In 2018, championships were held across three continents to determine the best players in major cue sports, including snooker, pool, and English billiards. While these are mostly single player sports, some matches and tournaments are held as either doubles or as team events. The snooker season runs between May and April; the pool and billiards seasons run through the calendar year.
Four men's adult world championships were held in 2018, Mark Williams won the World Snooker Championship, Joshua Filler holding the WPA World Nine-ball Championship, Sourav Kothari the World Billiards Championship, and Dick Jaspers winning the UMB World Three-cushion Championship. Three women's world championships were also held, with Han Yu winning the WPA Women's World Nine-ball Championship, the World Billiards Championship being won by Emma Bonney and Ng On-yee winning the World Women's Snooker Championship.
The snooker Triple Crown featured Ronnie O'Sullivan winning the UK Championship, while the Masters was won by Mark Allen. In pool, the Mosconi Cup was won by the US team, with Skyler Woodward as the most valuable player. [1] Peter Gilchrist won seven events in billiards, while Reanne Evans won six women's snooker events. The events below are professional and pro-am cue sports tournaments from the year of 2018, as well as select amateur snooker events used for qualification to the World Snooker Tour.
The cue sport pool encapsulates several disciplines, such as straight pool, eight-ball, and nine-ball. [2] : 182–186 Joshua Filler won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship, [3] while the World Cup of Pool was won by China. [4] In events where there was more than one competition, (m) refers to men, (f) to female, (s) to seniors and (u21) refers to under-21 competitions.
Date(s) | Tournament | Location | Result | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
March 2–4 | World Pool Masters | Gibraltar | Niels Feijen defeated Shane Van Boening, 8–4 | [5] [6] |
May 15–20 | World Cup of Pool | China (Shanghai) | China A defeated Austria, 10–3 | [7] [4] |
July 19–31 | European Pool Championships | Netherlands (Veldhoven) | Germany won 24 medals, ahead of Poland with 12 | [8] [9] |
September 11–15 | Kremlin World Cup | Russia (Moscow) | Niels Feijen defeated Alexander Kazakis 8–7 | [10] |
December 3–7 | Mosconi Cup | England (London) | Team USA defeated Team Europe 11–9 | [11] [12] |
December 7–10 | WPA Women's World Nine-ball Championship | Qatar (Doha) | Han Yu defeated Wang Xiaotong 5–0 | [13] [14] |
December 14–20 | WPA World Nine-ball Championship | Qatar (Doha) | Joshua Filler defeated Carlo Biado 13–10 | [15] [3] |
The Euro Tour is a professional nine-ball series run across Europe by the European Pocket Billiard Federation. The season featured seven events, with six tournaments for each gender. [16]
The English billiards season ran from August to July. [28] Sourav Kothari and Emma Bonney won the World Billiards Championships for each gender. [28]
Date(s) [28] | Tournament | Location | Result | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 21–24 | European Open | Ireland (Carlow) | Peter Gilchrist defeated David Causier 1083–911 | [29] |
June 2–6 | Asian Grand Prix | Singapore | Peter Gilchrist defeated Robert Hall 6–4 | [30] |
June 12–15 | ABSC Pacific International | Australia (Melbourne) | Robert Hall defeated Matthew Bolton 6–4 | [31] |
October 22–26 | World Billiards Championship | England (Leeds) | Sourav Kothari defeated Peter Gilchrist, 1134–944 (m) Emma Bonney defeated Rebecca Kenna 329–209 (f) | [32] |
November 12–18 | IBSF World Billiards Championship (150-Up) | Myanmar (Yangon) | Pankaj Advani defeated Nay Thway Oo 6–2 | [33] [34] [35] |
IBSF World Billiards Championship (Long-Up) | Pankaj Advani defeated Bhaskar Balachandra 1500–299 | [34] [35] |
Date(s) [28] | Tournament | Location | Result | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 27–28 | Scottish Open | Scotland (Kirkcaldy) | Peter Gilchrist defeated Robert Marshall 521–265 | [36] |
February 10–11 | South Australian Open | Australia (Adelaide) | Peter Gilchrist defeated Steve Mifsud 1179–410 | [37] |
