Klompenhouwer Wins a Record Fifth World Championship

The UMB Ladies 3-cushion World Championship had a towering favorite: Therese Klompenhouwer. And the Dutch lady from Nijkerk delivered: undefeated in the tournament, never really in danger. She dominated the final against Korean talent Ji Eun Han from the start with an early run of eight and finished it 30-16 in 22 innings.

It means that Klompenhouwer is now the record holder, with five Ladies world titles, in the ten times this event was held. There is plenty of talent in Korea, Vietnam, Colombia, and Turkey, but it will take upcoming players a few years to catch up with Therese. Her averages are so far above the field, it must be intimidating. Her tournament average in Heerhugowaard was an astonishing 1.393. That’s a mile above anything ever done by a female player.

In the semifinals, Klompenhouwer had little resistance from Japanese surprise Noriko Fukao: 30-10 in 23. The other match was a battle between two generations: Yuko Nishimoto is a seasoned player at 48, and her opponent Ji Eun Han is only 22. It was the junior who handled the tension much better: 30-13 in 26/25 innings.

In the final, it was obvious that Ji Eun Han has a great future in this game. Her talent showed in her composure, her technique, and her decision-making. But Klompenhouwer played a tactically sound match and left her opponent many desperately difficult starting positions.

A well-filled venue, the Five &Six stream on YouTube, and the live TV transmission in the Netherlands on Ziggo Sport made this a wonderful and successful event for Ladies billiards.

All the detailed final results:

September 21st, 2022 – Day 2.

After a long and exciting Wednesday, the semifinals in the UMB Ladies 3-cushion World Championship are known. The defending champion Therese Klompenhouwer is joined in the final four by Ji Eun Han from South Korea, who is the youngest player in the tournament at 22, and Yuko Nishimoto and Noriko Fukao from Japan.

The last 16 were the final station for all the players from South America and Europe, with the exception of the title holder. Jaime Buelens from Belgium played a great match (1.034) in the last 16 but lost her form in the quarterfinal against Fukao. Karina Jetten (Netherlands) also averaged 1.034 in the last 16, but she was beaten by Ji Eun Han in the quarters.

Charlotte Sörensen (Denmark) had little resistance from Irena Michalkova (CZE) but she lost in a nervy quarterfinal to Nishimoto. Therese Klompenhouwer simply cruised through her rounds: she made 30 in 17 against Andrea Cardona (Colombia) and 30 in 20 against Spain’s Estela Cardoso.

Klompenhouwer has now won four times in this championship and is on a general average of 1.428. That’s a level you’d expect in a World Cup, not in a Ladies event. She appears to be in a league of her own, currently.

Thursday’s semifinals:

11.00 Klompenhouwer – Fukao

13.00 Han – Nishimoto

The final will take place at 16.00. All matches can be viewed on the Five & Six channel on Youtube, and on Dutch TV (Ziggo Sport). 

September 20th, 2022- Day one.

Good opening day for UMB Ladies World Championship.

There were no big upsets on the first day of the UMB World Championship for ladies, in Heerhugowaard, the Netherlands. The favorites were never in danger. All eight groups of three had to shed one player, and all numbers one and two in the groups advance to tomorrow’s round of 16.

The best finisher was the defending champion, Therese Klompenhouwer. She won both her matches and averaged 1.250 for the day. Not on that level, but also double winners were Charlotte Sörensen, Johana Sandoval, Ji Eun Han, Karina Jetten, Yuko Nishimoto, and Nhi Hoangyen Nguyen. Mirjam Pruim had one win and one draw, but she also won her group.  

Sörensen, Sandoval, and Jetten all had a match close to the magic 1.000 mark, which is a positive. But, it has to be said, three group winners were below 0.600, so there is still a lot of progress needed for the ladies to catch up. 

Wednesday’s matches will start at 13.00 local time.

Cardona – Klompenhouwer

Cardoso – Pruim

Fukao – Nguyen

Buelens – Sandoval

And from 15.00:

Mortensen – Jetten

Declunder – Han

Lee – Nishimoto

Michalkova – Sörensen 

All the specified results can be found on the UMB page, under “active events”.

The action can be followed on the Five & Six channel on YouTube.

Lausanne, September 18th 2022.

Heerhugowaard is a small city in the Netherlands, half an hour north of Amsterdam. In the coming week, from 20 – 25 September, it will be the center of the 3-cushion world. First order of business: the Ladies 3-cushion World Championship (20-22 Sept.). Directly following it: the Juniors 3-cushion World Championship (23-25 Sept.).

For these two events, the format will be the same. Eight groups of three players will play to 25 points, two will advance to the K.O. stage with sixteen players, 35 points, and no equalizing inning. There will be a 40-second time limit.

The Ladies event has an obvious pre-tournament favorite: the title holder and world number one Therese Klompenhouwer. She will try to win her fifth world crown this week. Korean Ji Eun Han should be watched, she’s a former winner of the Ladies event in New York. Charlotte Sörensen from Denmark has shown a lot of promise in the short time she’s tried her hand at 3-C.

The groups:

     A)  Klompenhouwer, Al Mamar, S.Y. Lee

     B)  Cardoso, Pruim, T.K. Phung

     C)   Sörensen, Titze, Fukao

D)  Michalkova, Sandoval, Castillo

E)   Buelens, J.E. Han Gomez

F)   Jetten, Declunder, Werdekker

     G)  Nishimoto, Perez, Cardona

H)  Gok, Mortensen, N.H. Nguyen.

It’s not easy to point out a favorite in the Juniors event, but the Turkish (Denizcan, Burak) and Korean (Son, Park) players will certainly give their European counterparts (Panaia, Kogelbauer) stiff opposition. Many former Junior World Champions have embarked on professional careers (Haeng Jik Kim, Jose Juan Garcia, Myung Woo Cho, to name just a few), so there’s a lot at stake for these young fellows.

The groups:

     A)  Kogelbauer, Tabak, Ibraimov

B)  Akkoca, X.L. An, Pachon

C)   Ramirez, Mortensen, Ruuto

D)  H.S. Jun, Selevantas, Panaia

E)   Khaled, Sainz-Pardo, S.K. Jun

F)   Hashas, Galvis, Ettel

G)  Limones, H.N. Phong, Rosier

H)  Jeongu, van’t Zelfden, Dudink

The cameras of Five & Six will be present in Heerhugowaard, which means the matches can be followed on YouTube. In the Netherlands, Ziggo Sport will transmit the final day of the Ladies event.  

 Both tournaments will be played on Verhoeven billiards, with ClassOne TP-5 Blue cloth and Dynaspheres balls.

UMB.