ANTWERP – The World Cups in three-cushion billiards, whether they are played in Europe, America, or Asia, are often so popular that there is a huge list of reserve players. The upcoming World Cup in Lier (Antwerp) already has 153 players on the waiting list, of whom at most ten will move up to the 149-strong field of participants. Places are expensive for players who are not seeded, do not come from the organizing country, in this case Belgium, or are low in the rankings. The rules for the World Cups are clear. The top 96 are protected and get priority to register directly. In addition, each country is allowed to register one player. The medal winners in the women's and junior categories get a place if they want it, and the host country is allowed to register 20 players. Any remaining places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The UMB announces the day on which registration starts: on that day, from midnight, the UMB website is flooded with traffic. Hundreds of players try to be the first to register and get a place on the list.
What is the art of quick registration? You can ask Jerome Riotto from France, Vedat Aykol from Turkey, and Adem Doganoglu from Turkey, who are now 1, 2, and 3 on the reserve list for the World Cup in Antwerp.
But also, for example, to Joeri Wilkowski from the Netherlands, or to Litsa Mavridoglou from Greece, who, as the earliest registrants, have already moved up to the participating field. Dutch player Sylvia Eckel, who has played in many World Cups, has now been relegated to the No. 9 position on the reserve list. Sylvia: “We were in America at that moment, I was sitting at my laptop at exactly the right time in the American night, but I was way too late. That has never happened to me before.” Adrie Demming, another Dutchman, says: “I got contact 20 seconds past 12 o'clock, but I was 124th on the reserve list. There must be a secret system for this.”
Sylvia Eckel is certain: “The are always the same players who manage to register. There are people you can never beat because they have a computer program that allows them to register very quickly. It's a matter of seconds; you can never beat that manually.”
Greek player Litsa Mavridoglou, who plays in the Women's World championship, makes no secret of it. “I programmed everything in advance, I'm very fast, and it took me 3 seconds to get on the list. Check it out, I'm always in the top ten when there's a World Cup.”
Monique Wilkowski, who registered her son Joeri, assures, however, “We did it, we worked with six laptops, it was just pure luck. We've tried three tournaments and now we've finally succeeded. We don't know any special tricks, you know. Joeri is overjoyed that he can participate for once.”
Adrie Demming has resigned himself to the situation. The player from Brabant says: “I'll have to find an IT specialist to sort this out for me.” The Dutchman has a nice alternative. This weekend, he is traveling to Lloret de Mar to play in an invitational tournament with six players: himself and Volkan Cetin from the Netherlands, Maarten Jansen and Mathy Monnissen from Belgium, and two Spaniards. “It's an all-inclusive promotional tournament; everything is paid for except the flight.”
Greek lady player Litsa Mavridoglou, always in top 10 of registrations for a World Cup