ROTTERDAM - The Dutch developers and initiators of the 'Breakshot project' at the start of the COVID-19 crisis have brought a new creation to the market. Peter de Haan and Mike de Bruin have launched a training app under the name Random 3CP billiards this week for billiard players who want to practice three cushion remotely. The system with a variation of 1716 positions has been extensively tested and assessed in recent weeks by two top players: Frédéric Caudron and Therese Klompenhouwer. ’’It is a fantastic addition for every training session’’, assures Caudron. Therese: ’’The best app for a three-cushion training or a match with another player.’’
The system can be downloaded to the phone for a very affordable price: 2.99 euros for Android, 3.49 for Iphone. As in the Breakpoint Challenge, players are offered a position according to a point system on the billiard table. Mike de Bruin: ’’We have only offered much more variation in positions, because the number of marked points on the billiard has been expanded to 13. It would be nice if we will meet lots of interest. The European billiard market is a bit smaller than in Korea, Vietnam and Turkey, but it would be great if they also get enthusiastic in these countries.’’
Kozoom spoke with the initiators:
The idea arose when two former friends met during a Kozoom day and in a later phase came up with creations in the technical and innovative field to allow people to play billiards virtually, remotely in the billiard-free Corona crisis. Mike de Bruin: ’’Peter de Haan and I have known each other since kindergarten in Rotterdam and met again many years later. We developed this new project together with a third friend, Marco Stolk, mainly a technical man.’’
Mike de Bruin (43), from Oud Beijerland in Holland, is a graphic designer by trade and was already charmed by billiards in his youngest years. ’’After that, I went out for a long while, but a few years ago, as the father of three grown-up children, I felt like playing again. And later, around 2016, I started making facebook videos on the Three Cushion Player page and to publish other billiard videos. That ultimately led to the projects we launched this year.’’
Kozoom/Frits Bakker: Can you explain how it works: play a training on your own or a match against another player?
Mike de Bruin: Via the app you first go to the system and from there the positions will be determined. With thirteen marked points on the billiards, the positions are very varied. All balls can land on any number. You choose to train yourself, or you are looking for an opponent to play a match against. You determine the format yourself: in sets, for example to best of 11, or play games to 20, 30 or more points. The position is determined by the app on your phone, which is the starting position, just like with the Breakshot challenge. And the one who scores the most points from that position wins the set. All you need is a billiards table, a white pencil and the app. The system resembles that of MyWebsport, a wonderful, but also expensive system, only reserved for few people. We said to each other, we try to develop a nice, handy training system that is very functional and costs no more than a beer or a glass of wine.
Kozoom/FB: What can you conclude from the first project: the Breakshot Challenge, with players like Caudron, Leppens and Peter Ceulemans, among others?
Mike de Bruin: For a pilot, it was very successful with a lot of support and interest. We had about five to six thousand viewers at matches between the top players. Even during the Challenge, we started thinking about expanding the system and offering more variety. This new app, which you can use at home or at your club, goes much further: you can endlessly discuss positions with your opponent, about which kind of English, position playing, go high or low into the ball, strokes and so on. So a lot of interaction while playing. It can be done via webcam or by telephone. For example, you want to play a game against Therese or another billiard player, you call her or approach her via skype, zoom or another way with webcam and if your opponent wants to play, you have a sparring partner.
Kozoom/FB: So it is a joint project of Peter de Haan, Marco Stolk and you, what do you expect?
Mike de Bruin: We hope that many people will start using the app. Quite a lot of costs have been incurred, so at the very least we hope to get out of the costs. But most of all, we do want to romote billiards in these hard times. I am very proud of these guys I worked with and of myself that we have developed this. And I like to say thanks to Frédéric Caudron, Therese Klompenhouwer and Tim Gorrebeeck, who helped us enormously in testing and evaluating the idea.
The links for the Random system:
The website: www.3cpbilliards.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNA5T_