Carom billiards, also called French billiards and sometimes carambole billiards, is the overarching title of a family of cue sports generally played on cloth-covered, pocketless billiard tables. In its simplest form, the object of the game is to score points or "counts" by caroming one's own cue ball off both the opponent's cue ball and the object ball on a single shot. The invention as well as the exact date of origin of carom billiards is somewhat obscure but is thought to be traceable to 18th-century France.
Semih Saygıner, nicknamed Mr. Magic or The Turkish Prince, is a Turkish world champion professional carom billiards player specialized in three-cushion event.
Gülşen Degener is a female Turkish-born, Germany-resident professional carom billiards player.
Three-cushion billiards, also called three-cushion carom, is a form of carom billiards. The object of the game is to carom the cue ball off both object balls while contacting the railcushions at least three times before contacting the second object ball. A point is scored for each successful carom. In most shots the cue ball hits the object balls one time each, although hitting them any number of times is allowed as long as both are hit. The cue ball may contact the cushions before or after hitting the first object ball. It does not have to contact three different cushions as long as it has been in contact with any cushion at least three times in total.
The Union Mondiale de Billard is the world governing body for carom (carambole) billiard games.
Marco Zanetti is an Italian professional three-cushion billiards player and a two-time world champion from Bolzano, Italy.
Daniel Sánchez Gálvez is a Spanish professional carom billiards player who plays for FC Porto a club he has represented for the last 21 years.
The Verhoeven Open is a three-cushion billiards tournament held in Flushing, Queens in the US state of New York. The event is sanctioned by the Union Mondiale de Billard and the United States Billiard Association. The event was known as Sang Lee International Open between 2005 and 2008.
Longoni SRL is one of the most prominent European manufacturers of high-end cue sticks. The company, founded by Alessandro Longoni in 1945, is based in Mariano Comense, Italy. Longoni makes cues customized for various carom billiards disciplines, including three-cushion, five-pin, and artistic billiards, as well as pool and Russian pyramid cues more recently.
Eddy Merckx is a Belgian professional three-cushion billiards player.
Cue sports, including three-cushion billiards, nine-ball and snooker, were introduced as World Games sports for men and for women also at the World Games 2001 in Akita.
Sporting Clube de Portugal is a professional billiards team based in Lisbon, Portugal, founded in 1930. The team competes in the Portuguese Billiards League and in European championships, in both carom billiards (three-cushion) and pool events. The team includes some players from Belgium, France and Spain.
Eddy Leppens is a Belgian professional three cushion billiards player.
Sport Lisboa e Benfica, commonly known as Benfica, is a semi-professional billiards team based in Lisbon, Portugal. Founded in 1938, Benfica compete in the Portuguese Billiards League, in carom billiards (three-cushion), pool, and snooker events. The team is almost exclusively composed of Portuguese players. They play at the Estádio da Luz in a 202 square meters room with 4 professional pool tables and a 50 people stand.
The Crystal Kelly Cup or Crystal Kelly Tournament was a prestigious, generously funded carom billiards invitational tournament in the discipline of three-cushion, which has been held at different venues from 1994 to 2011, a total of 18 times, mostly in Monte Carlo and Nice.
Choi Sung-won is a South Korean professional billiards player.
Christian Rudolph is a German carom billiards player and multiple world champion in three-cushion billiards. He is the son of carom billiards champion Ernst Rudolph.
Mieszko Fortuński is a Polish professional pool player. He was the winner of the Euro Tour event 2016 Italian Open. Fortuński is a three-time winner of the European Pool Championships, winning the ten-ball event in 2019, and the represented Poland in the team event, winning in 2015 and 2018.
In 2018, championships were held across three continents to determine the best players in major cue sports, including snooker, pool, and English billiards. While these are mostly single player sports, some matches and tournaments are held as either doubles or as team events. The snooker season runs between May and April; the pool and billiards seasons run through the calendar year.
Jorge Theriaga is a Portuguese carom billiards player. He won twice at the Three-Cushion World Cup from 1994 to 1996. Theriaga got into second place four times and third place twice at the Three-Cushion World Cup from 1995 to 1999. He got into third place three times at the CEB European Three-cushion Championship from 1986 to 1999. Theriaga was preferred as a 19-time champion in Portuguese, according to the cited Kozoom article.
