World Straight Pool Championship

The World Straight Pool Championship, or the World 14.1 Tournament if no world championship is on the line, is an annual pocket billiards (pool) competition held in New Brunswick, New Jersey, since 2006. It is the current global professional title for straight pool (also known as 14.1 continuous), and is organized by Dragon Promotions, in part to restore the game's popularity in the United States.[1] Though billed as a world championship, the tournament in some years (including 2009, 2011 and 2012) has not been sanctioned by, or recognized as a world title event by, the WPA or any other sport governing body.[2] The 2010 event was WPA-recognized.[3]

Format

Group stages

All 64 players are divided into 8 groups where they play in round-robin format. Each match in this round is a race to 100 points. The leading 4 players in each group proceed to the next round.[4]

Last 32

The games are played in double-elimination format until 16 players remain. Matches are extended to races to 150.[4]

Last 16

The games are played in single-elimination format, and matches are further extended, to races to 200.[4]

Winners

Year Winner Runner-Up Semifinalists
2006 Germany Thorsten Hohmann Germany Thomas Engert Finland Mika Immonen
United States Max Eberle
2007 Germany Oliver Ortmann Netherlands Huidji See Austria Martin Kempter
United States Danny Harriman
2008 Netherlands Niels Feijen Philippines Francisco Bustamante Netherlands Nick van den Berg
Austria Jasmin Ouschan
2009* France Stephan Cohen Finland Mika Immonen Germany Oliver Ortmann
United States Johnny Archer
2010 Germany Oliver Ortmann Finland Mika Immonen Germany Thorsten Hohmann
Netherlands Huidji See
2011* Germany Thorsten Hohmann United States Mike Davis Philippines Alex Pagulayan
United States Charlie Williams
2012* United States John Schmidt Philippines Efren Reyes United Kingdom Darren Appleton
Germany Ralph Eckert
2013* Germany Thorsten Hohmann United Kingdom Darren Appleton Philippines Francisco Bustamante
United States John Schmidt
2014* United Kingdom Darren Appleton United States Shane Van Boening Russia Evgeny Stalev
United States Max Eberle

*No world title at stake.

References

  1. "The World Straight Pool Championship". AzBilliards.com. 2005-09-29. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  2. Press Release (August 30, 2011). "WPA:Dragon's 'World' Events Not Official World Championships". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  3. "Players: World Champions". WPA-Pool.com. Sydney, Australia: World Pool-Billiard Association. November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "2008 Predator World 14.1 Championship Group Pairings". Az Billiards.com. 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2008-08-25.