March 30 – April 2 | UK Open | England (Leeds) | Peter Gilchrist defeated Robert Hall 796–667 | [38] |
April 6–8 | Sydney Open | Australia (Sydney) | Peter Gilchrist defeated Michael Pearson 987–345 | [39] |
April 28–29 | English Open | England (Cambridge) | Robert Hall defeated Peter Gilchrist 614–378 | [40] |
May 19–20 | Irish Open | Ireland (Carlow) | Peter Gilchrist defeated David Causier 811–375 | [41] |
August 18–19 | NSC Open | England (Leeds) | David Causier defeated Robert Hall 749–198 | [42] |
Three-cushion billiards competitions overseen by the Union Mondal de Billiard (UMB)
Date(s) [43] | Tournament | Location | Result | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
February 22–25 | World Three-cushion Teams Championship | Germany (Viersen) | Choi Sung-won & Kang Dong-koong defeated Arnim Kahofer & Andreas Efler 40–23 | [44] [45] |
September 18–20 | World Three-cushion Women's Championship | Turkey (İzmir) | Therese Klompenhouwer defeated Orie Hida 30–24 | [44] [46] |
September 21–23 | World Three-cushion Juniors Championship | Turkey (İzmir) | Cho Myung-woo defeated Jang Dae-hyun 35–18 | [47] [48] |
October 2–6 | World Three-cushion Championship | Egypt (Cairo) | Dick Jaspers defeated Jérémy Bury with the best General average | [49] [50] [51] |
November 23–25 | Lausanne Billiard Masters | Switzerland (Lausanne) | Eddy Merckx defeated Murat Naci Çoklu 40–33 | [52] [53] |
The Three-Cushion World Cup is an annual three-cushion series of tournaments hosted by the UMB. [54] Seven events were held, with the overall winner being Frédéric Caudron. [55]
The World Snooker Tour season begins in July and ends in May. Mark Williams won his third World Snooker Championship by defeating John Higgins 18–16 in the final. [70] Ng On-yee also won her third Women's World Snooker Championship with a 5–0 win over Maria Catalano in the final. [71]
Date(s) [72] [73] | Tournament | Location | Result | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 14–21 | Masters | England (London) | Mark Allen defeated Kyren Wilson 10–7 | [92] |
March 14–18 | Romanian Masters | Romania (Bucharest) | Ryan Day defeated Stuart Bingham 6–5 | [93] |
January 22 – March 29 | Championship League | England (Coventry) | John Higgins defeated Zhou Yuelong 3–2 | [94] |
May 10–13 | Vienna Snooker Open | Italy (Vienna) | Michael Georgiou defeated Ross Muir 5–4 | [95] |
July 12–15 | Golden Q Cup | Romania (Baia Mare) | Luca Brecel defeated Michael Georgiou 5–1 | [96] |
July 28–31 | Pink Ribbon | England (Gloucester) | Andrew Norman defeated Harvey Chandler 4–2 | [97] |
July 31 – August 4 | Haining Open | China (Haining) | Mark Selby defeats Li Hang 5–4 | [98] |
September 10–16 | Shanghai Masters | China (Shanghai) | Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Barry Hawkins 11–9 | [99] |
November 5–11 | Champion of Champions | England (Coventry) | Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Kyren Wilson 10–9 | [100] |
The Challenge Tour is a secondary non-professional snooker tour with events for invited players. [101] [102] Eight tournaments were played from the ten events in the 2018–19 season in 2018. [72]
Date(s) [72] [73] | Tournament | Location | Result | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 3 | Challenge Tour 1 | England (Burton) | Brandon Sargeant defeated Luke Simmonds 3–1 | [103] |
July 11 | Challenge Tour 2 | England (Preston) | David Grace defeated Mitchell Mann 3–0 | [104] |
July 28 | Challenge Tour 3 | Latvia (Riga) | Barry Pinches defeated Jackson Page 3–2 | [105] |
August 28 | Challenge Tour 4 | Germany (Fürth) | Mitchell Mann defeated Dylan Emery 3–0 | [106] |
September 19 | Challenge Tour 5 | England (Derby) | David Lilley defeated Brandon Sargeant 3–1 | [107] |
October 5 | Challenge Tour 6 | Belgium (Lommel) | David Grace defeated Ben Hancorn 3–0 | [108] |
October 14 | Challenge Tour 7 | England (Preston) | Joel Walker defeated Jenson Kendrick 3–0 | [109] |
November 25 | Challenge Tour 8 | Hungary (Budapest) | Simon Bedford defeated David Lilley 3–1 | [110] |
