Three-cushion billiards
Encyclopedia
Three-cushion billiards is a form of carom billiards, and one of the most popular and challenging cue sports in the world.
The object of the game is to the off both and contact the at least 3 times before the last object ball. A point is scored for each successful carom. In most shots the cue ball hits the object balls one time each, although hitting them any number of times is allowed as long as both are hit. The contacts between the cue ball and the cushions may happen before and/or after hitting the first object ball. The cue ball doesn't have to contact 3 different cushions as long as they're contacted at least 3 times in total.
, which in turn developed from straight rail billiards for the same reason that balkline
also arose from straight rail. Such new developments made the game more challenging, less repetitive and more interesting for spectators as well as players, by thwarting the ability of highly skilled players to rack up point after point at will by relying on .
It is undisputed that the Internal Revenue Collector of the Port of St. Louis, Missouri
, one Wayman Crow McCreery, born June 14, 1851 in St. Louis, popularized the game. At least one publication categorically states he invented the game as well.
The first three-cushion billiards tournament took place January 14–31, 1878 in C. E. Mussey's billiard room in St. Louis, with McCreery a participant. The tourney was won by New Yorker
Leon Magnus. The high run for the tournament was just 6 points, and the high average a .75. The game was infrequently played prior to 1907, with many top carom players of the era voicing their dislike of it. However, after the introduction of the Lambert Trophy in 1907, the game became increasingly popular both in the US and internationally.
By 1924, three-cushion had become so popular that two giants in other billiard disciplines agreed to take up the game especially for a challenge match. On September 22, 1924 Willie Hoppe
, the world's balkline
champion (who later took up three-cushion with a passion), and Ralph Greenleaf
, the world's straight pool
title holder, played a well advertised, multi-day to 600 . Hoppe was the eventual winner with a final score of 600–527. The game's decline in the US began in 1952 when Hoppe, then 51-time billiards champion, announced his retirement. Over time, three-cushion completely supplanted balkline billiards, once the world championship carom game.
tournament in Flushing, New York in 2005, with first-place prize money up to US$
25,000. The game has also seen increased coverage in US-based cue sports publications such as Billiards Digest and Pool & Billiard Magazine.
The high run at three-cushion billiards for many years was 25, set over 2 games (14 and out and starting with 11 in the next game) by the American Willie Hoppe in 1918 during an exhibition in San Francisco.http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=71407 In 1968 Raymond Ceulemans
improved the record to 26 in a match in the Simonis Cup tournament. In 1993 Junichi Komori
set the record to 28 in a Dutch league match, a feat repeated by Ceulemans in 1998 in the same league. Ceulemans reputedly had a high run of 32 in a non-tournament, non-exhibition match.
When allowing for interruptions by opponents starting new games, the current record high run is 34 by the Dutchman Dick Jaspers
: in his 2008 European Championship Final match against the Swede Torbjörn Blomdahl
, played in 3 games of 15 points each, he ended Game One by going 13 and out, ran 15 and out in the only inning of Game Two (started by Blomdahl), and ran six in his first inning of Game Three.
The best game at the standard 50 points in a league is 6 innings (8.333 average) by Eddy Merckx
(:4-9-26-7-0-4) in the German Bundesliga in 2011. The best such game in a tournament is 9 innings (5.555 average) by Torbjörn Blomdahl in 2000, while Korean and U.S. national champion Sang Lee scored 50 points in 4 innings (: 19-11-9-11) in a game at Sang Lee Billiards in Queens, New York.
The best tournament match average is 5.625 (45 in 8 innings over 3 games; i.e. only 5 misses), scored by Dick Jaspers in the above mentioned European Cup finals in Florange
, France, in 2008. Remarkably, his opponent Blomdahl averaged 3.0 in his losing effort.
The highest average at an international tournament is 2.537 (345 caramboles in 136 innings) by Dick Jaspers in 2002 at a 7-match Crystal Kelly tournament in Monaco
, while Jaspers reached a record average of 2.666 (200 caramboles in 75 innings) at a 4-match national tournament in Veldhoven
in 2005 .
Raymond Ceulemans
from Belgium
has won a probably unmatchable 21 three-cushion billiards world-championships
.
