Nine-ball is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side. Using a cue stick, players must strike the white cue ball to pocket nine colored billiard balls, hitting them in ascending numerical order. An individual game is won by the player pocketing the 9-ball. Matches are usually played as a race to a set number of racks, with the player who reaches the set number winning the match.
Efren Manalang Reyes, popularly known by the nickname "Bata", is a Filipino professional pool player. A winner of over 100 international titles, Reyes was the first player to win the WPA World Championships in two different pool disciplines. Among his numerous titles, Reyes is a four-time World Eight-ball champion, a WPA World Nine-ball champion, a three-time U.S. Open winner, a two-time World Pool League winner, and a thirteen-time Derby City Classic winner. Reyes also represented the Philippines at the World Cup of Pool, winning the event with his partner Francisco Bustamante in 2006 and 2009. By defeating American player Earl Strickland in the inaugural Color of Money event in 1997, Reyes took home the largest single match purse in pool history of $100,000. Many analysts, fans, and players consider Reyes to be the greatest pool player of all time.
Niels Feijen is a Dutch professional pool player, from the Hague. His nickname is "the Terminator". In 2014 he won the WPA World 9-ball championship.
Alex Lely is a Dutch former professional pool player. Lely won the 1999 World Pool Masters after defeating Efren Reyes 7–5, and reached the final in 2000 but lost to Ralf Souquet 7–3. He is a two-time European champion having won the nine-ball and eight-ball at the 2005 European Pool Championships.
David Alcaide Bermúdez is a Spanish pool player. He is a two-time winner of the World Pool Masters, winning the 2017 event, defeating Jayson Shaw 8–7 in the final, and again in 2019 defeating Alexander Kazakis 9–8. Alcaide is a three-time world championship semi-finalist having reached the stage at the WPA World 10-ball Championship, in 2009 and 2015, and the WPA World Eight-ball Championship in 2011.
The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual professional nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1990. The championship is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Sport, who provide the event's official website branded as World Pool Championship. The championship is divided into men's, women's and wheelchair divisions.
Marcus Chamat, is a Swedish professional eight-ball and nine-ball pool player. He was nicknamed "Napoleon" due to his personality and standing at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) tall. He is a two time European Pool Championships winner, and one of the most successful players on the Euro Tour, winning four events, and finishing runner-up on twice. Chamat reached the semi-finals of the 2004 WPA World Nine-ball and the 2008 WPA World Eight-ball Championships, but did not reach the final of a world championship event.
Oliver Ortmann is a German professional pool player from Gelsenkirchen. Ortmann is a three-time world champion, winning the 1995 WPA World Nine-ball Championship and both the 2007 and 2010 Straight pool world championships. Ortmann became the second player to win three WPA world championships. With fourteen wins, he the second most successful player at the European Pool Championships. Ortmann is also the second most successful player on the Euro Tour, winning fourteen events. Ortmann was the non American player to win the U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship, in 1989.
Roberto Gomez is a professional pocket billiards player from Zamboanga City, Philippines. Known for 9-ball, he competed in the final of both the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championships, and the 2007 World Cup of Pool. Gomez was the first qualifier to reach the final of the WPA World Nine-ball Championships.
The 2011 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was a professional nine-ball pool tournament held from June 25 to July 1, 2011 at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar. A series of qualifying tournaments were held from June 21 to 23. The competition was the 2011 edition of the WPA World Nine-ball Championship, which was first held in 1990. The event was organized by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA).
The 2011 World Cup of Pool is the sixth edition of the said tournament. For the third straight year, the event is once again being held in the Philippines, at The Block of SM City North EDSA in Quezon City, from 6 to 11 September 2011. The event was won by the German team of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, who defeated Thailand's Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Kobkit Palajin in the final 10–4.
The 2006 World Cup of Pool was a professional nine-ball pool competition, the first World Cup of Pool, a scotch doubles knockout championship representing 32 national teams. The event was held at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales, from 22 to 27 August 2006. The event was held as a single-elimination tournament, for a total prize fund of $250,000 with $60,000 being awarded to the winner. The tournament was organised by Matchroom Sport, sponsored by poker website Partypoker, and broadcast on Sky TV.
The 2007 World Cup of Pool was a professional nine-ball pool competition and the second edition of the World Cup of Pool, a scotch doubles knockout championship representing 32 national teams. The event was held in the Outback club in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from 25 to 30 September 2007. The event was held as a single-elimination tournament, for a total prize fund of $250,000 with $60,000 being awarded to the winner. The tournament was organised by Matchroom Sport, sponsored by poker website Partypoker, and broadcast across 31 one-hour episodes.
Carlo Biado is a Filipino professional pool player.
The WPA 10-Ball World Championship 2008 was a ten-ball pool tournament held from September 29 to October 5, 2008, at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. The first edition of the WPA World Ten-ball Championship, it featured a field of 128 players competing in a double-elimination and then single-elimination tournament. The total prize fund for the event was $400,000 with $100,000 being awarded to the winner.
Ruslan Yuryevich Chinakhov is a Russian professional primarily nine-ball pool player. Ruslan was the world nine-ball Juniors champion in 2009. Chinakhov has won several events, including the Euro Tour Dutch Open 2017, defeating Christoph Reintjes in the final.
The 1999 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was a professional pool championship that took place in 1999 in Alicante, Spain. The event is not to be confused with Matchroom Sport 1999 World Professional Pool Championship that took the same year, won by Efren Reyes. Despite there being two world title for the same discipline in 1999, both are considered as valid in 1999 by the World Pool-Billiard Association.
The World Team Championship was a pool world championship for national teams sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). Founded in 1993 by the Professional Billiards Tour Association (PBA), after the first year the event was then cancelled due to the inception of the Mosconi Cup in 1994. the event was re-established in 2010 by the WPA and was held every two years until 2014; it has remained dormant since.
The 2021 U.S. Open Pool Championship was an international nine-ball pool tournament held from 13 to 18 September 2021 in Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was the 44th entry of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, first held in 1976. Joshua Filler was the defending champion, having won the 2019 U.S. Open Nine-ball Championship. However, Filler lost 4–11 to Aloysius Yapp and 3–11 to Mieszko Fortuński, eliminating him from the tournament. Carlo Biado defeated Yapp 13–8 in the final to become the tournament's first Filipino winner since Efren Reyes in 1994.
Efren Reyes 
Chang Hao-ping 
