Jean Bessems

Jean Bessems (born 4 January 1945)[1][2] is a former professional Dutch carom and artistic billiards player. Bessems won the Artistic Billiards World Championship in 1985 and 1988, and finished as runner-up in 1984.

Jean Bessems
Bessems in 1968
Born (1945-01-04) 4 January 1945
Margraten, Netherlands
Sport country Netherlands
Tournament wins
World ChampionArtistic Billiards World Championship (1985, 1988)
Ranking info

Career

Jean Bessems was born in Cadier en Keer, a district of Margraten, today Eijsden-Margraten in January 1945.[1] His father was a farmer, pigeon breeder and later cafe owner. At the age of 14 he started playing billiards, and also played football. Aged 19, Bessem had to decide between billiards and football, choosing to no longer play football. Bessems played first Carom billiards, but later switched to artistic billiards, more commonly associated with trickshots.[3]

Bessems made his international breakthrough in 1965 at the European Youth Billiards Championships.[4] In the Cadre 47/2 European Championship 1971 in Nice, he won his first silver medal in the men's competition. He played against players such as Raymond Ceulemans, Henk Scholte, Hans Vultink, Francis Connesson and Emile Wafflard.[3] He won the Artistic Billiards World Championship event both in 1985, held in Sluis in Zeeland and again in 1988 in Stockerau in Austria. Bessems was also a four time European Artistic Billiards champion, winning the event in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989. In 1991 he finished his sporting career and 2005 went into early retirement.[3]

Personal life

Bessems worked as a mechanical engineer. For twenty years, like his father, he was a passionate pigeon breeder.[5]

Achievements

International [1][6][7][8][9][10][11]

  • Artistic Billiards World Championship:
    • winner: 1985, 1988
    • runner-up: 1984
    • third place: 1987
  • Cadre-47/1 World Championship:
    • runner-up:1975
  • Artistic Billiards European Championships:
    • winner: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
    • runner-up: 1985
    • third place: 1981, 1982, 1983
  • Cadre-47/1 European Championships: (runner-up) 1975
  • Cadre-47/2 European Championships: (runner-up) 1971
  • Cadre-71/2 European Championships: (third place) 1974

National

  • Dutch Artistic Championships
    • winner:1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989
  • Dutch Cadre Championships:
    • winner: 1 × 47/2, 1 × 47/1, 3 × 71/2
  • Dutch Pentathlon Championships:
    • runner-up: 1973
    • third place: 1975

References
  1. "Spielerprofil". Kozoom. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  2. Dieter Haase, Heinrich Weingartner (2009). Encyclopedia of billiards. 2. Heinrich Weingartner, Vienna 2009. p. 1134. ISBN 978-3-200-01489-3.
  3. "Oude meesters - Jean Bessems" (in Dutch). Bommeltje.nl. Archived from the original on 11 October 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  4. "A brief history". ciba-online.net. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  5. "Jean Bessems: geboren biljarte" (in Dutch). Leiden Courant. 8 January 1968. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  6. Karlheinz Heckert (2002). "Billard - Weltmeisterschaften (Kunststoßen)". Sport-komplett.de. Archived from the original on 4 August 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  7. Karlheinz Heckert (2002). "Billard - Europameisterschaften (Kunststoßen)". Sport-komplett.de. Archived from the original on 4 August 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  8. Karlheinz Heckert. "Billard - Weltmeisterschaften (Cadre 45/1 bzw. ab Saison 1967/68 Cadre 47/1)". Sport-komplett.de. Archived from the original on 4 August 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  9. Karlheinz Heckert. "Billard - Europameisterschaften (Cadre 45/1 bzw. ab 1952/53 47/1)". Sport-komplett.de. Archived from the original on 4 August 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  10. Karlheinz Heckert. "Billard - Europameisterschaften (Cadre 45/2, ab 1948/49 47/2)". Sport-komplett.de. Archived from the original on 4 August 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  11. Karlheinz Heckert. "Billard - Europameisterschaften (Cadre 71/2)". Sport-komplett.de. Archived from the original on 4 August 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
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