This article is about the annual nine-ball pool tournament in Connecticut. For the Gladiators franchise event, see Gladiators (TV series). For the tennis event, see Challenge of Champions.
As of 2009, four invited notable players compete in this single-elimination event. Different from other pool tournaments, this is a winner-take-all event: The winner earns the entire purse of the division (men's or women's);[1] in 2009, the men's-division pot was US$25,000. Winners of either division earn the title "Champion of Champions".
Format
Promoters describe the geared-for-television event as "international champions ... battling in short, sudden-death shootouts with pressure-cooker formats".[1]
Each match is compose of two sets; each of them is race to 5 and in alternate break. Players lag to determine who shall break in the first set. The player who loses that set will break in the second.
A 30-second shot clock rule is used. This means a player must make a shot within 30 seconds lest the other player will receive ball-in-hand. Each player, however, can call for an extension but only once per rack.
Unlike other 9-ball tournaments, a player must call the 9-ball before pocketing it. Failing to call the shot or the 9-ball going in another pocket other than the one called will result the 9-ball being respotted and the player loses his turn at the table. Also, a player can't win a rack by pocketing the 9-ball in the break.
To win a match, a player has to win both sets. If the sets are split (one player winning the first but other player winning the next), players again lag to break at the one rack decider.
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Mike Lebron 
Buddy Hall 
Chao Fong-pang 
Takeshi Okumura 
Ralf Souquet 
Francisco Bustamante 
Mika Immonen 
John Horsfall 
Niels Feijen 
Fu Jianbo 
Darren Appleton 
Jayson Shaw 
