Sang Lee
![]() | ||
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men's three-cushion billiards | ||
Representing the ![]() | ||
UMB World Championship | ||
![]() | 1993 Gent | Three-cushion |
USBA National Championship | ||
![]() | 1990 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1991 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1992 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1993 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1994 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1995 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1996 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1997 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1998 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 1999 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 2000 | Three-cushion |
![]() | 2001 | Three-cushion |
World Games | ||
![]() | 2001 Akita | Individual |
Asian Games | ||
![]() | 2002 Busan | Individual |
Sang Chun Lee (Korean: 이상천; January 15, 1954 – October 19, 2004), most commonly known simply as Sang Lee, was a Korean-born American professional three-cushion billiards player and world champion.
Professional career
Born and raised in South Korea, Lee moved to New York City, United States, in 1987, at age 33.
Dubbed the "Michael Jordan of three-cushion billiards"[1] at the time of his arrival in the United States, Lee already had eight Korean national titles under his belt. Lee promptly went on to dominate three cushion billiards in the US, winning a record twelve consecutive USBA National Three-Cushion Championship, from 1990 to 2001.
Lee became the UMB World Three-cushion Championship in 1993.
in 1999 he was ranked number 11 among the Billiards Digest "50 Greatest Players of the Century" and ranked 5th "Greatest Living Player of the Century"
At the 2002 USBA National Three-Cushion Championship, his impressive run came to an end when he was defeated by Pedro Piedrabuena in the finals. Aptly, Piedrabuena received his early training in billiards from none other than Lee. The same year, Lee finished 2nd in Three-cushion event of the Asian Games where he was bested by Deuk-Hee Hwang, another Korean cue artist.
As a player, Lee's ambition was "making billiards beautiful in America",[2] – restoring the recognition and competitive level of three-cushion in that part of the world – but he did not live to fulfill it, as he died in 2004 due to stomach cancer.
On May 15, 2007, Lee was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame.[3]
Sang Lee International Open
Each year after Lee's death, a tournament featuring many of the world's best three-cushion players, known as the Sang Lee International Open, has been hosted at Carom Café in Flushing, Queens, New York, the billiard hall Lee was a co-owner of at the time of his death.[4] 2012 it has been renamed to Verhoeven Open.
References
- ^ "Ideas & Trends; They're Sort of Like Mike", by Caitlin Lovinger, New York Times (online edition), January 17, 1999. Accessed December 30, 2006.
- ^ Carom Tournament Press[permanent dead link]
- ^ "BCA Hall of Fame 2007 — 51st Inductee: Sang Chun Lee" Archived February 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Billiard Congress of America, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States; accessed March 2, 2007
- ^ "Billiards' Best Spin Doctors Vie in a Three-Cushion Zone" Archived June 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine by Corey Kilgannon, New York Times (online edition), August 18, 2006. Accessed December 30, 2006.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 2002 USBA Championship results
- Sang Lee International Tournament Official Site
- Photos from Sang Lee International Open 2008
- Carom Cafe Online Billiard Resource
Preceded by Carlos Hallon | USBA National Three-cushion Champion 1990–2001 | Succeeded by |
- v
- t
- e
- 1986, 1987
Raymond Ceulemans
- 1988
Torbjörn Blomdahl
- 1989
Ludo Dielis
- 1990
Raymond Ceulemans
- 1991, 1992
Torbjörn Blomdahl
- 1993
Sang Chun Lee
- 1994, 1995
Torbjörn Blomdahl
- 1995
Dani Sánchez
- 1996
Torbjörn Blomdahl,
Dani Sánchez
- 1997
Dick Jaspers,
Christian Rudolph
- 1998
Torbjörn Blomdahl
- 1999
Dick Jaspers
- 2001
Torbjörn Blomdahl
- 2004
Dani Sánchez
- 2005
Frédéric Caudron
- 2006
Dani Sánchez
- 2007
Torbjörn Blomdahl
- 2008
Dick Jaspers
- 2009
Frédéric Caudron
- 2010
Dick Jaspers
- 2011, 2013
Torbjörn Blomdahl
- 2014
Frédéric Caudron
- 2015
Dani Sánchez
- 2016
Dick Jaspers
- 2017
Kim Haeng-jik
- 2018
Frédéric Caudron
- 2019
Dick Jaspers
- 2022
Dick Jaspers