Raymond Ceulemans
Belgian billiard player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Raymond Ceulemans (born 12 July 1937) is a Belgian billiards player who won 21 UMB three-cushion World Championship titles, more than any other player. Along with 48 European titles (23 in three-cushion) and 61 national titles. His nickname is "Mr 100".[1] 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.
Raymond Ceulemans in 2011 | |
| Born | 12 July 1937 Lier, Belgium |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Belgium |
| Nickname | Mr. 100[1] |
| Professional | 1961–2001 |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Belgium | ||
| Men's Three-cushion billiards | ||
| UMB World Championship | ||
 | Neuss 1963 | Three-cushion |
| Oostende 1964 | Three-cushion |
| Hilversum 1965 | Three-cushion |
| Buenos Aires 1966 | Three-cushion |
| Lima 1967 | Three-cushion |
| Düren 1968 | Three-cushion |
| Tokyo 1969 | Three-cushion |
| Las Vegas 1970 | Three-cushion |
| Groningen 1971 | Three-cushion |
| Buenos Aires 1972 | Three-cushion |
| Cairo 1973 | Three-cushion |
| La Paz 1975 | Three-cushion |
| Ostend 1976 | Three-cushion |
| Tokyo 1977 | Three-cushion |
| Las Vegas 1978 | Three-cushion |
| Lima 1979 | Three-cushion |
| Buenos Aires 1980 | Three-cushion |
| Aix-les-Bains 1983 | Three-cushion |
| Heeswijk-Dinther 1985 | Three-cushion |
| Tokyo 1990 | Three-cushion |
| Luxembourg 2001 | Three-cushion |
 | Antwerp 1974 | Three-cushion |
| Tokyo 1991 | Three-cushion |
| Tokyo 1992 | Three-cushion |
 | Krefeld 1984 | Three-cushion |
| Las Vegas 1986 | Three-cushion |
| Tokyo 1988 | Three-cushion |
| Tokyo 1989 | Three-cushion |
| World Cup | ||
| 1986 | Three-cushion |
| 1987 | Three-cushion |
| CEB European Championship | ||
| Kaatsheuvel 1962 | Three-cushion |
| Brussels 1963 | Three-cushion |
| Copenhagen 1964 | Three-cushion |
| Vienna 1965 | Three-cushion |
| Lisbon 1966 | Three-cushion |
| Angoulême 1967 | Three-cushion |
| Madrid 1968 | Three-cushion |
| The Hague 1969 | Three-cushion |
| Tournai 1970 | Three-cushion |
| Geel 1971 | Three-cushion |
| Dortmund 1972 | Three-cushion |
| Eeklo 1974 | Three-cushion |
| Rotterdam 1975 | Three-cushion |
| Valencia 1976 | Three-cushion |
| Lausanne 1977 | Three-cushion |
| Copenhagen 1978 | Three-cushion |
| Düren 1979 | Three-cushion |
| Helsingborg 1980 | Three-cushion |
| Vienna 1981 | Three-cushion |
| Porto 1982 | Three-cushion |
| Dunkirk 1983 | Three-cushion |
| Waalwijk 1987 | Three-cushion |
| Cairo 1992 | Three-cushion |
| Vejle 1988 | Three-cushion |
| Triest 1961 | Three-cushion |
| Amersfoort 1985 | Three-cushion |
| Dordrecht 1991 | Three-cushion |
In October 2003, King Albert II of Belgium honoured Raymond Ceulemans by awarding him a knighthood (Ridderschap) in recognition of his lifetime achievements.
Early life
He was born in Lier, Belgium. By the age of 7, Ceulemans was playing billiards on the table in his father's café. He also liked to play association football at the local club. Although he was a good midfielder (in 1958 he was discovered by the club K. Beerschot V.A.C. but a transfer was never made) he stopped playing football and began to concentrate on billiards.
Professional career
In 1961 at the age of 23 Ceulemans won his first Belgian three-cushion title. In 1962 he won his first CEB European Three-cushion Championship.
