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.
Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a cue sport in which two competing players attempt to pot as many billiard balls as possible without playing a foul. The game was the primary version of pool played in professional competition until it was superseded by faster-playing games like nine-ball and eight-ball in the 1980s.
Pool is a classification of cue sports played on a table with six pockets along the rails, into which balls are deposited. Each specific pool game has its own name; some of the better-known include eight-ball, blackball, nine-ball, ten-ball, seven-ball, straight pool, one-pocket, and bank pool.
Alejandro Salvador "Alex" Pagulayan is a Filipino Canadian professional pool and snooker player. His nickname is "the Lion", given to him by the great Cliff Thorburn, former World and Canadian Snooker champion. Alex was born in Cabagan, Isabela, Philippines and was raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2012, Pagulayan became a citizen of Canada and now resides in Toronto.
The World Cup of Pool is an annual international single-elimination tournament for doubles teams in nine-ball pool competition. The event has been dominated by the Philippines and China, with both nations winning the event on three occasions.
Ronato (Ronnie) Alcano, is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed "Ronnie Calamba" and "the Volcano". He won both the 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the 2007 WPA World Eight-ball Championship.
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.
The U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship is an annual professional men's nine-ball pool tournament that began in its current form in 1976. The U.S. Open is one of the most sought-after titles in nine-ball and in pool generally. Traditionally, winners of the U.S. Open are given a green blazer and are awarded free entry fees to all future U.S. Open tournaments.
The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that has been held annually in United States in its present form since 2006. It is one of the successor tournaments to the historical World Pocket Billiards Championship (1912–1990). During the tournament's early years, it was the only global professional title for straight pool. The event was revived in 2006, in part to restore the game's popularity in the United States. The World Straight Pool Championship was held in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 and was sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), until ending in 2010, and with it the tournament's history of nearly 100 years. Ralph Greenleaf is the most successful player having won the tournament on twenty occasions. The oldest player to win the tournament is Irving Crane at 59 years old at the time of his victory. The youngest player to win the tournament is Greenleaf at 20 years old at the time of his first victory.
The 2007 World Nine-ball Championship was the 18th annual international nine-ball pool tournament for men sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). It was held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines from 3–11 November 2007. It was the second consecutive time the tournament has been held in the Philippines.
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 2003 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was the 14th edition of the WPA World Championship for 9-Ball Pool. It took place from July 12 to 20, 2003 in Cardiff, Wales.
The 2017 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was the 26th edition of the 9-Ball pool World Championships. It took place from December 9 to 14, 2017 in the al-Attiya Sports Arena of the Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha. The Qatari capital was the eighth time in a row the venue for the 9-Ball Championships.
The 2018 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was a 9-Ball pool world Championships. The event took place between December 10 to 20, 2018 in the al-Attiya Sports Arena of the Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar. The Qatari capital held the event for the eighth time in a row.
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 2015 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was the 24th edition of the 9-Ball pool World Championships. It took place from September 7 to 18, 2015 in the al-Attiya Sports Arena of the Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha. The Qatari capital was the sixth time in a row the venue for the 9-Ball Championships.
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 2019 WPA Women's World Nine-ball Championship was a professional nine-ball pool tournament that took place at Jinghai International Holiday Hotel & Resort in Sanya, China from 16 to 19 December 2019.
The 2017 Women's World Nine-ball Championship was a professional nine-ball pool tournament which was held in Hainan Chengmai (China) from 8 to 11 November 2017. The event was organized by the Guoao Group, which has hosted this event from 2013.
The 2022 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 seventh WPA World Ten-ball Championship. Held in Las Vegas, the event started on March 28 with the championship match on April 1. The event featured a prize fund of $226,000.
PHL Francisco Bustamante 
TPE Kuo Po-cheng 
