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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on March 18, 2016
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The German Bundesliga is currently the strongest league in Europe, but the Dutch division of honor still produces great matches from time to time. Last weekend, two recent World Cup winners met: Murat Naci Coklu and Frédéric Caudron. It turned into a feast of heavy scoring. Murat ran ten in his first inning, Frédéric caught up with a ten of his own, later even running a thirteen.  Final score: 50-47 in 15, to Caudron.

In this case – sorry Fred – the loser’s average is even more remarkable than the winner’s average. We are getting used to 3+ matches, you’ll see a handful of those every month now. But to average over 3.000 and not win, that only happens once in a blue moon.

I have fourteen such matches on record, and I will give you the list, in ascending order of combined average. Continue reading Three average. Not good enough. →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on March 4, 2016

The most successful international TV franchise of all time has aired in more than a hundred countries. Yet, it is nothing more than a quiz show, a guy in a chair who gets tested with questions of increasing difficulty. 3-cushion players often find themselves in a chair too, because they were unable to come up with the right answers. What are we doing wrong? A closer look at “WWTBAM” gave me some clues. Continue reading Who wants to be a millionaire? →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on February 19, 2016

There’s no need to tell Daniel Sánchez Galvez how good he is. He knows. But for twenty years now, he’s had this label of “the modest one”, amongst the top players. Is he the nice guy, who is liked, plays well and ends second? Absolutely not. Dani is a congenial fellow, but also a stone-cold winner.

Three time world champion (1998, 2005 and 2010), player of the year in 2004, 2005 and 2006, winner of the most recent World Cup in Guri (2.739 general average), winner of the overall World Cup for 2015 and currently the nr. 2 on the UMB world ranking list. Continue reading Fourteen minutes of Dani magic →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on February 5, 2016

The Belgian, Dutch, French and German leagues have contributed as much to the 3-cushion sport as the World Cups, in the past thirty years. Caudron made 50 in 9 (three times over) in team play. Merckx played his world record of 50 in 6 in the Bundesliga. Blomdahl was the first player to average over 2.000 for a season (2.017 in 1998). Our history would be beheaded and cut in half, without the league results.

But is it all splendor? Do we want to keep it this way, because it works so well? Personally, I have my doubts. The individual nature of 3-cushion is inherent, the team aspect is manufactured. There is a downside to this manipulation. Continue reading Europe’s 3-cushion leagues are both a blessing and a curse →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on January 22, 2016

The beauty of an uphill walk is, that the view gets better with every corner you turn. Becoming a better 3-cushion player is like that. Start your climb, put a little effort into it, and you’ll quickly begin to see a bigger picture.

This is what you need, to educate yourself and raise your game: a piece of paper, a pen, one disciplined finger and a Kozoom premium pass. All things you already have, right?  Continue reading The Padeware practice routine →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on January 8, 2016

With the Dutch National championships around the corner (14-17 Jan), I would like you to take a closer look at the record Dick Jaspers has built up in his home country, because it’s rather impressive. These are the two key facts: 104 Grand Prix events were played in the Netherlands since 1986, Jaspers has won 56 of them, 26 Masters tournaments were held, Jaspers has won 16.

Here’s how it all started. Continue reading The reign of King Jaspers I →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on December 25, 2015

As 2015 comes to a close, an obvious question needs to be asked. Who dominated this year in 3-cushion? The answer is straightforward. Nobody.

We’ll have to get used to it. No player is strong enough to win a world title and two, three World Cups in the same year, because the others are just too good. And how can you dominate, when everything is decided in a sprint to forty points? One mistake, and the other guy can control the match for a few innings. He’ll run a five, a two, an eleven and a four (Yes, two dozen guys can do that). All he left you was a half-chance and three impossible positions. What are you going to do? Continue reading All the mighty tenors sang in 2015 →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on December 20, 2015

Both Ronny Lindemann and Adrie Demming are seasoned 3-cushion players, and there is no need to explain to them that Frédéric Caudron operates on a different level. But still, the day (19 December) belonged not only to the winner of the Hurghada World Cup. The 35-year old German and the 46-year old Dutchman had a share of it, as they matched Caudron’s brilliant performance of 40 points in 11 innings. Continue reading 19 December 2015 was “Forty in eleven-day” →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on December 11, 2015

Hurghada is around the corner, but allow me to take you back to Bordeaux one last time. In terms of average, it was not the greatest world championship ever. Even the final was not of supreme quality. But both the tournament and the deciding match between Dong Koong Kang and Blomdahl were historic, because of the tension. Which was off the charts. Continue reading How many lives does Blomdahl have left? →

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Posted by Bert VAN MANEN on November 27, 2015

Would you consider the world’s best 3-cushion players to be superstars? I would. They don’t make millions, I realize that. But sometimes Lionel Messi does something only Lionel Messi could have thought of, and execute it that instant.

Just like Caudron.

Millions of women can sing. But only Adele sounds like Adele. And only Horn plays like Horn, Merckx like Merckx, Tasdemir like Tasdemir. They make fewer mistakes than we do, but more importantly, they add their personal style, they enrich the game with their uniqueness. Play us a video of two high runs, one by Zanetti and one by Jaspers, without showing us the players. Just the balls. My guess is, we’ll identify the player before he’s made five points. Continue reading That one opponent they can never beat →