The UMB World Three-cushion Championship for National Teams is a professional carom billiards tournament in the discipline of three-cushion billiards where nations are represented by a team of two players. After the first three editions, which took place in various nations and were not scheduled regularly, the Union Mondiale de Billard decided to keep the championships situated in Viersen, Germany and to organize these championships annually.
Below is the list of winning nations since 1981. From 2004 on, no third-place match was played and the third place was shared by the two semi-final losing teams.
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sweden | 9 | 5 | 1 | 15 |
2 | Turkey | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14 |
3 | Belgium | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
4 | Germany | 4 | 4 | 10 | 18 |
5 | Japan | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
6 | Netherlands | 3 | 7 | 8 | 18 |
7 | Denmark | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
8 | South Korea | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
9 | Vietnam | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
10 | Spain | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
11 | United States | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
12 | Austria | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
13 | Portugal | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
14 | Colombia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Greece | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
16 | France | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Totals (16 entries) | 36 | 36 | 55 | 127 |
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.
Raymond Ceulemans is a Belgian billiards player who won 21 UMB three-cushion World Championship titles, more than any other player. Along with 48 European titles and 61 national titles. His nickname is "Mr 100". He was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 2001, one of the first non-Americans to receive the honour.
The International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) is an organisation that governs non-professional snooker and English billiards around the world. As of January 2020, the organisation is headquartered in Doha, Qatar.
Semih Saygıner, nicknamed Mr. Magic or The Turkish Prince, is a Turkish world champion professional carom billiards player specialized in three-cushion event.
Alfredo de Oro was a Cuban professional carom billiards and pool player who several times held the world title in both three-cushion billiards and straight pool simultaneously. He was posthumously inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1967, the first non-American to receive the honor. He was ranked number 4 on the Billiards Digest 50 Greatest Players of the Century.
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Five-pin billiards or simply five-pins or 5-pins, is today usually a carom billiards form of cue sport, though sometimes still played on a pocket table. In addition to the customary three balls of most carom games, it makes use of a set of five upright pins (skittles) arranged in a "+" pattern at the center of the table. The game is popular especially in Italy and Argentina, but also in some other parts of Latin America and Europe, with international, televised professional tournaments. It is sometimes referred to as Italian five-pins or Italian billiards, or as simply italiana. A variant of the game, goriziana or nine-pins, adds additional skittles to the formation. A related pocket game, with larger pins, is played in Scandinavia and is referred to in English as Danish pin billiards, with a Swedish variant that has some rules more similar to the Italian game.
The World Union of Billards is the world governing body for carom (carambole) billiard games.
The UMB World Three-cushion Championship is a professional carom billiards tournament in the discipline of three-cushion billiards, organized mostly annually by the Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB). Until 1953 it was organized by the UIFAB. During a dispute between the UMB and Billiards World Cup Association (BWA), the UMB decided not to organize the championship between 1988 and 1993. Instead the overall winner of the World Cup was announced as also the world champion.
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