was a Japanese professional

three-cushion billiards Three-cushion billiards, also called three-cushion carom, is a form of carom billiards. The object of the game is to the off both while contacting the at least three times before contacting the second object ball. A point is scored for each s ...

player and 2-time world champion. After placing 2nd to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Raymond Ceulemans Raymond Ceulemans (born 12 July 1937) is a Belgian billiards player who won 21 UMB three-cushion World Championship titles, more than any other player. Along with 48 European titles ...

three times (1970, 1972 and 1973) in the

UMB World Three-cushion Championship The UMB World Three-cushion Championship is a professional carom billiards tournament in the discipline of three-cushion billiards Three-cushion billiards, also called three-cushion carom, is a form of carom billiards. The object of the game ...

, Kobayashi turned things around and defeated Ceulemans for the world title in 1974. With this win, he ended Ceulemans' 10-year reign as champion. Kobayashi later admitted that he had been taping on camera Ceulemans' performances in a 1969 tournament in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in order to study the Belgian's playing style. A decade later, he won it again at the expense of Ludo Dielis. He defended it unsuccessfully the following year, losing to Ceulemans again. For more than three decades, he was the only

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n native (not counting

Sang Lee Sang Chun Lee (; 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 ...

who represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the time) ever to win a World Three-cushion Championship. Two other players from Japan were close to achieving a world title but both were not very fortunate. This was until Ryuuji Umeda, another Japanese, won the title in 2007. Kobayashi was a 9-time Japanese Champion. His son, Hideaki Kobayashi, was also a professional three-cushion billiards player. His highest run documented is 15. In 2012, Kobayashi was inducted into the Billiard Congress of Japan Hall of Fame. He died on 25 November 2019 at the age of 77.Japanese two times world champion Kobayashi (77) passed away
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Nobuaki Japanese carom billiards players World champions in three-cushion billiards Sportspeople from Wakayama Prefecture 1942 births 2019 deaths Asian Games bronze medalists in cue sports Cue sports players at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games