The All Japan Championship (also: Japan Championship) is an annual international pool tournament founded by Kazuo Fujima in 1967, when there was an all-around completion with multiple disciplines. In the Men's tournament the current discipline is Ten-ball, however for the Women's tournament it is played in the discipline of Nine-ball. The All Japan Championship is currently sanctioned by the JPBA (Japan Professional Pocket Billiard Association). The first 20 years only held men's competitions. It was not until the 21st competition in 1988 that the women's event was established. Most of the competition period is after the middle of November each year. This is the most famous international large-scale pool event held in Japan, and the oldest tournament in pool that is still held. Takeshi Okumura had won the men's tournament the most times, having won thirteen times pre 1991, when the tournament was multiple divisions. Takeshi Okumura, Francisco Bustamante and Ko Pin Yi have won the men's tournament the most times, post 1990 in the single discipline modern format. Akimi Kajitani, Liu Hsin-mei & Pan Xiaoting have won the women's tournament the most times, three.
In addition to the All Japan Championship another tournament known as the Japan Open played in the discipline of Nine-ball for men and women. However, from 2011 to present, the men's tournament was played in the discipline of Ten-ball. The event began in 1988 and the year after for women and the event has continued for over 30 years. Takeshi Okumura is the most successful player having won the tournament four times. Akimi Kajitani is the most successful player having won the women's tournament the most times, three. [2] [3]
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, and especially famed for his skill at the challenging one-pocket discipline. In 2003, he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame.
Gerda Hofstätter Gergerson, nicknamed "G-Force", is an Austrian professional pool player. Hofstätter won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1995. She is a winner at the European Pool Championship on nine occasions, and won the Austrian national Championship seventeen times. Hofstätter is a two-time Hall of Fame inductee being voted into both the Women's Professional Billiard Association and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fames in the Greatest Players Category. Hofstätter was the Austrian Sportswoman of the Year for Carinthia in 1993. Hofstätter played on the WPBA Tour until her retirement, doing so from 1993 onward.
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 greatest pool players of all time.
Dennis Orcollo, sometimes called Dennis Orcullo, is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed "Surigao" and "RoboCop". He has been called "The Money-Game King".
Lee Vann Corteza, also spelled Lee Van Corteza, is a Filipino professional pool player. He is nicknamed "The Slayer", and started playing pool in 1993.
Rodney Morris is a professional pool player, nicknamed "the Rocket". In 2016, he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame. Morris won the 1996 U.S. Open Nine-ball Championship, 2003 World Pool League, 2006 UPA Pro Tour Championship (nine-ball), and 2013 U.S. Open Ten-ball Championship, among many other individual titles. In doubles play, he and Shane Van Boening took the 2008 World Cup of Pool. He has also been a member of the winning Team USA in the Mosconi Cup events of 2003–2005, and was the Mosconi Cup MVP in 2004.
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.
Takeshi Okumura is a Japanese professional pool player.
Kunihiko Takahashi is a Japanese professional pool player and a WPA World Nine-ball Champion. Nicknamed "the Sniper".
Ko Ping-chung is a Taiwanese professional pool player. Ko is the younger brother of Ko Pin-yi. In 2023, Ko defeated Fedor Gorst 13–6 to win the U.S. Open Nine-ball Championship.
The 2011 European Pool Championships was a series of professional pool championships that took place at the Steel Palace, in Brandenburg, Germany. The events were played between 23 March and 3 April 2011 were part of the European Pool Championships; and featured events for men, women and wheelchair players across four pool disciplines: straight Pool, eight-ball, nine-ball, and ten-ball. The tournament was hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation and organised by the International Billiard Promotion, with the final of the men's nine-ball event broadcast on Eurosport. Austria was the most successful nation, winning three events – all by Jasmin Ouschan. Jouni Tähti won two of the three wheelchair events, losing just one match in the final of the nine-ball tournament to Henrik Larsson.
The 2018 European Pool Championships was a professional pool championship that took place at the NH Hotel Koningshof, in Veldhoven, Netherlands. The event played between 19 and 31 July 2018 was a part of the European Pool Championships; and saw events for men, women, wheelchair competitors, youth and seniors across four pool disciplines: Straight Pool, 8-Ball, 9-Ball, and 10-Ball.
Margaret Fefilova Styer is a Belarusian professional pool player from Minsk, Belarus. Fefilova has won a total of 29 Belarusian national women's championships, with an additional three national championships in mixed competitions against both men and women. She is the first player from Belarus to win a medal at the European Pool Championships, a bronze medal in the nine-ball competition in 2015. She also reached the final of the European Girls Championship in 2014, losing 3–6 to Kamila Khodjaeva.
Kristina Olegovna Tkach is a Russian professional pool player. She became the 2017 WPA World Nine-ball Junior Championship winner, defeating Lee Woo-jin in the final 9–6. Tkach is a four time European champion having won the eight-ball event in 2016 and 2019, as well as Straight pool in 2017 and 2019. In addition, she is a nine-time Junior European Champion.
The 2018 WPA World Junior Nine-ball Championships was the 27th hosting of the Junior World Championship in the pool discipline 9-Ball. The event ran from 31 October to 3 November 2018 Moscow, Russia.
The 2019 European Pool Championships was a series of professional pool championships that took place at the Best Western Premier in Treviso, Italy. The event was played between 26 April and 8 May 2019 and was the 39th edition of the European Pool Championships that were first held in 1980. The championships saw events for men, women, under 23s and wheelchairs across five disciplines; straight pool, eight-ball, nine-ball, ten-ball and a team event.
Ina Kaplan is a German professional pool player. She is an eleven-time German national champion and is the second female player to win three of four disciplines in one event at the championships.
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.
The 2019 Klagenfurt Open was a professional nine-ball pool tournament and the sixth of seven Euro Tour events of the 2019 Euro Tour season. The men's event was held between 11 and 13 October, whilst the women's event was held from 13 to 14 October 2019, held at the Sportpark Klagenfurt in Klagenfurt, Austria. The event featured a total prize fund of €38,000, with the winner of each event winning €4,500.
