The UMB World Three-Cushion Championship is the sport’s annual individual world-title event. Its field and playing system are governed by the edition-specific UMB invitation and regulations.
At a glance
| Years | Annual since 1928 (suspended 1939–1946, 2020) |
|---|---|
| Governing body | UMB |
| Format | 2025 format: 48 players in 16 groups of three to 40 points; two per group advanced to a 32-player knockout played to 50. |
| Prize | World title; prize and travel terms are set in the official event invitation. |
| Venue | 2025: Antwerp, Belgium. The official UMB calendar lists Blois, France for 23-27 September 2026. |
| Recent results | 2025 Antwerp: Frédéric Caudron beat Eddy Merckx 50-47 for his fourth individual world title. Myung Woo Cho was the 2024 champion. |
Why follow it?
The group stage tests consistency and the 50-point knockout tests sustained scoring under elimination pressure. The official event page is the source of truth for each edition’s field, format and results.
A title with a century of context
The individual championship dates to 1928. Its long record is useful context, but the current edition must always be read from its own official invitation: field size, group distance and knockout distance have changed over time.
What Antwerp 2025 actually used
The official report records 48 players in sixteen groups of three. Matches in the group stage ran to 40 points, two players per group advanced, and the last 32 played direct elimination to 50. Frédéric Caudron beat Eddy Merckx 50–47 in the final for his fourth individual world title.
Practise the format shift
Use the around-the-table pattern to train efficient group-stage scoring, then extend the session with the system-shot-50 reference to simulate the longer knockout distance.