The World Seniors Tour is an amateur series open to players aged 40 and over. [111] There were four events in the 2018 World Seniors Tour. [111] The World Seniors Championship was won by Aaron Canavan. [112]
Date(s) [113] | Tournament | Location | Result | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 6–7 | Seniors Irish Masters | Ireland (Kildare) | Steve Davis defeated Jonathan Bagley 4–0 | [114] |
March 21–24 | World Seniors Championship | England (Scunthorpe) | Aaron Canavan defeated Patrick Wallace 4–3 | [112] |
April 12 | Seniors Masters | England (Sheffield) | Cliff Thorburn defeated Jonathan Bagley 2–1 | [115] |
October 24–25 | UK Seniors Championship | England (Hull) | Ken Doherty defeated Igor Figueiredo 4–1 | [116] |
Date(s) [113] | Tournament | Location | Result | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
February 17–18 | British Open | England (Stourbridge) | Reanne Evans defeated Nutcharut Wongharuthai 4–0 | [117] |
March 14–17 | World Women's Snooker Championship | Malta (St. Paul's Bay) | Ng On Yee defeated Maria Catalano 5–0 | [71] |
April 13–16 | World Women's Under-21 Championship | England (Leeds) | Nutcharut Wongharuthai defeated Emma Parker 3–0 | [118] |
World Women's Seniors Championship | Jenny Poulter defeated Jackie Ellis 3–0 | |||
World Women's 10-Red Championship | Reanne Evans defeated Ng On Yee 4–1 | |||
World Women's 6-Red Championship | Reanne Evans defeated Ng On Yee 4–3 | |||
World Women's Pairs Championship | Reanne Evans & Maria Catalano defeated Laura Evans & Suzie Opacic 3–0 | |||
September 15–16 | UK Women's Championship | England (Leeds) | Ng On-yee defeated Rebecca Kenna 4–1 | [119] |
October 5–7 | European Women's Masters | Belgium (Neerpelt) | Reanne Evans defeated Nutcharut Wongharuthai 4–1 | [120] |
October 25–28 | Australian Women's Open | Australia (Sydney) | Ng On-yee defeated Katrina Wan 4–2 | [121] |
November 24–25 | Eden Women's Masters | England (Gloucester) | Reanne Evans defeated Rebecca Kenna 4–0 | [122] |
December 13–16 | IBSF World Team Championship | Egypt (Marsa Alam) | Waratthanun Sukritthanes and Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan defeated Amee Kamani and Vidya Pillai 4–2 | [123] |
Efren Manalang Reyes is a Filipino professional pool player. A winner of over 100 international titles, Reyes was the first player to win world championships in two different pool disciplines. Among his numerous titles, Reyes is a four-time World Eight-ball champion, the 1999 WPA World Nine-ball Championship winner, a three-time U.S. Open winner, a two-time World Pool League champion, a four-time All Japan Championship winner, a seven-time Asian Nine-ball Tour champion, and a thirteen-time Derby City Classic winner. Reyes also represented the Philippines at the World Cup of Pool, winning the event with partner Francisco Bustamante in 2006 and 2009. By defeating American player Earl Strickland in the inaugural The 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.
Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a cue sport in which two competing players attempt to pocket as many object 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.
Carom billiards, also called French billiards and sometimes carambole billiards, is the overarching title of a family of cue sports generally played on cloth-covered, pocketless billiard tables. In its simplest form, the object of the game is to score points or "counts" by caroming one's own cue ball off both the opponent's cue ball and the object ball on a single shot. The invention as well as the exact date of origin of carom billiards is somewhat obscure but is thought to be traceable to 18th-century France.
A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that is covered with cloth, and surrounded by vulcanized rubber cushions, with the whole thing elevated above the floor. More specific terms are used for specific sports, such as snooker table and pool table, and different-sized billiard balls are used on these table types. An obsolete term is billiard board, used in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Kelly Teresa Fisher is an English professional pool, snooker and English billiards player.
