Semih Saygıner (born on November 12, 1964), nicknamed Mr. Magic or The Turkish Prince, is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

world champion professional carom billiards player specialized in

three-cushion Three-cushion billiards, also called three-cushion carom, is a form of carom billiards. The object of the game is to the off both while contacting the at least three times before contacting the second object ball. A point is scored for each su ...

event.

Family life

Semih Saygıner was born to a tailor father Faruk and a homemaker mother Süreyya in

Adapazarı Adapazarı () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the central district of Sakarya Province. The province itself was originally named Adapazarı as well. Adapazarı is a part of the densely populated region of the country known as the Marmara Regi ...

, Turkey on November 12, 1964. He is the fifth of six siblings. His parents passed away due to a traffic accident in 1978 when he was 14 years old, afterwards, Saygıner started playing billiards. He had a good performance in high school but left due to depression over the loss of his mother and father. Saygıner opened up a billiards hall, and taught the cue sport. In 1995, he married Aygen Berk, a student of his, the women's billiards champion of Turkey and co-founder of the Turkish Billiards Federation. Their marriage ended a few years later. From 1996 to 1997, he served as the president of the Turkish Billiards Federation.

Career

He began playing billiards at age 16, and focused on the cue sport. A year later, he participated at Istanbul Championship, and won his first Turkish title. Ranking many years on the second place at national level, he finally became Turkish champion in 1987. In 1991, he participated at German Open. The next year, he placed world eighth when he defeated world-champion

Raymond Ceulemans Raymond, Knight 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 Europea ...

by 3-0 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 1994, he transferred to the Netherlands Billiards Teams League, one of the most important leagues of billiards. Saygıner won the Three-cushion World Cup held 1998 in

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

after defeating Dutchman Gerwin Walentijn in the final. Saygıner won the 1999 CEB European Three-cushion Championship by defeating Dion Nelin of Denmark. He nearly won it again the next year but lost to Daniel Sánchez. He was the first from his country to win that tournament. His countryman Murat Naci Çoklu won the title five years later. In 2003, Saygıner won the UMB World Three-cushion Championship defeating of

Filippos Kasidokostas
on Kozoom.com Retrieved 2014-02-25 Filippos Kasidokostas (born 14 ...

from Greece. He is the only Turk ever to win the championship. That same year, he won the last World Three-cushion Championship organized by the

Billiards World Cup Association The Billiards World Cup Association (BWA) was a governing body for three-cushion carom billiards which organized and marketed the Three-Cushion World Cup from 1985 to 1999. It was subordinate to the World Association Union Mondiale de Billard (U ...

(BWA) beating

Dick Jaspers Dingeman Jacobus Johannes "Dick" Jaspers (pronounced yas-pers) (born 23 July 1965) is a Dutch professional carom billiards player who specializes in the three-cushion event. Early life Jaspers started playing billiards when he was three years ...

. He and his teammate

Tayfun Taşdemir Tayfun Taşdemir (born November 5, 1975) is a world champion Turkish professional carom billiards player specialized in three-cushion event. Early years Tayfun Taşdemir was born in Muş, eastern Turkey on November 5, 1975. ...

became world champion at the

UMB World Three-cushion Championship for National Teams The UMB World Three-cushion Championship for National Teams is a professional carom billiards tournament in the discipline of three-cushion billiards where nations are represented by a team of two players. After the first three editions, which ...

held 2003 in

Viersen Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...

, Germany. Saygıner was named ''Best Billiards Player 2003'' in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium on February 7, 2004. Saygıner transferred to Portugal playing for FC Porto Billiards team. He captained the team for three years, and won the bronze medal at the 2004–05 European Three-cushion Cup with the team. He is the 25-time winner of Turkish Grand Prix in total. He won the Turkish champion title 14 times in three-cushion. Furthermore, he has ten champion titles in carom billiards in Turkey, as well as one each in cadre 47/2 and

one-cushion One-cushion billiards is a carom billiards discipline generally played on a cloth-covered, , pocketless billiard table with two cue balls and a third red-colored ball. In a one-cushion shot, the cue ball off both with at least one rail being str ...

. In 2006, he ranked at 8th place of the world bests of Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB). His highest average in a match is 3.571 (50 points in 14 innings). In 2009, Saygıner signed a contract with the cue-stick producer

Longoni Longoni SRL is one of the most prominent European manufacturers of high-end cue sticks. The company, founded by Alessandro Longoni in 1945, is based in Mariano Comense, Italy. Longoni makes cues customized for various carom billiards discipline ...

. Under the contract, a series of cue sticks that bear Saygıner's name has been available from the company. Saygıner announced his retirement from active sports in 2006, continuing to participate only in some international competitions. His last international participation was in 2007. However, he made his comeback in 2015 by winning the Turkish championship again. Following the championship, he was named to take part in the Turkey national team.

