Three Cushion Billiard News
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Pedro Piedrabuena will play the World Cup and World Championship in Antwerp, Belgium in October.
Pedro Piedrabuena Represents the USA in Antwerp for the UMB World Championsip and World Cup
The UMB 77th World Championship 3-Cushion will be held in Antwerp, Belgium running from the 14th to the 18th of October, 2025. Forty-eight players will compete in sixteen Groups of three players for the Qualification Rounds and the USA will be represented by Pedro Piedrabuena. Pedro will be in Group I along with Alejandro Santiago of Mexico and Jeremy Bury from France. Qualification matches begin on the 14th of October and Pedro will play his first match against Alejandro Santiago at 3:00 PM local time. Current World Champion, Myung Woo Cho (Group A) starts his campaign to defend his title at 7:00 PM against the winner of the match between Yilmaz Ozcan and Luis Aveiga, the other players from Group A who kick of the tournament in the opening round at 11:00 AM.
Prior to the World Championship, Antwerp will also host a World Cup Tournament beginning on the 6th of October and continuing until the 12th. Pedro Piedrabuena will also be representing the USA during the World Cup. Pedro will face Luis Bahamondes from Chile in his first match on the 6th at 12:30 PM local time. Also in Group L is Cenk Yildiz from Türkiye.
Tune in to support Pedro Piedrabuena, our player from the USBA competing in both tournaments on SOOP Billiards:
https://billiards.sooplive.co.kr
Best of Luck!
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Image courtesy WCBS.
LIVE Stream on the WCBS YouTube Channel
Select Matches will be broadcast on the World Games Live Platform
The 2025 World Games will take place in Chengdu, China from August 7 to 17 and cue sports will be played in seven medal events in 3-Cushion, 10-Ball, Heyball, and Snooker. Pedro Piedrabuena will represent the USA in the Men's 3-Cushion event where 12 players will compete. The Group Stages begin on August 10 and the competitions are completed on the 14th of August.
The Billiard Events are:
3-Cushion Men: 12 participants
3-Cushion Women: 8 participants
10-Ball Men: 12 participants
10-Ball Women: 12 participants
Heyball Mixed: 16 participants
Snooker 15-Reds Men: 12 participants
Snooker 6-Reds Women: 8 participants
Here is a link to the official World Games website:
The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) will provide coverage and results on their website and social media pages. Here you can download:
Competition Schedule | Training Schedule | Playing Format & System | Player List
Image courtesy WCBS.
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Bida Em 6 Years Anniversary
Tournament Results
The Bida Em 6 Years Anniversary Toutnament will be held over the July 4th weekend in Arlington, Texas. David Nguyen and Texas 3 Cushion Billiards is helping to promote the tournament. There are 96 players for the field with many of the top USA players participating.
Below is the schedule for the first two days.
Looks like an exciting tournament and matches will be streamed on YouTube Texas3CushioBilliards.
Best of luck to all the players.
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George Aronek Passes at 98
George Aronek (left) at the 1996 Sang Lee International Open.
by Charles Brown
George Aronek, former USBA President and a great ambassador for 3-cushion billiards passed on Saturday, June 28 at the age of 98. In a post on AZBilliards Bill Smith, a longtime friend of George, stated that George died in his sleep in a nursing home after contracting COVID.
I first met George at the 1996 Sang Lee International Open Tournament held at Sang Lee’s room in Jackson Heights, NYC. George was tournament director and he was inputting the results on charts that he had hand drawn. Everything he was doing was precise, meticulous, and beautifully done—all by hand. He knew his stuff and he made everyone comfortable.
George Aronek (left) at the 1996 Sang Lee International Open.
Not long after that I found myself in the role of tournament director and was responsible for running tournaments and providing results charts. Bewildered as how to proceed, I remembered that week of watching George and resolved that I could use his methods as my model. He would be my mentor. So, I got myself a big piece of poster board and some markers and, although I knew the charts would never be as beautiful as the ones George had made, I was determined to make them clear and legible and keep them up-to-date. But, more importantly, the real lesson I learned from George was that I needed to be fair, kind, open-minded, and to approach everything (and everyone) in a friendly and warm-hearted manner if I wanted to succeed as tournament director and ensure the success of future USBA events, just like I had observed George had handled it a couple of years before at the S.L International.
Results Chart. 2016 USBA National Qualifier at the Burbank Elks Lodge 1497. Hand drawn by George Aronek (signed G.A. in bottom right corner). Courtesy: Professorqball.com.
Since then the results charts I use have evolved to spreadsheets and now databases (designed by others) that are mostly automatic. The real point is that any success I have had as tournament director has been built on the traditions and foundations laid by many that came before me, and, hopefully I have made some small improvements which is only natural as time progresses. George Aronek provided a solid foundation for me—I only needed to observe him for a short time to understand how things should be done.
B&W photo (c. 1968) of Masako Katsura on a visit to San Francisco aiming a straight-rail massé at Palace Billiards. Seated to her left is Robert Byrne. Seated at extreme left is George Aronek. Courtesy: The Billiard Archive.
George Aronek was a good friend with Allen Gilbert and you could often see them together at events. He was instrumental in the development of the BFUSA and subsequently the USBA. As a former president, tournament director, player, and promoter of 3-cushion, George was a prominent figure throughout the history of the game in the USA and will be remembered by many for a long time to come.
Here's a post from Lefty Gilbert which shows a photo of George Aronek playing billiards just 2 weeks prior.
George Aronek signature. Courtesy: The Billiard Archive.