Corey Deuel is an American professional pool player from West Jefferson, Ohio. Nicknamed "Prince of Pool", he won the US Open Nine-ball Championship in 2001, and has won many other major titles. In January 2008, he was ranked the second highest US pool player by the United States Professional Poolplayers Association. He regularly represents the US in the Mosconi Cup. In 2010, he again was selected for the US team in the Mosconi Cup and was responsible for winning 2 of the US team's 8 points in the event. His tournament walk-on music is "Disco Inferno" by the Trammps.
The International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) is an organisation that governs non-professional snooker and English billiards around the world. As of January 2020, the organisation is headquartered in Doha, Qatar.
Dingeman Jacobus Johannes "Dick" Jaspers is a Dutch professional carom billiards player who specializes in the three-cushion event.
Three-cushion billiards, also called three-cushion carom, is a form of carom billiards. The object of the game is to carom the cue ball off both object balls while contacting the railcushions at least three times before contacting the second object ball. A point is scored for each successful carom. In most shots the cue ball hits the object balls one time each, although hitting them any number of times is allowed as long as both are hit. The cue ball may contact the cushions before or after hitting the first object ball. It does not have to contact three different cushions as long as it has been in contact with any cushion at least three times in total.
Five-pin billiards or simply five-pins or 5-pins, is today usually a carom billiards form of cue sport, though sometimes still played on a pocket table. In addition to the customary three balls of most carom games, it makes use of a set of five upright pins (skittles) arranged in a "+" pattern at the center of the table. The game is popular especially in Italy and Argentina, but also in some other parts of Latin America and Europe, with international, televised professional tournaments. It is sometimes referred to as Italian five-pins or Italian billiards, or as simply italiana. A variant of the game, goriziana or nine-pins, adds additional skittles to the formation. A related pocket game, with larger pins, is played in Scandinavia and is referred to in English as Danish pin billiards, with a Swedish variant that has some rules more similar to the Italian game.
The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) is the international umbrella organization encompassing the major cue sports, including carom billiards, pool games of several varieties, and snooker.
The World Union of Billards is the world governing body for carom (carambole) billiard games.
The UMB World Three-cushion Championship is a professional carom billiards tournament in the discipline of three-cushion billiards, organized mostly annually by the Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB). Until 1953 it was organized by the UIFAB. During a dispute between the UMB and Billiards World Cup Association (BWA), the UMB decided not to organize the championship between 1988 and 1993. Instead the overall winner of the World Cup was announced as also the world champion.
Cue sports, including three-cushion billiards, nine-ball and snooker, were introduced as World Games sports for men and for women also at the World Games 2001 in Akita.
The Confédération Européene de Billard (CEB) is the European governing body of carom billiards and is affiliated to the world federation UMB.
The World Team Trophy was a team cue sports event, held in Roissy-en-France, Paris, France. The event was held between 11–12 March 2019. The event sees teams of three players from different disciplines compete in the disciplines of pool, snooker and carrom. The event saw both a men's and women's tournament. The tournament received teams from France, Europe, Asia and Rest of the World.
The year of 2019 included professional tournaments surrounding table-top cue sports. These events include snooker, pool disciplines and billiards. Whilst these are traditionally singles sports, some matches and tournaments are held as doubles, or team events. The snooker season runs between May and April, whilst the pool and billiards seasons run in the calendar year.
Amee Kamani is an Indian snooker player. She was runner-up in the 2016 International Billiards and Snooker Federation World Snooker championship, losing 0–5 in the final to the defending champion Wendy Jans. Kamani was the 2018 Asian Billiards Sports Championships Ladies Champion after defeating Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan 3–0 in the final, and was runner-up at the 2014 Australian Open and the 2019 International Billiards and Snooker Federation Women's six-reds snooker championship.
Professional tournaments in table-top cue sports took place in 2020. These events include snooker, pool disciplines and billiards. Whilst these are traditionally singles sports, some matches and tournaments are held as doubles or as teams. The snooker season runs between May and April, whilst the pool and billiards seasons is listed over the calendar year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was disrupted with many events being cancelled or postponed. Cue sports events were played in January and February, before tournaments were discontinued for all disciplines due to the pandemic, returning in June without an audience.
Nikos Polychronopoulos is a Greek professional Carom billiards player from Athens. In 1999, he won Junior UMB World Three-cushion Championship.