Raymond Ceulemans

Raymond Ceulemans (born July 12, 1937 in Lier, Belgium) is a three-cushion billiards player and possibly the most dominant single figure in any one sport, having won 35 World Championship titles, 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 very few non-Americans to receive the honor. In October, 2003 King Albert II of Belgium honored Raymond Ceulemans by awarding him a knighthood in recognition of his lifetime achievements.

Early life

At the age of 7, Ceulemans used to play billiards on the table in his father's café. He also liked to play football (soccer)|association football at the local club. Although he was a good midfielder (in 1958 he was discovered by the club Beerschot, 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, he won his first Belgian three-cushion title. In 1962, he won his first 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 won that title 11 times in row. This winning streak came to end in 1974 where he lost to Nobuaki Kobayashi in finals. He was the first three-cushion player to reach levels of 1.500 and 2.000 average.

He won his first World Cup tournament in Paris, France in 1986. In 1998, he tied the world record (at that time, since surpassed) for the highest three-cushion run by scoring 28 points in a single inning during match play.

He won the European Three-cushion Championship 23 times and defended it 19 times.

Ceulemans also won 24 World Three-cushion Championships (21 from the Union Mondiale de Billard and 3 from the Billiards World Cup Association). Additionally, he has prevailed in 16 title defenses.

Titles

• European Three-cushion Championship (1962-1972, 1974-1983, 1987, 1992)
• BWA World Three-cushion Championship (1986, 1987, 1990)
• UMB World Three-cushion Championship (1963-1973, 1975-1980, 1985, 1990, 2001)

External links

• Official web site