Jérémy Bury reigns with fifth French title in a row

Jérémy Bury remains the French master of three-cushion. He added another national Masters title to his record, the 5th consecutive, the 11th in his career. Bury is now co-record holder in France with Richard Bitalis (period 1975-2005). Jérémy Bury took his titles from 2003-2023. The best statistics are in favor of the 2023 champion, with the best overall average, 1.433 and the best match, 2.353. Only the highest run was made by Pierre Soumagne with 14.

 In the qualifying round, Jérémy Bury won two matches and then lost the third against Gwendal Maréchal. Bury met Maréchal again in the final and then won 40-34 in 34 innings. Two players seemed capable of challenging Bury's supremacy in this championship:  Gwendal Maréchal (2nd with 1.310) and Pierre Soumagne (3rd with 1.015). Without being dominant, Bury managed to beat his main opponents in the closing stages, mainly thanks to an iron defence.

In the quarter-finals, Mikaël Devogelaere scored 19 points in 29 innings, while he played 1,400 in qualifying. In the semi-final, Pierre Soumagne was on 0.500 for a long time before he broke through at the end of the game and was only two points behind his teammate (38-40 in 36 innings). In the final, Gwendal Maréchal, who was on 1,600 over three games won, was also floored by Bury's defence and lost 34-40 in 34 innings.Gwendal Maréchal, who has not played much in recent months due to his studies, started slow in his first two matches and lost to Marc Boingnères 21-40 in 19 (2nd best game of this championship). However, he managed to qualify for the final by beating Bury in his 3rd group match (40-38 25) at the expense of Marc Boingnères from Andernos.  

Maréchal alternated phases of international level with some costly mistakes, but had a great chance to win a first elite title: Jérémy Bury was less dominant than usual. Pierre Soumagne and Hector Echeverry Marin completed the podium.

The four French final players at the podium of the Masters