| Born | 31 May 1989 [1] |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Chinese Taipei |
| Nickname | "Prince of Pool" |
| Professional | 2005 |
| Pool games | Nine-ball, Ten-ball |
| Tournament wins | |
| Major | World Cup of Pool, (2015) |
| World Champion | Nine-ball (2015), Ten-ball (2015) |
Ko Pin-yi (born 31 May 1989) is a Taiwanese professional pool player. He became multiple World Champion in the disciplines of Nine-ball and Ten-ball in 2015. [2] [3]
Ko won the World Nine-ball Junior Championship twice in his junior career, in 2007 and 2008.
Ko became a multiple world champion in 2015, winning three world titles in a single calendar year. He defeated Carlo Biado, 11–9 in the final of the 2015 WPA World Ten-ball Championship, [4] followed by beating Shane Van Boening, 13–11 in the 2015 WPA World Nine-ball Championship final, [5] Ko also captured its country's first World Cup of Pool title alongside Chang Yu-lung, defeating England B of Mark Gray and Daryl Peach, 10–8 in the final. [6] Ko was named Billiard Digest's "Player of the Year" in 2015. [7]
In 2022, Ko won the Asian Pool Federation's Asian Nine-ball Open in Singapore, defeating James Aranas of the Philippines, 13–11 in the final. [8] He was also able to defend it the following year, winning 13–6 over 16-year-old Filipino Albert James Manas. [9]
In 2023, Ko Pin Yi became the first Taiwanese player to win the World Pool Masters title in Brentwood, Essex England with 13–5 win against Albania's Eklent Kaci. [10]
In 2024, team Asia ruled the inaugural Reyes Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila, Philippines. The team consists of Johann Chua, Carlo Biado, Ko Pin Yi, Duong Quoc Hoang, and Aloysius Yapp, which is coached by the tournament namesake and greatest of all time Efren Reyes. [11]
They defeated the European team with a decisive 11–6 final score. Team Europe is made up of Jayson Shaw, Eklent Kaci, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, David Alcaide, and Mickey Krause. Aloysius Yapp of Singapore was named the first-ever Reyes Cup most valuable player award for his outstanding performance throughout the event. [12]
Pin Yi is the oldest of three brothers. His younger brothers, Ko Ping-chung and Ko Ping Han, are also professional pool players.
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.
David Alcaide Bermúdez is a Spanish professional pool player. He is a two-time winner of the World Pool Masters, winning the 2017 event, defeating Jayson Shaw 8–7 in the final, and again in 2019 defeating Alexander Kazakis 9–8. Alcaide is a three-time world championship semi-finalist having reached the stage at the WPA World 10-ball Championship, in 2009 and 2015, and the WPA World Eight-ball Championship in 2011.
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 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 World Cup of Pool is the sixth edition of the said tournament. For the third straight year, the event is once again being held in the Philippines, at The Block of SM City North EDSA in Quezon City, from 6 to 11 September 2011. The event was won by the German team of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, who defeated Thailand's Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Kobkit Palajin in the final 10–4.
Carlo Biado is a Filipino professional pool player. His highest profile wins include the World Nine-ball Championship and the World Ten-ball Championship in 2017 and 2024 respectively.
Johann Gonzales Chua is a Filipino professional pool player from Manila. His nickname is "Bad Koi". Chua is a 2023 World Cup of Pool champion alongside James Aranas. He is also a two-time All Japan Championship winner, winning the event in 2015 and 2017. In 2024, Chua was crowned the Mansion Sports Hanoi Open Pool Championship Champion.
Yukio Akakariyama is a Japanese pool player. In 2011, Yukio won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship.
The WPA 10-Ball World Championship 2015 was the fourth edition of the WPA World 10-ball Championship, the world championship for the discipline of 10-ball pool. It took place from February 17 to 21, 2015 at the SM City Activity Center in General Santos, Philippines.
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.
Jayson Shaw is a Scottish professional pool player. In 2010, Shaw was a WPA World Blackball Champion.
Joshua Filler is a German professional pool player from Bönen, Germany. In 2018 Filler defeated Carlo Biado 13–10 to win the 2018 WPA World Nine-ball Championship. In 2017 he was the youngest player to win the China Open, and in 2018 he also won the 10-ball European Pool Championships. Filler became WPA and Euro Tour world number 1 in 2019, and later he reached the final of the 2019 WPA World Ten-ball Championship before losing 10–7 to Ko Ping-chung.
Fedor Alekseyevich Gorst is a Russian American professional pool player. He has become a US resident, and now represents the United States in international events.
Francisco Sánchez Ruíz is a Spanish professional pool player, nicknamed "The Ferrari" and by his initials "FSR". He won both the 2022 WPA World Eight-ball Championship and the 2023 WPA World Nine-ball Championship.
Robbie James Joaquin Capito is a Hong Kong-born Filipino professional pool player. He is most known for defeating the reigning world number one pool player Eklent Kaçi at the 2018 WPA World Nine-ball Championship when he was 17 years old. In 2024, Capito claimed his biggest career win after he defeated Mieszko Fortunski 13–10 to win the UK Open Nine-ball Championship.
The 2019 World Cup of Pool was a professional pool doubles tournament, and the 13th edition of the World Cup of Pool. The event was contested by 32 pairs representing different nations, and took place at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England, from 25 to 30 June 2019. As host nation, Great Britain were allowed to enter two teams in the draw.
The WPA World Team Championship is a pool World Championship for national teams sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). the event founded in 2010 by the WPA and was held every two years until 2014.
The 2021 U.S. Open Pool Championship was an international nine-ball pool tournament held from 13 to 18 September 2021 in Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was the 44th entry of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, first held in 1976. Joshua Filler was the defending champion, having won the 2019 U.S. Open Nine-ball Championship. However, Filler lost 4–11 to Aloysius Yapp and 3–11 to Mieszko Fortuński, eliminating him from the tournament. Carlo Biado defeated Yapp 13–8 in the final to become one of the few Filipino players to win the tournament along with Alex Pagulayan in 2005 and Efren Reyes in 1994.
Aloysius Yapp is a Singaporean professional pool player. He was the world junior champion in nine-ball in 2014 and runner-up in the 2021. In 2023, Yapp defeated David Alcaide of Spain in the final, 13-7, to win the International Open 9-Ball Championship in Norfolk Virginia, USA.
The 2022 World Cup of Pool will be a professional pool doubles tournament, and the 15th edition of the World Cup of Pool. The event will be contested by 32 pairs representing different nations, and will take place at the Brentwood Centre in Brentwood, England, from 14 to 19 June 2022.
