Semih Saygıner

Semih Saygıner (born November 12, 1964), nicknamed Mr. Magic or The Turkish Prince, is a Turkish world champion professional carom billiards player specialized in three-cushion event.[1]

In this Turkic name, the surname is Saygıner, sometimes transliterated as Sayginer.
Semih Saygıner
Semih Saygıner at the 2016 Verhoeven Open in New York
Born (1964-11-12) 12 November 1964
Adapazarı, Turkey
NicknameMr. Magic
Medal record
Men's three-cushion billiards
Representing  Turkey
UMB World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2003 Valladolid Individual
Gold medal – first place 2003 Viersen Team
Gold medal – first place 2004 Viersen Team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Viersen Team
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Bordeaux Individual
Silver medal – second place 2016 Viersen Team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Cairo Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Viersen Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Randers Individual
Gold medal – first place 2023 Viersen Team
CEB European Championship
Gold medal – first place 1999 Porto Individual
Silver medal – second place 2000 Madrid Individual
Silver medal – second place 2006 Antalya Individual
World Games
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Duisburg Individual

Family life

Semih Saygıner was born to a tailor father Faruk and a homemaker mother Süreyya in Adapazarı, Turkey on November 12, 1964.[2] He is the fifth of six siblings. His parents passed away due to a traffic accident in 1978 when he was 14 years old. Saygıner then started playing billiards. He had a good performance in high school but left for depression over the loss of his mother and father.[1][2][3]

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.[3] Their marriage ended a few years later.[1]

From 1996 to 1997, he served as the president of the Turkish Billiards Federation.[1]

Semih Saygıner at the 1999 Crystal Kelly Cup in Monte Carlo, Monaco

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.[1]

In 1991, he participated at German Open. The next year, he placed world eighth when he defeated world-champion Raymond Ceulemans by 3-0 in Berlin. 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 after defeating Dutchman Gerwin Walentijn in the final.[1] 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 of 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 (BWA) beating Dick Jaspers. He and his teammate Tayfun Taşdemir became world champion at the UMB World Three-cushion Championship for National Teams held 2003 in Viersen, Germany.[1] Saygıner was named Best Billiards Player 2003 in Antwerp, Belgium on February 7, 2004.[4]

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. In 2006, he ranked at 8th place of the world bests of Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB).[1] 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.[5] Under the contract, a series of cue sticks that bear Saygıner's name has been available from the company.[1][6]

Saygıner announced his retirement from active sports in 2006, continuing to participate only in some international competitions. His last international participation was in 2007.[7] 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.[4]

Achievements

[1]

1993
1994
1995
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Korea Three-cushion Open, Suwon, South Korea
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Mersin International Tournament, Mersin, Turkey
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2021

Awards

[1]

  • 1994 Olympic Torch Award, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 2003 Sportsperson of the Year by newspaper Zaman, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 2004 World's Best Three-cushion Player, Antwerp, Belgium
  • 2004 Sportsperson of the Year by newspaper Milliyet, Istanbul, Turkey

References
  1. "Semih Saygıner". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2015-12-26.
  2. "Semih Sayginer" (in French). Kozoom Joueur Billard Français.
  3. Armutçu, Emel (2004-02-14). "Dünyada yılın en iyisi Türkiye'de yalnız şövalye". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  4. "Semih Saygıner, Türkiye şampiyonu". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2015-12-25. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  5. "Semih Saygıner imza töreni! Semih Saygıner signing ceremony" (in Turkish). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14.
  6. "Libre and 3 cushion carom cues". Longoni.
  7. "Semih Saygıner geri dönüyor". Habertürk (in Turkish). 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
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