Nine-ball is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side. Using a cue stick, players must strike the white cue ball to pocket nine colored billiard balls, hitting them in ascending numerical order. An individual game is won by the player pocketing the 9-ball. Matches are usually played as a race to a set number of racks, with the player who reaches the set number winning the match.
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.
The Mosconi Cup is an annual nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1994 between teams representing Europe and the United States. Named after American pool player Willie Mosconi, the event is comparable to the Ryder Cup in golf and the Weber Cup in bowling.
Earl Strickland is an American professional pool player who is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time. He has won over 100 championship titles and three world titles. In 2006 he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame. In 1996, Strickland won the largest cash prize to date winning the PCA $1,000,000 Challenge by being the first player to run 10 consecutive racks in a tournament. He is also known as one of the sport's most controversial players for his outspoken views and his sometimes volatile behavior at tournaments.
Dennis Orcollo, sometimes called Dennis Orcullo, is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed "Surigao" and "RoboCop". He has been called "The Money-Game King".
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 2007 World Nine-ball Championship was the 18th annual international nine-ball pool tournament for men sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). It was held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines from 3–11 November 2007. It was the second consecutive time the tournament has been held in the Philippines.
Daryl Peach is an English professional pool player, from Lancashire, who resides in Blackpool, England. He won the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, where he defeated the Philippines' Roberto Gomez 17–15 in the final to become the first British player to win the WPA World Nine-ball Championship.
The World Pool League (WPL) was a nine ball pool tournament promoted by Matchroom Sport and PartyGaming, and sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). All of the events were held in Warsaw, Poland, annually from 1999 to 2006. Six notable players were selected to participate in each event, which lasted for three days. Despite its name, the events were invitational tournaments, not a league in the usual sporting senses. The victor in the final event was Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines, 8–5 over Niels Feijen of the Netherlands, for a US$20,000 first-place prize.
The 2009 World Cup of Pool was a professional nine-ball pool, and the fourth World Cup of Pool, a scotch doubles knockout championship representing 32 national teams. The cup was played at the Annex of SM City North EDSA in Quezon City, Philippines from 1 to 6 September 2009. The Korean pair of Ga Young Kim and Yun Mi Lim were the first all-female team to participate at the event. The tournament featured a prize fund of $250,000 with the winner receiving $60,000. It was sponsored by online poker website partypoker.
Roberto Gomez is a professional pocket billiards player from Zamboanga City, Philippines. He competed in the final of both the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championships, and the 2007 World Cup of Pool. Gomez was the first qualifier to reach the final of the WPA World Nine-ball Championships.
The 2006 World Cup of Pool was a professional nine-ball pool competition, the first World Cup of Pool, a scotch doubles knockout championship representing 32 national teams. The event was held at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales, from 22 to 27 August 2006. The event was held as a single-elimination tournament, for a total prize fund of $250,000 with $60,000 being awarded to the winner. The tournament was organised by Matchroom Sport, sponsored by poker website Partypoker, and broadcast on Sky TV.
The 2007 World Cup of Pool was a professional nine-ball pool competition and the second edition of the World Cup of Pool, a scotch doubles knockout championship representing 32 national teams. The event was held in the Outland club in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from 25 to 30 September 2007. The event was held as a single-elimination tournament for a total prize fund of $250,000, including $60,000 for the winner. The tournament was organised by Matchroom Sport, sponsored by poker website Partypoker, and broadcast across 31 one-hour episodes.
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 two-time All Japan Championship winner and the champion of 2022 WPA World Team Championship with Carlo Biado and Rubilen Amit and a 2023 World Cup of Pool winner alongside James Aranas.
The 2012 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was a professional nine-ball pocket billiards (pool) championship, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and organised by Matchroom Sport. It was held from June 22 to 29 in Doha, Qatar, hosted by the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation. Qualifying tournaments were held from June 20 to 22, with the Al Sadd Sports Club hosting both qualifying and final tournaments.
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.
Fedor Alekseyevich Gorst is a Russian born professional pool player. He has become a US resident, and now represents the United States in international events like the Mosconi Cup.
The 2010 World Team Championship was the first edition of the World Team Championship which was sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association, which ran from January 30, 2010, to February 6, 2010, in Hanover, Germany. A total prize fund of $398,000 was distributed, with the winning team receiving $100,000. The Great Britain 1 team of Darren Appleton, Daryl Peach, Imran Majid, Karl Boyes and Mark Gray won the event with a 4–1 victory over the Philippines. It was the first iteration of the World Team Championship.
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.
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