CAÏRO - The world billiard federation UMB announced today new rules for the World Cups and the World championships for juniors and ladies during the general congress in Cairo. At the meeting in the hotel where the three cushion World championship is played this week, Raymond Ceulemans, the all time best billiard player from Belgium, was appointed honorary member of the UMB.
The board was expanded by two new members: Turkish chairman Ersan Ercan and Austrian chairman Herbert Thür. The meeting was led by Mr. Farouk Barki, president of the world federation.
The World Cups undergo a mutation in the tournament format. The last 32 players in the tournament will be divided into eight groups of four starting next year. The best two of each group advance to the best sixteen, from that round onwards, the knock-out system is played. The opening ceremony at World Cups disappears and on Thursday evening after the pre-rounds, there is no draw for the final rounds.
The World championships for juniors and ladies will be played from 2019 with 24 instead of 16 participants. The preliminaries are divided into eight groups of three players, two of them advance to the final round with sixteen.
The new rules were approved by the meeting, the UMB board takes the final decision tonight.