EYSINES/BORDEAUX - The stage is set for the great champions of three cushion billiards to meet in the Europe vs Asia, Ceulemans Continental Cup. It will be three straight days of intense competition. The greatest champion ever, Raymond Ceulemans, the man to whom the Ceulemans Continental Cup is named, is the most prominent spectator in one of the suburbs of Bordeaux. The special guest 82-year-old legend Raymond Ceulemans and special guest, his wife Angèle. These days, I'm very honored. "I see it as a wonderful tribute that this new global tournament got my name. The world is looking forward to the clash of two cultures. On one side the best eight Europeans, on the other hand the best eight Asians.''
The audience is welcomed into the event by golden letters on the poster that reads, Ceulemans Continental Cup. The first "Continental Cup" is a Kozoom initiative with the intention of putting it on the tournament calendar every year. Raymond Ceulemans forsees a slight favorite role for the Europeans, however the high class of the top players can turn into a whimsical course. "The matches will be spectacular with this format, short games for each player, dynamic and attractive for the crowd. We will see a high level of playing, because the progression of the world's best players is enormous in the last two or three years. I think the Europeans are still stronger in a field with eight, but beware of the Koreans. And the big danger for the future comes from Vietnam. We must be happy in Europe that we have an exceptional generation with Blomdahl, Jaspers, Caudron, Merckx, Zanetti and Sánchez. They still are strong enough to stop the Asian invasion for now.''
The game has taken a big step forward in the last 2-3 years, says the multiple world champion in many disciplines. "The players are not afraid of anything. They attack, showing wonderful position playing and can score high runs. Three cushion has developed so strong, of course because the big players have turned into real professionals now and can make a living. I have closely followed the new era and believe me, I sit on the edge of my chair these days to enjoy it.''
The new future is partly in the hands of the Korean and Vietnamese influence, where millions of players are getting better and better. "Here, in Europe, it will be difficult to bring young talents to the top to follow this generationwhere as in the Asian countries, they have a wealth of young players. I've already seen the new wave in the years of Sang Lee, the Korean who later left for America. We often played exhibitions and tournaments in Seoul those years. Billiards was getting so popular there. I remember an avenue, like the Champs Elysées, with at least ten clubs within a few hundred kilometres with 50 billiard tables each. That's how it still is today. We're losing the war in the slightly longer term. I expect the Caudron, Jaspers, Sánchez, Zanetti group on top for some ten years more, but then we have to fear that there are no successors.''
This year, he was among the world's top players himself once again, when Ceulemans was invited to the McCreery tournament in New York with the highest prize money ever. "My start was good, I won my second match against Pedro Piedrabuena, who played his first game in ten innings. Then, I couldn't continue at my level. Three guys played their best matches against me. At the end, Torbjörn Blomdahl and I faced each other for the 10th and 12th place. The loser was the last in the rankings. We said to each other, in our best years, we played each other in finals for the title, now we play for the last place.''
The clash between the best Europeans and best Asians to 600 caroms evokes memories. Ceulemans: "Caudron and Jaspers played a match in Spain over 600 points not so long ago. In the final part, there was no tension, because Caudron had a big a lead. I once played such a match in Buenos Aires, I think it was in 1985, against Navarre to 400 points in five days. The match was organized in a boxing arena, with a billiard table instead of a boxing ring. Every day, the venue was filled with 3,500 spectators. Ezequiel Navarra was a professional player. I was the only player he wanted to meet for a match. They called it 'El Match de Siglo'. I won 400-301, for the people there it was a huge sensation. He was seen as the best player in the world. When the match was finished, a spectator shouted, "Now I've seen God.''
Raymond Ceulemans, ten years after his last world title, surprised the world one more time in his final days when he won the world's gold in 2001 in Luxembourg. He was Belgian champion that year in a final against Frédéric Caudron, a match in sets. "I didn't want to go to the World championship, but I was persuaded by friends. I signed up two days before the deadline. And what happened? I took the world title in the final against Marco Zanetti to sets of 15. In my three won sets, I made runs of 9, 10 and 11. The title came out of the blue, nobody expected it. After that, I never played a World championship again.''
Watching the current development, at the edge of the arena, Ceulemans states "I was born forty years too early when you see what happens now in billiards. But I had a good time. I'm happy to see that today's top players can earn big money. They still can face some golden years. My best years were around my 60th, when I won most of my tournaments. I was a 1.500 player in my best years, my competitors played around 1.200. That's why I took so many titles. It would no longer be possible now with four or five European top players who can all beat each other and the Asians who are very close to the top. The difference between the two cultures is the mental strength, technically they are very strong. What they still lack is the experience of the Europeans, the difference in age. You can see it on the recordlist of World Championships. The Koreans only have one world champion so far, Sung-Won Choi. But beware, they are coming, we will not be able to stop them anymore. I am wondering where this clash of cultures will bring us now.''De spelers van de twee teams zijn"
Raymond Ceulemans, guest of honor at the Ceulemans Continental Cup in Bordeaux
Europeans team:
Frédéric Caudron (Belgium)
Eddy Merckx (Belgium)
Dick Jaspers (Netherlands)
Marco Zanetti (Italy)
Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden)
Dani Sánchez (Spain)
Murat Naci Coklu (Turkye)
Jérémy Bury (France)
Asian team:
Haeng-Jik Kim (Korea)
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam)
Sung-Won Choi (Korea)
Jung-Han Heo (Korea)
Jae-Ho Cho (Korea)
Quyet Chien Tran (Vietnam)
Minh Cam Ma (Vietnam)
Dong-Koong Kang (Korea)
The schedule
Friday 14 December:25 points
11.00: Caudron-Kang
50: Merckx-Ma
13.00:
75: Jaspers-Tran
100: Zanetti-Cho
16.00:
125: Blomdahl-Heo
150: Sánchez-Choi
18.00:
175: Coklu-Nguyen
200: Bury-Kim
Saturday 15 December:
11.00:
225: Bury-Ma
250: Sánchez-Cho
13.00:
275: Zanetti-Choi
300: Merckx-Kim
16.00:
325: Caudron-Nguyen
350: Jaspers-Heo
18.00:
375: Blomdahl-Tran
400: Coklu-Kang
Sunday 16 December:
11.00:
425: Bury-Kang
450: Coklu-Ma
13.00:
475: Sánchez-Tran
500: Blomdahl-Cho
16.00:
525: Zanetti-Heo
550: Jaspers-Choi
18.00:
575: Merckx-Nguyen
600: Caudron-Kim.