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Born | Fulda, West Germany | 14 July 1979||||||||||||||
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Nickname | The Hitman | ||||||||||||||
Tournament wins | |||||||||||||||
World Champion | Nine-ball (2003, 2013), Straight pool (2006) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Thorsten Hohmann (born 14 July 1979 in Fulda, West Germany) is a German professional pool player, nicknamed "the Hitman." He is a three-time world champion, winning the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 2003, and 2013, and winning the WPA World Straight Pool Championship in 2006. [1]
Thorsten was born and raised in Fulda, Germany and at a very young age had always been interested in sports, playing football, table tennis and badminton. At the age of nine Thorsten's father took him to a local pool hall. On his 10th birthday Thorsten received a miniature pool table. By age twelve Thorsten and a friend began playing pool at a local pool hall. By age 16 he had won his first open adult tournament, of 128 players in the state of Hessia. [2]
In 2003 Hohmann reached the finals of the World Pool League but lost to Rodney Morris, 8–3. [3] Later in 2003, Thorsten would win the 2003 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, defeating previous champion Earl Strickland in the semi-final, before defeating Alex Pagulayan in the final 17–10. [4] He became the third German to become World Champion after Oliver Ortmann (1995) and Ralf Souquet (1996).
In 2004, Hohmann signed on to be managed by US- and South Korea-based event promotions company Dragon Promotions, who transplanted the German-resident champion to Jacksonville, Florida, as a base of practice and preparation for US competitions. Hohmann then signed with Florida-based sponsors Lucasi Cues and Universal Smartshaft as their official representative and spokesperson. He remains a German citizen, but a US permanent resident. Thorsten has since been featured on the cover of many pool magazines.[ clarification needed ]
In 2004, Hohmann reached the finals of the US Open Nine-ball Championship. However, he lost to Gabe Owen, 3–11.
The year 2005 was his most successful to date as he dominated a number of tournaments, including the BCA Open Nine-ball Championship, the Sudden Death Seven-ball event [5] and the World Pool League. [6]
In 2006, he won the inaugural World Straight Pool Championship [7] by defeating Thomas Engert 200–80. Later, he defeated Marlon Manalo 8–7 to win the IPT North American Open Eight-ball Championship with a first prize of US$350K. [8] The IPT prize set a record as the largest first prize ever won in a pool tournament at that time. However, Efren Reyes beat the record shortly afterwards by winning $500,000 in the 2006 IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship, the second major IPT event.
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. In 2003 he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame. A winner of over 100 international titles, Reyes was the first player to win the WPA World Championships in two different pool disciplines. Among his numerous titles, Reyes is a WPA World Nine-ball Champion and WPA World Eight-ball Champion, a U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship winner, a four-time Sands Regency 9-Ball Open winner, and a thirteen-time Derby City Classic winner. Reyes also represented the Philippines at the World Cup of Pool, winning the event with his partner Francisco Bustamante in 2006 and 2009. Reyes defeated American legend Earl Strickland in The Color of Money challenge match in 1996, in a winner-take-all prize of $100,000.
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