ANTALYA/HEERHUGOWAARD - The three cushion world championships 2020 for individual billiard players have been removed from the calendar due to the COVID 19 crisis and moved to next January 2021 in Antalya, Turkey. The global championships for juniors and ladies were scheduled to be played in Heerhugowaard, the Netherlands, from September 22 to 27 2020 and are definitively cancelled now. The World Championship for men, where Torbjörn Blomdahl would defend his world title, was scheduled for September 30 to October 4 2020 in Antalya. That championship will be moved to January 13-17, 2021 in the same city, Antalya.
The Dutch organization of the World Cchampionships for juniors and women fully understands the decision of the world federation UMB. "We were really looking forward to the double event with all the best ladies and juniors of the world, but unfortunately we cannot organize because of the crisis," Hans de Bruin of the KNBB three-cushion section commented. The double for ladies and juniores was a three year-cycle for the Netherlands.
The decision to cancel the tournaments was announced today, Monday, June 8, by the UMB. Moving to January 2021 was not an option for the Dutch federation, because in that period the Masters (Dutch championship) will be played. The organizer of the World Championships for juniors, Dirk Snip, wanted to make a combination with the 'Night of the Magic Balls' on 17, 18 and 19 September at the location of hotel Heer Hugo in Heerhugowaard.
Hans de Bruin (KNBB three cushion Section): ''Unfortunately there is a reality outside billiards that we have to deal with. Three cushion is a great discipline and these tournament are fantastic, but the health of players, officials and the audience are the most important." KNBB director Willem La Riviere: "We now will focus on next year to organize these great world events.'' Therese Klompenhouwer, the reigning world champion ladies in a comment: ''I was motivated more than ever to play the World Championship for ladies in my own country for three years in a row. And of course, I regret that this first of three events cannot be played in the Netherlands.''
The UMB organizations of the World Cup in Porto (June 15-21), the World Cup in Guri (July 6-12), Survival in Turkey (August 18-22), World Cup for national teams in Viersen (August 27-30) were previously removed from the calendar due to the Corona crisis. The chances for the remaining tournaments in 2020 to be played, are highly questionable due to the travel problems for players and officials. That applies to the World Cup in Veghel (October 25-31), World Cup in Cheongju (November 9-15), World Cup in Sharm El Sheik (December 6-12) and Continental Cup (December 18-20).
The move of the three cushion World Championship individually to Antalya means that there are two world championships on the calendar for 2021: January 13-17 in Antalya, October 20-24 in Korea. The men's championship in January is in the week of the Dutch Masters and right after the Belgian championship in Blankenberge.