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". 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.

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 Ceulemans at the 1986 1-cushion European Championship in Dülmen, Germany. 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 per . 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 .

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 . (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) 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 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

General Average (GA): 1986/2 (1,516) High Run (HR): 1999/5 (15)

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

Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1966 Belgian Sportsman of the Year: 1967 Honorary member of the Royal Belgian Billiard Association KBBB Honorary member of the Royal Dutch Billiard Association KNNB: 1980 Sportsman of the century of the city Mechelen: 1999 3rd Sportsman of the century of the Antwerp province: 2000 Introduced in the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame: 2001

Honorary member of the European Billiard Confederation: 2007 Trophy of Legends: 2018