Merckx vs. Taşdemir, Jaspers vs. Hofman in semifinals; final set for 6 p.m. Sunday
The 2026 Yanggu 3-Cushion Billiards World Cup crowns its champion Sunday, with Eddy Merckx of Belgium, Tayfun Taşdemir of Turkey, and Dutch pair Dick Jaspers and Glenn Hofman set to contest the semifinals and final in quick succession.
The tournament, held in Yanggu, Gangwon Province, runs semifinals at noon and 2:30 p.m., followed by the final at 6 p.m. Merckx faces Taşdemir in one semifinal, while Jaspers takes on Hofman in the other.
In the quarterfinals, Merckx defeated Bao Phuong Vinh of Vietnam 50-28, while Taşdemir eliminated Ruben Legazpi of Spain by the same score to advance. Jaspers beat Tran Quyet Chien of Vietnam 50-32, and Hofman routed Tran Thanh Luc of Vietnam 50-17. All three Vietnamese players who reached the quarterfinals were eliminated.
The Merckx-Taşdemir semifinal pits two former world champions against each other. Merckx has won the World Cup 14 times, while Taşdemir claimed the 2022 World 3-Cushion Championship in Donghae, Gangwon Province — returning to the province roughly four years later in pursuit of another world title.
The other semifinal is an all-Dutch affair between Jaspers, a 32-time World Cup winner, and Hofman, who is seeking his first World Cup title.
Hofman turned heads earlier in the tournament by beating Taşdemir in the group stage — the only loss Taşdemir has suffered in the competition. Whether Hofman can follow that upset by defeating Jaspers as well to reach the final is one of the day's key storylines.
World No. 1 Cho Myung-woo, along with top Korean players Kim Haeng-jik and Heo Jeong-han, competed in the tournament but none advanced to the semifinals.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