(UMB). It had been staging world three-cushion championships since the late 1920s. Decades later, the Billiards World Cup Association
(BWA) competed with UMB, but faded in the late 1990s due to financial problems. The International Olympic Committee
-recognized World Pool-Billiard Association
(WPA) cooperates with the UMB to keep their rulesets synchronized.
The object of the game is to the off both and contact the at least 3 times before the last object ball. A point is scored for each successful carom. In most shots the cue ball hits the object balls one time each, although hitting them any number of times is allowed as long as both are hit. The contacts between the cue ball and the cushions may happen before and/or after hitting the first object ball. The cue ball doesn't have to contact 3 different cushions as long as they're contacted at least 3 times in total.
History
Three-cushion dates to the 1870s, and while the origin of the game is not entirely known, it evolved from cushion caromsCushion caroms
Cushion caroms sometimes called by its original name, the indirect game, is a carom billiards discipline generally played on a cloth-covered, 5 foot × 10 foot, pocketless table with two cue balls and a third red-colored ball...
, which in turn developed from straight rail billiards for the same reason that balkline
Balkline and straight rail
Balkline is the overarching title of a large array of carom billiards games generally played with two and a third, red , on a -covered, 5 foot × 10 foot, less table that is divided by on the cloth into marked regions called...
also arose from straight rail. Such new developments made the game more challenging, less repetitive and more interesting for spectators as well as players, by thwarting the ability of highly skilled players to rack up point after point at will by relying on .
It is undisputed that the Internal Revenue Collector of the Port of St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, one Wayman Crow McCreery, born June 14, 1851 in St. Louis, popularized the game. At least one publication categorically states he invented the game as well.
The first three-cushion billiards tournament took place January 14–31, 1878 in C. E. Mussey's billiard room in St. Louis, with McCreery a participant. The tourney was won by New Yorker
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Leon Magnus. The high run for the tournament was just 6 points, and the high average a .75. The game was infrequently played prior to 1907, with many top carom players of the era voicing their dislike of it. However, after the introduction of the Lambert Trophy in 1907, the game became increasingly popular both in the US and internationally.
By 1924, three-cushion had become so popular that two giants in other billiard disciplines agreed to take up the game especially for a challenge match. On September 22, 1924 Willie Hoppe
Willie Hoppe
William Frederick Hoppe , known predominantly as Willie Hoppe , was an internationally renowned American professional carom billiards champion, who was posthumously inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1966.-Biography:Hoppe was born in Cornwall on Hudson, New York on...
, the world's balkline
Balkline and straight rail
Balkline is the overarching title of a large array of carom billiards games generally played with two and a third, red , on a -covered, 5 foot × 10 foot, less table that is divided by on the cloth into marked regions called...
champion (who later took up three-cushion with a passion), and Ralph Greenleaf
Ralph Greenleaf
Ralph Greenleaf was an American professional pool and carom billiards player, a twenty-time World Pocket Billiards Champion, whose ability and charisma dominated the sport during his heyday.His obituary in The New York Times said of Greenleaf, in March 1950: "What Babe Ruth did for baseball,...
, the world's straight pool
Straight Pool
Straight pool, also called 14.1 continuous or simply 14.1, is a pocket billiards game, and was the common sport of championship competition until overtaken by faster-playing games like nine-ball...
title holder, played a well advertised, multi-day to 600 . Hoppe was the eventual winner with a final score of 600–527. The game's decline in the US began in 1952 when Hoppe, then 51-time billiards champion, announced his retirement. Over time, three-cushion completely supplanted balkline billiards, once the world championship carom game.
The game today
Three-cushion retains great popularity in parts of Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and is the most popular carom billiards game played in the US today, where pool is far more widespread. The game's slow re-increase in US popularity is due in part to the introduction of the Sang Lee International OpenSang Lee International Open
The Sang Lee International Open is a three-cushion billiards tournament held in Flushing, New York. The event is sanctioned the Union Mondiale de Billard and the United States Billiard Association. It is named after Sang Lee, a Korean American player whose goal was to spread his principles as a...
tournament in Flushing, New York in 2005, with first-place prize money up to US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
25,000. The game has also seen increased coverage in US-based cue sports publications such as Billiards Digest and Pool & Billiard Magazine.
