VIERSEN - The arena for the World championship three-cushion for nation teams is almost ready. The players who arrived at the Festhalle today had some practice in the billiard room, where the German teams are in preparation for three days. It is the day before the start-off in Viersen, for the 29th world championship, held in Viersen for the 26th time.
Before the start Kozoom likes to show its members some interesting information.
The Festhalle in Viersen was built in 1913 and celebrated its centennial. The building was used as a fitness center first, later mainly for cultural events. The Festhalle is hosting annually the World championship for nation teams since 1990.
The history of the WC since 1981:
1981, organized in Mexico City: the winner is Japan with the legendary duo Kobayashi and Komori, followed by Belgium with the megastars Ceulemans and Dielis.
1985 Bordeaux: Japan successfully defends its title against Sweden, that takes its first medal with father Lennart and son Torbjörn Blomdahl.
1987 in Madrid: The first of nine Swedish world titles: Lennart Blomdahl and Torbjörn finish ahead of United States and Japan.
1990-2014 in Viersen:
Most victories: Sweden wins eight times in the Festhalle, five times in a row. After Sweden, Germany, Japan and Turkey were the most successful with four wins.
Most medals: the German teams lead the rankings with 18 medals: four gold, four silver, ten times bronze. Sweden and the Netherlands follow with 14 and 13.
In the individual competition, Christian Rudolph leads with 14 medals ahead of Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dick Jaspers with 13. Martin Horn took 11 medals.
The most successful billiards country, Belgium, was not that lucky in Viersen until 2011. In 25 editions, the Belgians won four silver medals and one bronze, but never took the world title. Only in the 26th edition, Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron won and did it three times in a row.
A ranking of averages was registered as of 1998, containing the results of 247 players. Dick Jaspers leads the ranking: the Dutchman made 2678 caroms (1440 innings) in sixteen appearances, an average of 1.859. His highest run of 22 is unmatched.
The best match was played by Eddy Merckx, who scored the 40 caroms against Arnim Kahofer last year in nine innings (4.444). Together with Frédéric Caudron, who beat Andreas Efler with 3.076, Belgium finished that match with a record team average 3.636.
The 2015 championship:
Starting from tomorrow, 23 teams start the battle for the world title after Ecuador has canceled. The heats bring seven groups of three to the table and one of two teams. The qualifying rounds end on Saturday at 16.00, only the group winners qualify for the finals.
Both in the preliminaries and in the knock-out phase the matches are played to 40 points, in the preliminaries with equalizer, in the knockout without. The new rule (Scotch Double) will be decisive for win when a match finishes 1-1 at both tables.
Scotch Double means that both teams come to the table and play to fifteen points.
Kozoom is broadcasting the championship live.