfred Lagache 1948 15 Herman Popeijus 1955 Henny de Ruijter 1960 17 Raymond Ceulemans 1964 20 Raymond Ceulemans 1973 23 Nikos Polychronopoulos 2012 28 Frédéric Caudron 2013

Champions

The GA indicates the General Average.^[1]

No.	Year	Venue	Winner	GA	Runner-up	GA	3. Place	GA
01	1932	Amsterdam	Franz Aeberhard	0,659	Henk Robijns	0,717	Claudio Puigvert	0,613
02	1935	Amsterdam	Alfred Lagache	0,704	Jaques Davin	0,686	Emile Zaman	0,595
03	1939	Angoulême	Alfred Lagache	0,804	Arie Bos	0,714	Alfredo Ferraz	0,574
04	1947	Brussels	Alfred Lagache	0,773	René Vingerhoedt	0,756	Claudio Puigvert	0,644
05	1948	Madrid	Joaquín Domingo	0,793	Roger Hanoun	0,835	René Vingerhoedt	0,718
06	1949	Angoulême	Alfred Lagache	0,890	René Vingerhoedt	0,733	Marcel Lacroix	0,634
07	1950	Amsterdam	Bert Wevers	0,584	Bernard Siguret	0,673	Leonard Dessart	0,652
08	1951	Antwerp	René Vingerhoedt	0,895	Alfred Lagache	0,640	Leonard Dessart	0,702
09	1952	Lausanne	René Vingerhoedt	1,023	August Tiedtke	0,807	Jan Brockhuizen	0,731
10	1953	Madrid	René Vingerhoedt	1,008	August Tiedtke	0,796	Antonio Ventura	0,680
11	1954	Mannheim	René Vingerhoedt	1,190	Walter Lütgehetmann	0,863	Pierre Fauconnier	0,877
12	1955	Amsterdam	René Vingerhoedt	1,017	Herman Popeijus	0,884	Walter Lütgehetmann	0,813
13	1956	Saarbrücken	René Vingerhoedt	0,831	August Tiedtke	0,784	Pierre Fauconnier	0,763
14	1957/1^*1	Lisbon	Bernard Siguret	0,677	Jaime Pimenta	0,636	Johann Scherz	0,666
15	1957/2^*1	Antwerp	René Vingerhoedt	0,800	August Tiedtke	0,815	Raymond Steylaerts	0,638
16	1958	Cannes	Johann Scherz	0,902	August Tiedtke	0,863	René Vingerhoedt	0,946
17	1959	Hilversum	René Vingerhoedt	1,041	August Tiedtke	0,935	Bernard Siguret	0,854
18	1960	Düsseldorf	René Vingerhoedt	1,105	August Tiedtke	0,992	Laurent Boulanger	0,994
19	1961	Trieste	Johann Scherz	1,000	Henny de Ruyter	0,796	Raymond Ceulemans	0,928
20	1962	Kaatsheuvel	Raymond Ceulemans	1,159	Johann Scherz	1,015	Herman Popeijus	0,890
21	1963	Brussels	Raymond Ceulemans	1,202	Johann Scherz	1,007	Raymond Steylaerts	0,952
22	1964	Copenhagen	Raymond Ceulemans	1,197	Johann Scherz	0,876	Raymond Steylaerts	0,843
23	1965	Vienna	Raymond Ceulemans	1,160	Johann Scherz	1,053	Roger Hanoun	0,922
24	1966	Lisbon	Raymond Ceulemans	1,420	Johann Scherz	0,872	Jan Doggen	0,801
25	1967	Angoulême	Raymond Ceulemans	1,253	Fernand van Barel	0,971	Johann Scherz	0,924
26	1968	Madrid	Raymond Ceulemans	1,379	Johann Scherz	1,125	Laurent Boulanger	1,150
27	1969	The Hague	Raymond Ceulemans	1,538	Laurent Boulanger	1,174	Johann Scherz	1,069
28	1970	Tournai	Raymond Ceulemans	1,366	Johann Scherz	1,010	August Tiedtke	0,809
29	1971	Geel	Raymond Ceulemans	1,621	Johann Scherz	1,142	Laurent Boulanger	1,041
30	1972	Dortmund	Raymond Ceulemans	1,501	Peter Thøgersen	0,907	Rini van Bracht	0,961
31	1973	Crosne	Arnold de Pape	0,940	Ludo Dielis	0,949	Roland Dufetelle	0,869
32	1974	Eeklo	Raymond Ceulemans	1,527	Ludo Dielis	1,111	Richard Bitalis	1,019
33	1975	Rotterdam	Raymond Ceulemans	1,406	Rini van Bracht	0,982	Laurent Boulanger	1,274
34	1976	Valencia	Raymond Ceulemans	1,563	Ludo Dielis	0,993	Johann Scherz	1,091
35	1977	Lausanne	Raymond Ceulemans	1,310	Ludo Dielis	1,074	Johann Scherz	1,016
36	1978	Copenhagen	Raymond Ceulemans	1,476	Peter Thøgersen	1,071	Ludo Dielis	1,060
37	1979	Düren	Raymond Ceulemans	1,369	Johann Scherz	1,059	Egidio Vierat	1,029
38	1980	Helsingborg	Raymond Ceulemans	1,571	Johann Scherz	0,979	Christ van der Smissen	1,113
39	1981	Vienna	Raymond Ceulemans	1,382	Raymond Steylaerts	0,808	Piet de Jong	0,773
40	1982	Porto	Raymond Ceulemans	1,365	Johann Scherz	1,125	Ludo Dielis	1,184
41	1983	Dunkirk	Raymond Ceulemans	1,333	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,104	Egidio Vierat	1,045
42	1984	Leuven	Rini van Bracht	1,193	Egidio Vierat	0,978	Günter Siebert	1,054
43	1985	Amersfoort	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,327	Rini van Bracht	1,080	Raymond Ceulemans	1,262
