WPA World Nine-ball Championship

The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual, international, professional nine-ball pool (pocket billiards) tournament, founded in 1990, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Sport (who provide the event's official website, under the less specific name World Pool Championship). It is divided into men's, women's and wheelchair Divisions. Since 2010, it is held in Doha, Qatar.

History

In the summer of 1989, the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) began plans for a world championship tournament. The group sent invitations, rules, sports regulations and by-laws. Reception was positive, and a provisional Board was created. These efforts culminated in February 1990.[1]

In March 1990, the inaugural WPA World Nine-ball Championship was held in Bergheim, Germany. The playing field included 32 men and 16 women in separate divisions, and has since become an annual event. The event was organised solely by the WPA from this inauguration through 1999.[2]

In July 1999, Matchroom Sport attempted to get involved with the organisation of the event, but their bid failed. The WPA event was played in Alicante, Spain, and won by Nick Varner of the United States. Broadcast on ESPN, it was the first pro nine-ball championship to be televised. Matchroom Sport, meanwhile, instead organised tournament called the "World Professional Pool Championship", a competing and non-WPA-sanctioned event in Cardiff, Wales, which was won by Efren Reyes of the Philippines.[3]

In 2000, the Matchroom and WPA agreed that tournaments would merge into a single official world championship. The WPA also agreed to recognise the results of the 1999 Matchroom event, meaning that official listings show both Varner and Reyes as 1999 world champions. Matchroom changed its promotional name for the event to the "World Pool Championship", dropping the word "professional" from the title. The event remained in Cardiff through 2003.[2]

In 2001, the number of competitors in the men's division was increased to 128 and a men's division first prize raised to $65,000.[2][4]

The 2004 and 2005 events were held in Taiwan, with a men's division first prize of $75,000 as of 2004.[2] The 2005 tournament saw two rules changes: last 64 and last 32 matches were extended to race-to-10 format, and the pockets on the tables were narrowed, to make the game more difficult.[5]

In 2006, the Philippines became the host country for two years. All matches became alternating-break all the way from the group stages to the finals. Men's division first prize escalated to $100,000. In 2007, the event ran from 3–11 November, and Daryl Peach of the England was the victor. Because of the global late-2000s recession the championship did not reappear on the calendar in 2008. For some time neither Matchroom nor the WPA released any predictions regarding its reinstatement, and no 2009 event was held, either.[6]

After this two-year hiatus, the tournament returned as the 2010 WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Doha, Qatar. Francisco Bustamante of the Philippines won the 2010 title.[7]

The most recent, 2015 championship, was won by Ko Pin-yi, who defeated Shane Van Boening in the final.[8]

Winners

Year Dates Location Winner Runner-up Final score
1990 Bergheim, Germany United States Earl Strickland United States Jeff Carter
1991 Las Vegas, United States United States Earl Strickland (2) United States Nick Varner
1992 Taipei, Taiwan United States Johnny Archer United States Bobby Hunter
1993 Königswinter, Germany Chinese Taipei Chao Fong-pang Germany Thomas Hasch
1994 Chicago, United States Japan Okumura Takeshi Japan Yasunari Itsuzaki
1995 Taipei, Taiwan Germany Oliver Ortmann United States Dallas West
1996 Borlänge, Sweden Germany Ralf Souquet Sweden Tom Storm
1997 Chicago, United States United States Johnny Archer (2) Chinese Taipei Kun-Fang Lee
1998 Taipei, Taiwan Japan Takahashi Kunihiko United States Johnny Archer
1999 (A) July 18–26 Cardiff, Wales Philippines Efren Reyes Chinese Taipei Chang Hao-ping 17–8
1999 (B) December 5–12 Alicante, Spain United States Nick Varner United States Jeremy Jones 13–8
2000 July 1–9 Cardiff, Wales Chinese Taipei Chao Fong-pang (2) Mexico Ismael Paez 17–6
2001 July 14–22 Finland Mika Immonen Germany Ralf Souquet 17–10
2002 July 13–21 United States Earl Strickland (3) Philippines Francisco Bustamante 17–15
2003 July 12–20 Germany Thorsten Hohmann Canada Alex Pagulayan 17–10
2004 July 10–18 Taipei, Taiwan Canada Alex Pagulayan Chinese Taipei Chang Pei-wei 17–13
2005 July 2–10 Kaohsiung, Taiwan Chinese Taipei Wu Chia-ching Chinese Taipei Kuo Po-cheng 17–16
2006 November 4–12 Pasay, Philippines Philippines Ronato Alcano Germany Ralf Souquet 17–11
2007 November 3–11 Quezon City, Philippines United Kingdom Daryl Peach Philippines Roberto Gomez 17–15
2008
Not held (late-2000s recession)
2009
2010 June 29 – July 5 Doha, Qatar Philippines Francisco Bustamante Chinese Taipei Kuo Po-cheng 13–7
2011 June 25 – July 1 Japan Yukio Akagariyama Philippines Ronato Alcano 13–11
2012 June 22–29 United Kingdom Darren Appleton China Li He-wen 13–12
2013 September 2–13 Germany Thorsten Hohmann (2) Philippines Antonio Gabica 13–7
2014 June 16–27 Netherlands Niels Feijen Austria Albin Ouschan 13–10
2015 September 7–18 Chinese Taipei Ko Pin-yi United States Shane Van Boening 13–11

References

External links

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