Eddy Merckx wins Yanggu 3-cushion World Cup, reaches 16 career titles

Belgian three-cushion billiards star Eddy Merckx claimed the 2026 Yanggu World 3-Cushion Billiards World Cup title Sunday, pushing his career World Cup victory total to 16.

Merckx dominated the final at Yanggu Sports Town in Yanggu-gun, Gangwon Province, defeating Glen Hofmann of the Netherlands 50-23 in just 16 innings. His average for the final reached 3.125.

Merckx seized control from the opening frames but was briefly pushed to within one point as Hofmann mounted a mid-match charge. When Hofmann strung together a high run of nine, Merckx responded immediately with eight consecutive points to rebuild his lead and drive toward the title.

Merckx went 6-1 across seven matches in the tournament, lifting his career World Cup title count to 16 — fourth all time, behind Torbjorn Blomdahl of Sweden (46), Dick Jaspers of the Netherlands (32) and Frederic Caudron of Belgium (22).

Merckx has been a dominant force on the international circuit this year, having also won the World 3-Cushion Championship. At the Yanggu World Cup, he beat Turkey's Tayfun Tasdemir 50-26 in the semifinals with an average of 2.941, then raised that mark to 3.125 in the final — overwhelming the world's top players across both matches.

The victory was particularly notable as his fifth World Cup title on South Korean soil. Merckx first won in Guri in 2014, then took titles in Seoul in 2018, Guri in 2019 and Seoul in 2023, before adding Yanggu this year.

The tournament, held from Tuesday through Sunday, drew 149 of the world's top players, including South Korea's Cho Myung-woo, Dick Jaspers and Marco Zanetti of Italy. It was the first time a World 3-Cushion Billiards World Cup had been staged in Gangwon Province.

The Korea Billiards Federation and Yanggu-gun, which jointly organized the event, used the seven-day competition to showcase the appeal of three-cushion billiards to fans at home and abroad through high-level play and fierce competition among the world's elite.