For the ninth consecutive year, avid carom players from around the world came to watch the 10th Billiard World Cup held in Hurghada from 2-8 December. The tournament was organised by Akhbar Al-Youm institution, which holds the organising rights until 2014. Nearly 130 participants from more than 20 countries were present in the tournament. Fredric Caudron of Belguim managed to grab the title as the World Cup champion for this year, and in the process, became number one in the world. Caudron won after playing masterfully against his Turkish opponent Lutfi Cenet, defeating him in three sets, with the last set going to 15-2 in 3 innings. Caudron is known as the next Raymonds Cuelemans, the Belgian legend in three-cushion billiards, winning 35 World Cup championships, 23 of them in three-cushions, and 12 in other carom disciplines. Strikingly, there were seven players from Turkey alone. According to Adnan Yoksel, the defending champion, this heavy presence was due to the fact that billiards in general “is a very popular sport in Turkey, and carom has 90 per cent of the market. “The first round was important because I didn't practice,” Yoksel said. “The first match in round 32 is the most important. I lost because I came here four days ago, and didn't find a table to practice, so I didn't. It was my mistake,” Yoksel explained. His world ranking is 16. Yoksel lost his first match to Cenet, his compatriot. Only two Egyptians made it to the final 32, from approximately 20 players in the preliminary qualifications. Sameh Sidhom, the Egyptian national team champion, stepped back, losing to his Belgian rival Peter Cuelemans 3-2. Sidhom said, “I'm in a transitional period, crossing to another level, after attending a camp this year with Dani Sanchez, world champion number four. “The camp made a big leap in my experience, as I gained new techniques, since we have not had a billiard trainer for 25 years.” Sidhom played last September and October in Portugal and Korea, beating the Latin America champion before losing to Eddie Merckx the then world champion, by two points. Sidhom ranks 19 in the world, and 17 in Europe. Riad Al-Nadi, second in the Egyptian team, also made it to the final rounds. Al-Nadi lost to French champion Jeremy Bury 3-1. He said that attending such a tournament each year “is an essential experience to further my future as a carom player. It's important to see the first 12 in the world play.” Although Cairo's heated political situation looms over the horizon, Hurghada managed to provide a calm atmosphere for its visitors. One of the main organisers was the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA), which puts sports events on the top of their agendas. According to Sidhom, slots for subscribing to the tournament, which has as its limit 128 players, filled to capacity in just in five minutes, and 40 players were on the waiting list. Egypt's Sunrise Garden Beach Resort and Spa was the host for the ninth consecutive year.