44	1986	Mondorf-les-Bains	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,218	Avelino Rico	1,027	Jorge Theriaga	1,084
45	1987	Waalwijk	Raymond Ceulemans	1,411	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,261	Ludo Dielis	1,156
46	1988	Vejle	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,506	Raymond Ceulemans	1,476	Christ van der Smissen	1,202
47	1989	Viersen	Lennart Blomdahl	1,099	Richard Bitalis	1,324	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,225
48	1990	Norrköping	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,435	Dick Jaspers	1,389	Paul Stroobants	1,158
49	1991	Dordrecht	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,772	Dick Jaspers	1,513	Raymond Ceulemans	1,808
55	1992	Cairo	Raymond Ceulemans	1,293	Francis Connesson	1,232	Marco Zanetti	1,135
51	1993	Corbeil-Essonnes	Rini van Bracht	1,231	Maximo Aguirre	0,958	Paul Stroobants	1,213
52	1994	Odense	John Tijssens	1,097	Andreas Efler	0,996	Dion Nelin	1,231
No.	Year	Venue	Winner	GA	Runner-up	GA	Semifinalists	GA
53	1995	Prague	Jozef Philipoom	1,203	Hans Laursen	1,083	Jorge Theriaga John Tijssens	1,151 1,050
54	1997	Mondorf-les-Bains	Daniel Sánchez	1,579	Jean-Christophe Roux	1,311	Dion Nelin Peter de Backer	1,353 1,171
55	1998	Aubagne	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,429	Martin Horn	1,378	Dick Jaspers Daniel Sánchez	1,583 1,524
56	1999	Porto	Semih Saygıner	1,571	Dion Nelin	1,355	Jorge Theriaga Dick Jaspers	1,333 1,448
57	2000	Madrid	Daniel Sánchez	1,544	Semih Saygıner	1,568	Eddy Leppens Raimond Burgman	1,285 1,200
58	2001	Odense	Torbjörn Blomdahl	2,235	Tonny Carlsen	1,326	Dion Nelin Dick Jaspers	1,447 1,839
59	2002	İzmir	Frédéric Caudron	1,730	Tonny Carlsen	1,497	Torbjörn Blomdahl Jacob Haack Sørensen	1,481 1,397
60	2003	Göynük	Dick Jaspers	1,834	Frédéric Caudron	1,864	Marco Zanetti Martin Horn	1,984 1,468
61	2004	Ölüdeniz	Murat Naci Çoklu	1,652	Martin Horn	1,358	Torbjörn Blomdahl Daniel Sánchez	1,669 1,493
62	2005	Porto	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,643	Frédéric Caudron	1,333	Dick Jaspers Brian Knudsen	1,920 1,413
63	2006	Antalya	Frédéric Caudron	1,937	Semih Saygıner	1,922	Daniel Sánchez Dick Jaspers	1,772 1,698
64	2007	Salon-de-Provence	Eddy Merckx	1,714	Frédéric Caudron	1,962	Daniel Sánchez Dick Jaspers	1,608 1,860
65	2008	Florange	Dick Jaspers	2,169	Torbjörn Blomdahl	1,557	Marco Zanetti Roland Forthomme	1,317 1,391
66	2009	Odense	Daniel Sánchez	1,864	Frédéric Caudron	1,760	Torbjörn Blomdahl Tayfun Taşdemir	1,529 1,388
67	2010	Sankt Wendel	Dick Jaspers	2,168	Eddy Merckx	1,581	Marco Zanetti Tayfun Taşdemir	2,007 1,428
68	2011	Porto	Dick Jaspers	1,715	Eddy Merckx	1,518	Torbjörn Blomdahl Frédéric Caudron	1,655 1,631
69	2012	Istanbul	Filipos Kasidokostas	1,798	Raimond Burgman	1,465	Martin Horn Murat Naci Çoklu	1,682 1,587
70	2013	Brandenburg/Havel	Marco Zanetti	2,500^*2	Christian Rudolph	1,465	Frédéric Caudron Glenn Hofman	1,869 1,059
71	2015	Brandenburg/Havel	Torbjörn Blomdahl	2.352	Eddy Merckx	1.823	Dick Jaspers Adnan Yüksel	1.500 0.700

Note

• ^*1 Since there were two competing and fractious associations at that time, namely, Union Internationale des Fédérations d'Amateurs de Billard (UIFAB) und Fédération Internationale de Billard (FIB), two different championships were held. Since the players could only affiliate to one of the associations, there was no overlapping of the participants of the respective European Championship.
• ^*2 New European record

Countries dominating the event

Country	# Events Won Out of 70 To Date	Percentage
Belgium	37	52.85 %
Sweden	9	12.85 %
Netherlands	8	11.42 %
France	5	7.14 %
Spain	5	7.14 %
Others	6	8.57%

See also

• Cue sports at the World Games

References

1. Haase, Dieter; Weingartner, Heinrich (2009). Enzyklopädie des Billardsports. Wien: Verlag Heinrich Weingartner. ISBN 978-3-200-01489-3.
2. "Prize money and ranking points". Archived from the original (PDF; 110 kB) on 2013-02-07. Retrieved 2013-02-07.