Raymond Ceulemans

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
Knight
Raymond Ceulemans in 2011
Born (1937-07-12) 12 July 1937
Lier, Belgium
Sport country Belgium
NicknameMr. 100[1]
Professional1961–2001
Raymond Ceulemans
Medal record
Representing  Belgium
Men's Three-cushion billiards
UMB World Championship
Neuss 1963Three-cushion
Oostende 1964Three-cushion
Hilversum 1965Three-cushion
Buenos Aires 1966Three-cushion
Lima 1967Three-cushion
Düren 1968Three-cushion
Tokyo 1969Three-cushion
Las Vegas 1970Three-cushion
Groningen 1971Three-cushion
Buenos Aires 1972Three-cushion
Cairo 1973Three-cushion
La Paz 1975Three-cushion
Ostend 1976Three-cushion
Tokyo 1977Three-cushion
Las Vegas 1978Three-cushion
Lima 1979Three-cushion
Buenos Aires 1980Three-cushion
Aix-les-Bains 1983Three-cushion
Heeswijk-Dinther 1985Three-cushion
Tokyo 1990Three-cushion
Luxembourg 2001Three-cushion
Antwerp 1974Three-cushion
Tokyo 1991Three-cushion
Tokyo 1992Three-cushion
Krefeld 1984Three-cushion
Las Vegas 1986Three-cushion
Tokyo 1988Three-cushion
Tokyo 1989Three-cushion
World Cup
1986Three-cushion
1987Three-cushion
CEB European Championship
Kaatsheuvel 1962Three-cushion
Brussels 1963Three-cushion
Copenhagen 1964Three-cushion
Vienna 1965Three-cushion
Lisbon 1966Three-cushion
Angoulême 1967Three-cushion
Madrid 1968Three-cushion
The Hague 1969Three-cushion
Tournai 1970Three-cushion
Geel 1971Three-cushion
Dortmund 1972Three-cushion
Eeklo 1974Three-cushion
Rotterdam 1975Three-cushion
Valencia 1976Three-cushion
Lausanne 1977Three-cushion
Copenhagen 1978Three-cushion
Düren 1979Three-cushion
Helsingborg 1980Three-cushion
Vienna 1981Three-cushion
Porto 1982Three-cushion
Dunkirk 1983Three-cushion
Waalwijk 1987Three-cushion
Cairo 1992Three-cushion
Vejle 1988Three-cushion
Triest 1961Three-cushion
Amersfoort 1985Three-cushion
Dordrecht 1991Three-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

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

References
  1. Raymond Ceulemans Bio at BCA website Archived 31 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Official bio, Raymond Ceulemans; accessed 2007-02-03
  3. Documents of some players (Spanish) Archived 2 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Raymond Ceulemans – Palmares". raymondceulemans.com (in Dutch). 2022.
  5. "Uitgebreide lijst van overwinningen Raymond Ceulemans". raymondceulemans.com (in Dutch). 2022.
  6. "Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste".
  7. "Palmares Sportman van het jaar" (in Dutch).
  8. "ERELEDEN KNBB". knbb.nl (in Dutch).
  9. "Raymond Ceulemans in adelstand, ridder Jacques Rogge wordt graaf" (in Dutch). De Standaard.
  10. "Trophy of the legends with Ceulemans and Kobayashi". kozoom.com. 2018.

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