Sang Chun Lee ( ko, 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 Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

of three-cushion billiards""Ideas & Trends; They're Sort of Like Mike"
by Caitlin Lovinger, ''New York Times'' (online edition), January 17, 1999. Accessed December 30, 2006. 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 Pedro Piedrabuena (born August 21, 1971 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan-born American professional three-cushion billiards player. He now resides in San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Souther ...

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",Carom Tournament Press
/ref> – 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 Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

. On May 15, 2007, Lee was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame."BCA Hall of Fame 2007 — 51st Inductee: Sang Chun Lee"
, Billiard Congress of America, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States; accessed March 2, 2007

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 The Verhoeven Open is a three-cushion billiards tournament held in Flushing, Queens in the US state of New York. The event is sanctioned by the Union Mondiale de Billard and the United States Billiard Association. The event was known as Sang Le ...

, has been hosted at Carom Café in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

, New York, the billiard hall Lee was a co-owner of at the time of his death."Billiards' Best Spin Doctors Vie in a Three-Cushion Zone"
by Corey Kilgannon, ''New York Times'' (online edition), August 18, 2006. Accessed December 30, 2006. 2012 it has been renamed to ''Verhoeven Open''.

References

External links

Sang Lee International Tournament Official Site

Photos from Sang Lee International Open 2008

Carom Cafe Online Billiard Resource

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Sang American carom billiards players South Korean carom billiards players World Cup champions in three-cushion billiards 1954 births 2004 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing Deaths from stomach cancer Asian Games medalists in cue sports Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Cue sports players at the 2002 Asian Games World Games bronze medalists Competitors at the 2001 World Games South Korean emigrants to the United States