Records
Three-cushion billiards is a very difficult game. Averaging one point per is professional-level play, and averaging 1.5 to 2 is world-class play. An average of one means that for every turn at the table, a player makes 1 point and misses once, thus making a point on 50% of his or her shots.The high run at three-cushion billiards for many years was 25, set over 2 games (14 and out and starting with 11 in the next game) by the American Willie Hoppe in 1918 during an exhibition in San Francisco.http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=71407 In 1968 Raymond Ceulemans
Raymond Ceulemans
Raymond ridder Ceulemans is a three-cushion billiards player and possibly the most dominant single figure in any one sport, having won 35 World Championship titles , 48 European titles and 61 national titles...
improved the record to 26 in a match in the Simonis Cup tournament. In 1993 Junichi Komori
Junichi Komori
is a Japanese three-cushion billiards player.Komori has won 4 Japanese titles. However, he never won an individual world title, finishing in third position at the UMB World Three-cushion Championship on three occasions, in 1976, 1978 and 1985...
set the record to 28 in a Dutch league match, a feat repeated by Ceulemans in 1998 in the same league. Ceulemans reputedly had a high run of 32 in a non-tournament, non-exhibition match.
When allowing for interruptions by opponents starting new games, the current record high run is 34 by the Dutchman Dick Jaspers
Dick Jaspers
Dick Jaspers is a Dutch professional carom billiards player who specializes in the three-cushion event.-Early life:...
: in his 2008 European Championship Final match against the Swede Torbjörn Blomdahl
Torbjörn Blomdahl
Torbjörn Blomdahl is a Swedish professional carom billiards player from Helsingborg, Sweden.-Background:...
, played in 3 games of 15 points each, he ended Game One by going 13 and out, ran 15 and out in the only inning of Game Two (started by Blomdahl), and ran six in his first inning of Game Three.
The best game at the standard 50 points in a league is 6 innings (8.333 average) by Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx (billiards player)
Eddy Merckx is a Belgian professional three-cushion billiards player.In the year 2006, he beat Nikos Polychronopoulos 3–1 to win the world title in three cushions billiards...
(:4-9-26-7-0-4) in the German Bundesliga in 2011. The best such game in a tournament is 9 innings (5.555 average) by Torbjörn Blomdahl in 2000, while Korean and U.S. national champion Sang Lee scored 50 points in 4 innings (: 19-11-9-11) in a game at Sang Lee Billiards in Queens, New York.
The best tournament match average is 5.625 (45 in 8 innings over 3 games; i.e. only 5 misses), scored by Dick Jaspers in the above mentioned European Cup finals in Florange
Florange
Florange is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....
, France, in 2008. Remarkably, his opponent Blomdahl averaged 3.0 in his losing effort.
The highest average at an international tournament is 2.537 (345 caramboles in 136 innings) by Dick Jaspers in 2002 at a 7-match Crystal Kelly tournament in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, while Jaspers reached a record average of 2.666 (200 caramboles in 75 innings) at a 4-match national tournament in Veldhoven
Veldhoven
Veldhoven is a municipality and a town on the Gender stream in the southern Netherlands, located just south-west of Eindhoven.- Population centres :...
in 2005 .
Raymond Ceulemans
Raymond Ceulemans
Raymond ridder Ceulemans is a three-cushion billiards player and possibly the most dominant single figure in any one sport, having won 35 World Championship titles , 48 European titles and 61 national titles...
from Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
has won a probably unmatchable 21 three-cushion billiards world-championships
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...
.
Governing bodies
The principal governing body of the sport is the Union Mondiale de BillardUnion Mondiale de Billard
The Union Mondiale de Billard is the world governing body for carom billiard games. The organization was founded in Madrid, Spain on 1 June 1959, and is dedicated to promoting the modern carom billiards games...
(UMB). It had been staging world three-cushion championships since the late 1920s. Decades later, the Billiards World Cup Association
Billiards World Cup Association
The Billiards World Cup Association was a governing body for carom billiards, like its competitor and successor, Union Mondiale de Billard....
(BWA) competed with UMB, but faded in the late 1990s due to financial problems. The International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
-recognized World Pool-Billiard Association
World Pool-Billiard Association
The World Pool-Billiard Association is the international governing body for pocket billiards . The group was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Japan, the United States, Sweden, and Germany...
(WPA) cooperates with the UMB to keep their rulesets synchronized.