GANGNAM-GU/SEOUL - The tournament with the biggest prize fund in global three cushion, the 3rd LG U + Cup, starts the show in Seoul this week. Sixteen players, eight from South Korea and eight from the rest of the world, compete for the main prize of 60.000 euros (80 million Korean won) from Tuesday (September 5th) to Friday, 8th September. The Korean Choong-Bok Lee, who beat the Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran in last years final, is the title defender. His countryman Dong-Koong Kang, who beat Dick Jaspers in the finals, was the first winner of the tournament in 2015. The world top is gathering with among others Dani Sánchez, Dick Jaspers, Frédéric Caudron, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Marco Zanetti, Nikos Polychronopoulos , Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Haeng-Jik Kim and Jae-Ho Cho.
Prior to the opening ceremony, Farouk Bark, President of UMB, performed for the draw this morning. He announced the groups for the thrilling battle, leading up to the two best positions in each group.
The reigning champion, Choong-Bok Lee, plays in Group A with Torbjörn Blomdahl, the Asian champion Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and four time Junior world champion Haeng-Jik Kim.
Frédéric Caudron come to the arena for his performance in Group B, with his French team mate Jérémy Bury and the Koreans Jin Pyo Hong and Seung-Jin Lee.
Dani Sánchez, the world champion, is ranked in Group C with Nikos Polychronopoulos, the former winner of this tournament Dong-Koong Kang and the recent winner in New York, Jae-Ho Cho.
Dick Jaspers and Marco Zanetti face each other in Group C with two strong Koreans, former world champion Sung-Won Choi and the last World Cup winner in El Gouri, Jung-Han Heo.
The result of the draw in four groups:
Group A:
Choong-Bok Lee
Torbjörn Blomdahl
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen
Haeng-Jik Kim
Group B:
Jérémy Bury
Frédéric Caudron
Jin Pyo Hong
Seung-Jin Lee
Group C:
Dani Sánchez
Nikos Polychronopoulos
Dong-Koong Kang
Jae-Ho Cho
Group D:
Marco Zanetti
Dick Jaspers
Jung-Han Heo
Sung-Won Choi
The LG U + Cup is unique because of its huge prize money and its location: the gallery of a shopping center in Seoul. The preliminary rounds are played at two billiards, the finals at one table. Kozoom will broadcast live for all Premium Pass holders. The time difference with Europe is six (Athens) and seven hours (West Europe). That means, 18.00 in Seoul is 11.00 in Paris and 12.00 in Athens.
The sixteen players are divided into four groups of four, the first two of each group advance for the quarterfinals. The match length is 40 caroms with a 40 second time limit. The contests in the preliminary rounds are, in European time (Paris), between 6 o'clock in the morning and 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The semi-finals are on Friday at 7.00 and 9.00, the final at 11.30.
The total prize amount is 240 million Korean won, 180,000 euros.
The group winners receive 5 million Korean won, 3,750 euros, the numbers two 4 million, 3.000 euros.
The winner of the tournament will receive 60.000 euros, the second two 30,000 euros. The highest run is rewarded 1500 euros, the highest average 1500 euros.
The schedule:
Monday: Draw
Tuesday: Training and opening ceremony
Tuesday to Thursday: Qualifications
Friday: Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final.
If you still don't have Premium Pass, you can apply directly to watch Kozoom, that will also broadcast all upcoming World Cups, championships and other major tournaments this year.