The seventh and last tournament in the Carum World Cup cycle of 2018 took place in the familiar surroundings of Hurghada, Egypt. The venue, Sheraton Soma Bay, is new to billiards, but Hurghada certainly isn’t. This is the 12th time that the world’s best billiard players come to “the place where it all began.”

 

The World Cup in Egypt was won by the Dutchman Dick Jaspers. He is not only the 2018 world champion now, but also the number one in the UMB's world ranking. Thanks to this double success, Jaspers is having one of the best years in his long career. Dick Jaspers together with Frédéric Caudron from Belgium are the finalists in Hurghada ranking in first and second place. The Belgian won the overall World Cup cycle. Jaspers also won the World Cup in Blankenberge in 2018 and set a new world record match, 40 in 4 innings.

 

Next year, seven World Cups are on the calendar: Turkey (February), Ho Chi Minh (May), Blankenberge (June), Porto (July), Veghel, the Netherlands (October), South Korea (November) and Hurghada (December).

 

The campaign “Billiards 2024” was officially launched in December 2018, in a press conference at the historic Eiffel Tower. The combined forces of pool, snooker and carom billiards, united in their umbrella organization WCBS, have presented themselves as a candidate for Olympic status.