A year later he won his first world title at the UMB World Three-cushion Championship with averages of 1.159 and 1.307 points per inning. He went on to win the title 11 times in row. The winning streak came to end in 1974 when he lost to Nobuaki Kobayashi in finals. He was the first three-cushion player to reach levels of 1.500 and 2.000 average points per inning.[2]
Ceulemans won the first Three-Cushion World Cup in Paris, France in 1986; two more titles followed in 1987 and 1990. In 1998 he tied the world record held by Junichi Komori of Japan during professional match play by scoring 28 points in a single inning.[3] (The record was later broken.)
Ceulemans won the European three-cushion championship 23 times and defended it 19 times.
Ceulemans also won 21 UMB World three-cushion championships. Additionally he has prevailed in 16 title defenses.
At the age of 64 Ceulemans won his latest UMB world title in 2001 in Luxembourg where he defeated Marco Zanetti.
International and national titles
- UMB World Three-cushion Championship: 1963–>73, 1975–>80, 1983, 1985, 1990, 2001 (21)[4]
- UMB World One-cushion Championship: 1968, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984 (6)
- UMB World Balkline 47/1 Championship: 1976
- UMB World Straight rail Championship: 1969
- UMB World Pentathlon Championship: 1965, 1972, 1974, 1975 (4)
- UMB Three-Cushion World Cup: 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990–2, 1990–4, 1991, 1992, 1993 (8)
- UMB Three-Cushion World Cup Overall Champion: 1986, 1987, 1990 (3)
- UMB Three-cushion Grand Prix: 1987, 1988–1, 1988–3, 1991, 1992, 1995 (6)
- CEB European Three-cushion Championship: 1962–>72, 1974–>83, 1987, 1992 (23)
- CEB European One-cushion Championship: 1963–>1967, 1969, 1970, 1977–>79, 1984–>86 (13)
- CEB European Balkline 71/2 Championship: 1963, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1979 (5)
- CEB European Balkline 47/1 Championship: 1976
- CEB European Pentathlon Championship: 1973, 1979 (2)
- CEB European Pentathlon Championship (national teams): 1969, 1971, 1975, 1992 (4)
- CEB European Cup: 1967,1968, 1969, 1986 (4)
- CEB Grand Prix: 1987, 1988 (2)
- Belgian Three-cushion Championship: 1961, 1962, 1964–>68, 1970–>81, 1984, 1986, 1993, 1999, 2001 (24)
- Belgian Cup: 1992, 1994, 2001 (3)
Other tournament titles
Next to the national, European and world titles, Ceulemans won other national and international tournaments, including
- International Simonis Cup: 9 victories[5]
- Rotterdam Briljant Toernooi: 2 victories in 1991 and 1992
- Wetsteijn toernooi: 1 victory in 1991
- Boerinnekes Pentathlon Antwerp: 15 victories
- Schaal Van Laere tournament Gent: 20 victories
Records
UMB World Three-cushion Championship
- General Average (GA): 1963 (1,307), 1966 (1,345), 1973 (1,478), 1976 (1,500), 1978 (1,679), 1986 (1,745)
- Special Average (SA): 1963 (2,068), 1966 (2,500), 1986 (2,631)
- High Run (HR): 1974 (14), 1975 (15), 1980 (15)
Three-Cushion World Cup
- General Average (GA): 1986/2 (1,516)
- High Run (HR): 1999/5 (15)
CEB European Three-cushion Championship
- General Average (GA): 1963 (1,238), 1969 (1,538), 1971 (1,621), 1991 (1,808)
- Special Average (SA): 1964 (1,764), 1965 (1,818), 1965 (2,068), 1969 (2,222), 1972 (2,875)
- High Run (HR): 1964 (17), 1973 (20)
Honours and awards
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- Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1966[6]
- Belgian Sportsman of the Year: 1967[7]
- Honorary member of the Royal Belgian Billiard Association KBBB
- Honorary member of the Royal Dutch Billiard Association KNNB: 1980[8]
- Sportsman of the century of the city Mechelen: 1999
- 3rd Sportsman of the century of the Antwerp province: 2000
- Introduced in the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame: 2001
Knight in the Belgian Order of Leopold II: 2002[9]- Honorary member of the European Billiard Confederation: 2007
- Trophy of Legends: 2018[10]
