Efren Manalang Reyes, popularly known by the nicknames "Bata" and "The Magician", is a Filipino professional pool player, who is widely regarded as the greatest pool player of all time. In 2003 he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame. 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 WPA World Nine-ball Champion and WPA World Eight-ball Champion, a U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship winner, a four-time Sands Regency 9-Ball Open 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. Reyes defeated American legend Earl Strickland in The Color of Money challenge match in 1996, in a winner-take-all prize of $100,000.
Francisco Bustamante is a Filipino professional pool player from Tarlac, Central Luzon and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion, nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the 1966 film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States. Bustamante has won over 70 International titles and is considered one of the best pool players 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.
Wu Jiaqing is a Taiwanese-born Chinese professional pool player. He is nicknamed the Taishan Shentong. Since 2011, Wu switched from representing Chinese Taipei to representing the country of China. Previously known as Wu Chia-ching, the spelling of his name was changed upon moving to mainland China.
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.
Nick van den Berg is a Dutch professional pool player. He was the runner up at the 2005 WPA World Eight-ball Championship, where he lost to Wu Chia-ching 11–5 in the final. He is a multiple time winner of events on the Euro Tour, winning 10 tournaments between 2002 and 2017, the fourth highest in the history of the tour. A six-time winner of the European Pool Championships, Van den Berg has represented Europe at the Mosconi Cup on eight occasions, winning the event on six occasions as well as tying the event in 2006.
Daryl Peach is an English professional pool player, from Lancashire, who resides in Blackpool, England. He won the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, where he defeated the Philippines' Roberto Gomez 17–15 in the final to become the first British player to win the WPA World Nine-ball Championship.
The WPA World Ten-ball Championship is a professional ten-ball pool tournament sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). The event was first held in 2008 in the Philippines, followed by playings there in 2009 and 2011. After not being contested for several years, it was resurrected in 2015 by boxer Manny Pacquiao, who successfully campaigned to the WPA for the championship to be moved from Metro Manila to General Santos. An event was announced in June 2018, but was postponed until relocating to the Las Vegas Valley in 2019. The scheduled 2020 championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent playings have been held in the fall of 2021 and the spring of 2022.
The 2011 WPA World Eight-ball Championship was an eight-ball world championship, organized by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and held 19–26 February 2011 at the Fujairah Exhibition Centre of the Al Diar Siji Hotel in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. A total of 116 players from all of the WPA's six regions participated.
The 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was the seventeenth edition of the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and took place between 4 and 12 November 2006 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, Philippines. The event was to be held for the first time in the Philippines, on a two-year deal, including the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship. The championships were hosted by the World Pool Billiard Association (WPA).
The 2012 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was a professional nine-ball pocket billiards (pool) championship, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and organised by Matchroom Sport. It was held from June 22 to 29 in Doha, Qatar, hosted by the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation. Qualifying tournaments were held from June 20 to 22, with the Al Sadd Sports Club hosting both qualifying and final tournaments.
The 2019 WPA World Ten-ball Championship was a professional pool tournament for the discipline of ten-ball organised by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and CueSports International. It was the fifth WPA World Ten-ball Championship; the previous championship was held in 2015. After plans for an event in both 2016 and 2018 to be held in Manila fell through, a 2019 event at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas as part of a three-year deal for the event to be played in the United States was agreed. The event was held concurrently with the Billiard Congress of America's National Ten-ball event from July 22 to 26. The event was sponsored by cue manufacturer Predator Group.
The 2013 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was the 22nd event in the annual WPA World Nine-ball Championship. The event took place from September 2 to 13, 2013 in Doha, Qatar.
The WPA 10-Ball World Championship 2011 was the third edition of the WPA World 10-ball Championship, the world championship for the discipline of 10-ball pool. It took place from May 9 to 15, 2011. The qualification phase was hosted at the Star Billiards Center, in Quezon City while the final tournament which started from May 10, 2011 was hosted at the World Trade Center Manila in Pasay.
Karl Boyes is an English professional pool player. He won the 2010 world 8-ball championships. In the final, Boyes had the much better start and led Niels Feijen 4-0 and 11–5, before his opponent started a catch-up and levelled at 12-12. Boyes won the final rack, winning 13–12.
The WPA 10-Ball World Championship 2009 was the second edition of the WPA World 10-ball Championship, the world championship for the discipline of 10-ball pool. The event took place from November 25 to 30, 2009. The qualification phase was hosted at the Star Billiards Center, in Quezon City while the final tournament which started from May 10, 2011, was hosted at the World Trade Center Manila in Pasay.
The 2019 World Pool Masters was a nine-ball pool tournament which took place in Gibraltar from 29 to 31 March 2019. It was the 26th edition of the World Pool Masters invitational tournament organised by Matchroom Sport. The event contained increased participation from 16 to 24 players, and increased total prize fund to $100,000. Spaniard David Alcaide won the event, defeating Greece's Alexander Kazakis in the final 9–8, doubling the final ball the length of the table to win. The reigning champion was Dutchman Niels Feijen who defeated Shane Van Boening of the United States in the previous year's final to win the title for the second time in his career. Feijen was defeated in the opening round by Alcaide.
The 2010 WPA World Eight-ball Championship was an eight-ball world championship, organized by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and held 4–10 April 2010 at the Fujairah Exhibition Centre of the Al Diar Siji Hotel in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. A total of 64 players competed in the tournament.
Charlie Williams is an American professional pool player. Williams represented America as a player at the Mosconi Cup 5 times and as a non-playing captain in 2011. In 2001, Williams founded the sports marketing company Dragon Promotions.
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.
Darren Appleton 
Wu Chia-ching 
