Semih Saygıner
Semih Saygıner at the 2016 Verhoeven Open in New York
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| Born |
12 November 1964 Adapazarı, Turkey |
|---|---|
| Sport country | Turkey |
| Nickname |
Mr.Magic The Turkish Prince |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Turkey
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| Men's Three-cushion billiards | ||
| UMB World Three-cushion Championship | ||
 |
2003 Valladolid | Individual |
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2003 Viersen | Team |
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2004 Viersen | Team |
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2006 Viersen | Team |
| Three-Cushion World Cup | ||
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2003 | Individual |
| World Games | ||
|
2005 Duisburg | Individual |
| CEB European Three-cushion Championship | ||
|
1999 Porto | Individual |
 |
2000 Madrid | Individual |
|
2006 Antalya | Individual |
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.
Semih Saygıner was born to a tailor father Faruk and a homemaker mother Süreyya in Adapazarı, Turkey on November 12, 1964. He is the fifth of six brothers and sisters. His parents died in 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.
Semih Saygıner opened up a billiards hall, and taught the cue sport. In 1995, he married Aygen Berk, a student of him, 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.
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 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 World Three-cushion Championship held 1998 in Antalya after defeating Dutchman Cerwin 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 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. Saygıner was named Best Billiards Player 2003 in Antwerp, Belgium on February 7, 2004.
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