« A GOLDEN WEEK »
Photos: Jean-Charles Derlique, FFB visuals
Some weeks leave a mark for a long time. From 20 to 28 October in London, five Ball in Mind Team players wore the French shirt at the Blackball World Championships. They are coming home with five world titles and three silver medals.
Behind those numbers are whole evenings spent following every frame live, messages sent at all hours, shouts of joy and a few cold sweats. We lived these Worlds from afar, but with our hearts right at the edge of the table. And what stands out today is the sheer happiness of sharing the road with champions like these.
« MARION, ON TOP OF THE WORLD »
Marion Jude went through the women’s singles draw with rare control: six matches, and only nine frames conceded in total. In the final she faced Sabrilla Brunet, the defending world champion and a great name of French blackball. Marion won 6-1. She is world champion for the second time, four years after her first title.
The next day she pulled the blue shirt back on for the team final, and came back with a second title. In the doubles, with Sabrilla Brunet, she only stopped in the semi-final, one frame short. So much calm and precision at that level is a joy to watch, and seeing her wear our colours makes us proud every single time.
Photo: Jean-Charles Derlique, FFB visual
« THE FRENCH WOMEN KEEP THEIR CROWN »
Photo: Jean-Charles Derlique, FFB visual
The team title tells a different story, the story of a group. Marion and Ophélie Laval, with Collette Henriksen, Sabrilla Brunet, Émilie Carneiro and Floriane Niollet, came to London as defending world champions. They beat South Africa in the final. The French women keep their crown and give the French women’s team its sixth world star.
For Ophélie, already a team world champion in Albi in 2022, it is the perfect high point of an exceptional season in which she had already stepped onto the podium five times, in snooker, blackball and heyball. She even found the energy to reach the final of the World Grand Prix mixed doubles, a side event, with Damien Joly. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and we enjoy it at every event.
« CALVIN, UNDER-18 WORLD CHAMPION »
Calvin Créach is the youngest member of the team. In June he became French Mixed National champion. Four months later he is the under-18 world champion, after a flawless run: five matches, five wins, five frames lost in total, and a final he controlled from start to finish against South Africa’s Shannon Adam Naidoo, 5-1. Calvin is world champion.
With the French under-18 team, alongside Arthur Crespin, Aymeric Luneau and Louka Bournot, he then played the team final, again against South Africa. It went down to the very last frame, and silver came to join the gold. Watching him grow like this, event after event, is one of the finest gifts this adventure gives us.
Photo: Jean-Charles Derlique, FFB visual
« PAUL, THE DOUBLE »
Photo: Jean-Charles Derlique, FFB visual
In the doubles as in the team event, Paul Coldrick left nothing to anyone. In the over-40 category, partnering Christophe Faurie, he won an all-French final against Nicolas Grandemange-Denizot and Élie Christidis, 4-1. Then, with the French over-40 team, he claimed a second world title.
Coach of the French snooker team and a top-level blackball player, Paul is one of those who pass on as much as they play. His generosity and high standards lift everyone around him. Two world titles in one week: hats off, Paul.
« CHRISTOPHE, TWICE IN THE FINAL »
The men’s singles was the biggest draw of these Worlds, with more than a hundred players. Christophe Lambert won six matches in a row, including a well-controlled semi-final against South Africa’s Kevin Martin, 6-2, to reach the final. Britain’s Gareth Hibbott won it 6-1. In the doubles, with Alexandre Buscetti, Christophe reached the final once again, lost 2-4 to Killian Ballon and Yannick Beaufils.
In the team event he won seven of his eight frames on the day the French men went out to Wales in the quarter-finals, 11-13. Two world silver medals in the same week: consistency at the very top that commands respect, and that we are lucky to follow so closely.
Photo: Jean-Charles Derlique, FFB visual
« THE NEXT GENERATION IS ALREADY HERE »
Photos: Jean-Charles Derlique, FFB visuals
They are not part of the team, but we follow them with great affection. Léonardo Moreira comes home from London a two-time under-23 world champion: in the singles, after a thrilling 5-4 final against Malta’s Chaylon Castaldi, and in the team event, 8-3 against South Africa. Thibault Couzigou, his teammate, also takes home two titles, in the team event and in the doubles with Théo Schneider.
In the under-18 category, Arthur Crespin and Aymeric Luneau went all the way to the team final with Calvin and bring home silver. Arthur reached the doubles semi-finals with Calvin, Aymeric the singles and doubles semi-finals. French blackball has a bright future, and we will be there to cheer.
« THANK YOU »
A team like ours is first of all made of people. Champions, of course, but also attentive, generous people who wear our colours with the same high standards they bring to every shot. Being at their side is a privilege we fully appreciate, and one we will never take for granted.
So thank you. Thank you Marion, Ophélie, Calvin, Paul and Christophe for these emotions, for the finals that had us trembling and the wins that made us jump out of our chairs. Thank you for making French blackball shine, and for letting us be a small part of it. The season goes on with the national tournament in Albi, from 20 to 22 November, and we will be right behind you, as always.
Visuals: French Billiards Federation (FFB); photos: Jean-Charles Derlique.
Photos: Jean-Charles Derlique, FFB visuals