Achievements

; 1993 *

Three-Cushion World Cup The Three-Cushion World Cup is an international tournament series in three-cushion billiards, which is held every year since 1986 between three and ten times a year. History The World Cup was founded in 1985 by German Werner Bayer, a carom bi ...

Leg 3,

, Germany ; 1994 *

Leg 7,

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, Belgium ; 1995 * Korea Three-cushion Open,

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

, South Korea * Mersin International Tournament,

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

, Turkey ; 1996 * Mersin International Tournament,

, Turkey *

Leg 7,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium ; 1997 *

Crystal Kelly Cup The Crystal Kelly Cup or Crystal Kelly Tournament (sometimes: ''Chrystal Kelly'') was a prestigious, generously funded carom billiards invitational tournament in the discipline of three-cushion, which has been held at different venues from 1994 to ...

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, Monaco *

Leg 6, osterhout, Netherlands ; 1998 *

Leg 3,

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal *

Leg 6,

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, Colombia *

Leg 7, Torremolinos, Spain *

Leg 8,

Oosterhout Oosterhout (; from ''ooster'', "eastern", and ''hout'', "woods") is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in . Population centers The municipality of Oosterhout includes the following pla ...

, Netherlands *

Leg 9,

, Turkey *

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium * Dutch International Tournament, Zundert, Netherlands ; 1999 *

Leg 1,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea *

Leg 2,

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, USA * USA Three-cushion Open,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, USA * Dutch Grand Prix, Barendrecht, Netherlands * CEB European Three-cushion Championship,

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, Portugal ; 2000 *

Leg 1,

, Colombia * World Cup Series - Leg 5 * Denmark Three-cushion Open, Denmark * USA Three-cushion Open,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, USA * USA Three-cushion Open,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, USA * Mexico Three-cushion Open,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, Mexico * Metropol-Diamond Cup,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium * CEB European Three-cushion Championship,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain * Greece Three-cushion Open,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece * Japan Cup,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan ; 2001 *

Leg 3,

Kuşadası Kuşadası () is a large resort town on Turkey's Aegean Sea, Aegean coast, and the center of the seaside district of the same name within Aydın Province. Kuşadası is south of İzmir, and about from Aydın. The municipality's primary industry ...

, Turkey *

Leg 4,

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...

, Spain *

Leg 5,

, Netherlands *

, Colombia * Metropol-Diamond Cup,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium *

, Monaco ; 2002 * European Team Championship (with Dutch team Van Wanrooij),

, Portugal * Japan Cup,

, Japan *

, Monaco ; 2003 *

, USA * World Championship,

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

, Spain * World National Teams Championship,

Versen Dieter Versen (born 22 June 1945) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. Career statistics Notes References External links * NASL career stats at NASLjer ...

, Germany ; 2004 *

Leg 1, Barendrecht, Netherlands *

Leg 2,

, Greece *

Leg 3,

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, Spain *

Leg 3,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium * World National Teams Championship,

, Germany * Super Cup,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium ; 2005 *

Leg 1,

Sluiskil Sluiskil is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Terneuzen, and lies about 27 km southeast of Vlissingen. The village was first mentioned in 1839 as Sluiskil, and means "exit canal of the sluice". Th ...

, Netherlands *

Leg 2, Hurghada, Egypt * European Teams Championship (with Portuguese team FC Porto Billiards), France *

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

, Germany *

, Monaco *

Sang Lee International Open The Verhoeven Open is a three-cushion billiards tournament held in Flushing, Queens in the US state of New York. The event is sanctioned by the Union Mondiale de Billard and the United States Billiard Association. The event was known as Sang Le ...

, Flushing, New York, USA ; 2006 *

Leg 5,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey * CEB European Three-cushion Championship,

, Turkey *

, Vieersen, Germany *

, Flushing, New York, USA ; 2007 *

Leg 2, Manisa, Turkey *

Leg 3,

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

, Greece *

, Flushing, New York, USA ; 2008 * Semi-finalist

AGIPI Billiard Masters The AGIPI Billiard Masters was a three-cushion billiards tournament which was held annually in Schiltigheim, France between 2008 and 2013. In 2008 the invitational tournament for the best three-cushion players in the world has started. The games ...

; 2021 *

Leg 2, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Awards

* 1994 ''Olympic Torch'' Award,

, Turkey * 2003 ''Sportsperson of the Year'' by newspaper '' Zaman'',

, Turkey * 2004 ''World's Best Three-cushion Player'',

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium * 2004 ''Sportsperson of the Year'' by newspaper ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 ...

'',

, Turkey

References

External links

*
Magnificent Shots by Semih Sayginer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayginer, Semih 1964 births Living people Turkish carom billiards players World champions in three-cushion billiards Sportspeople from Adapazarı Sports world record holders Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal World Games bronze medalists Competitors at the 2005 World Games