Eight-ball is a discipline of pool played on a billiard table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls. The object balls include seven solid-colored balls numbered 1 through 7, seven striped balls numbered 9 through 15, and the black 8 ball. After the balls are scattered with a break shot, a player is assigned either the group of solid or striped balls once they have legally pocketed a ball from that group. The object of the game is to legally pocket the 8-ball in a "called" pocket, which can only be done after all of the balls from a player's assigned group have been cleared from the table.
Pool is a series of cue sports played on a billiard table. The table has six pockets along the rails, into which balls are shot. Of the many different pool games, the most popular include: eight-ball, blackball, nine-ball, ten-ball, seven-ball, straight pool, one-pocket, and bank pool. Eight-ball is the most frequently played discipline of pool, and it is often thought of as synonymous with "pool".
Lynette Horsburgh is a Scottish-English semi-professional, world champion pool and national champion snooker player, as well as an international-class player of English billiards. In sport, she represents Scotland. Outside sport, she is a professional Web content producer and journalist at BBC News Online.
The World Pool Association (WPA) is the international governing body for pool. It was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Australia, Americas, Africa, and Europe. As of 2023, the WPA president is Ishaun Singh of South Africa. It is an associate of the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS), the international umbrella organization that encompasses the major cue sports. WPA is headquartered in Gauteng, South Africa.
Pat Holtz is a Scottish professional pool player.
The World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) is an international pool governing body overseeing international tournaments and rankings in the British-originating variant of eight-ball pool played with red and yellow unnumbered balls instead of the stripes and solids numbered balls. WEPF competes for authority and membership with the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), which oversees its own tournaments and slightly different rules under the name blackball. WEPF events are held principally in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations.
The English-originating version of eight-ball pool, also known as English pool, English eight-ball, blackball, or simply reds and yellows, is a pool game played with sixteen balls on a small pool table with six pockets. It originated in the United Kingdom and is played in the Commonwealth countries such as Australia and South Africa. In the UK and Ireland it is usually called simply "pool".
Oliver Ortmann is a German professional pool player from Gelsenkirchen. Ortmann is a three-time world champion, winning the 1995 WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the 2007 and 2010 World Straight Pool Championship. Ortmann became the second player to win three WPA world championships. With fourteen wins, he the second most successful player at the European Pool Championships. Ortmann is also the second most successful player on the Euro Tour, winning fourteen events. Ortmann was the first non-American player to win the BCA U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship, in 1989.
The WPA World Eight-ball Championship is a professional eight-ball pool tournament sanctioned by the World Pool Association (WPA), initially contested from 2004 to 2012 in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. After not being held for several years, it was announced by the WPA that the championship would return in 2017, to be held at the Olympic Centre in Jinan, China. However, that event did not occur, and the championship continued to remain dormant until Predator Cues re-established the tournament as part of their Pro Billiard Series, beginning with the 2022 edition of the tournament.
Christopher Melling is an English professional pool and snooker player from Keighley, Bradford, West Yorkshire. He is a former world number 1 at World Rules British Eight-Ball. He won the WEPF World Eightball Championship twice, in 2001 and 2003. He was ranked #1 in 2003 by the World Eightball Pool Federation. Melling has also twice won the International Pool Masters and the European Professional title (2002). He was the first player to win two International Tour events back to back. His entrance by walk-on music is from the song “Wannabe” by Spice Girls. Melling is also the only cue sports player to hold professional status in English 8 ball, American pool and snooker.
Gareth David Potts is an English pool player, nicknamed "the Golden Boy". He is a two-time amateur and four-time professional world champion in British-style eightball/blackball, a co-champion in that discipline's pairs (doubles) event, and a three-time champion of a leading Chinese eight-ball competition.
Michael Hill, commonly known as Mick Hill, is an English pool player. He was WEPF men's world champion of British eight-ball pool in 2004, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019, the first person to win it six times. Frequently described as a genius by his peers, he is one of the most successful players of the sport in his generation.
Phil "The Farmer" Harrison is an English pool player from Cambridgeshire. In 2009 he was WEPF World Champion of English 8-ball pool, and finished as the runner-up in 2011, 2017 and 2018. Phil is currently sponsored by Criteria Cars, a family run car dealership in Ely.
The Australian Eight Ball Federation, formed in 1983 is the governing body in Australia for the sport of eight-ball pool, a cue sport also standardised under the name blackball, and distinct from the American-style game of eight-ball, itself subject to international competition.
Eightball Tasmania, formed in 1983 is the governing body in Tasmania, Australia for the sport of Eightball pool, a cue sport.
South Eastern Tasmania Eightball Association is the governing body for the South Eastern Tasmania, Australia or the "Eastern Shore" of Hobart for the sport of Eightball pool, a cue sport and is affiliated with Eightball Tasmania.
Chang Jung-lin is a Taiwanese professional Eight-ball and Nine-ball pool player.
The WEPF World Eightball Pool Championship is a pool world championship organised by the World Eightball Pool Federation using International Rules. Until 2022 the competition used World Rules. The competition has taken place annually since 1993.
Lisa Quick is an English snooker and pool player. She won the World Women's Snooker Championship in 2001, and was runner-up to Kelly Fisher in 2002 and 2003. She also won the WEPF World Eightball Championship in 1999 and 2001.
Susan Thompson, usually known professionally as Sue Thompson, is a Scottish former professional pool player. She won the WEPF World Eightball Championship eleven times.
Germany
Chinese Taipei 
United States
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Spain
Poland
Philippines
Netherlands
England
