World Pool Masters

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The World Pool Masters is an annual international nine-ball tournament. Formerly, it was called the European Pool Masters (until 1995) until players from other parts of the globe were invited.

Contents

History

Throughout much of its history, the tournament has been featuring sixteen world-class pool players, competing in single-elimination format. In 2010, the number of players was doubled to 32. The first round of the event was played in double elimination with the second round in single-elimination. [1]

In 2011, the tournament reverted to the original 16-player single-elimination format, with each match a race-to-8, winner breaks. The 2011 edition was held in SM North EDSA Mall in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Ralf Souquet of Germany won the said tournament for the record-setting sixth time, beating defending champion Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines, 8–5. [2]

For the 2019 World Pool Masters, the field was changed to accompany 24 players, with seeded players being given a bye through the first round. [3] For the 2022 World Pool Masters went back to its original format, inviting 16 players, with 8 seeded players meeting the other 8 in the first round of the single-elimination tournament.

Winners

DateLocationWinnerRunner-upFinal score
1993 Plymouth, England Flag of Austria.svg Werner Duregger Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Souquet 2–1 (sets)
1994 Doncaster, England Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Souquet Flag of England.svg Jimmy White 2–1 (sets)
1995 Blackpool, England Flag of England.svg Daryl Peach Flag of England.svg Lee Kendall 2–0 (sets)
1996Blackpool, England Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Souquet (2) Flag of France.svg Vincent Facquet 2–1 (sets)
1997 Thurrock, England Flag of the United States.svg Earl Strickland Flag of Ireland.svg Tommy Donlon 2–1 (sets)
1998Thurrock, England Flag of the Philippines.svg Francisco Bustamante Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Souquet 11–9
1999Thurrock, England Flag of the Netherlands.svg Alex Lely Flag of the Philippines.svg Efren Reyes 7–5
2000Thurrock, England Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Souquet (3) Flag of the Netherlands.svg Alex Lely 7–3
2001Thurrock, England Flag of the Philippines.svg Francisco Bustamante (2) Flag of the United States.svg Earl Strickland 7–6
2002 Milton Keynes, England Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Souquet (4) Flag of the Philippines.svg Efren Reyes 9–4
2003 Egmond, Netherlands Flag of Malta.svg Tony Drago Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Hsia Hui-kai 8–6
2004Egmond, Netherlands Flag of Germany.svg Thomas Engert Flag of Germany.svg Oliver Ortmann 8–6
2005Doncaster, England Flag of England.svg Raj Hundal Flag of the United States.svg Rodney Morris 8–7
2006Egmond, Netherlands Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Souquet (5) Flag of the Philippines.svg Alex Pagulayan 8–4
2007Egmond, Netherlands Flag of Germany.svg Thomas Engert (2) Flag of Spain.svg David Alcaide 8–5
2008 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Flag of the Philippines.svg Alex Pagulayan Flag of Finland.svg Mika Immonen 8–6
2009Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Flag of England.svg Darren Appleton Flag of the Netherlands.svg Nick van den Berg 8–4
2010 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Flag of the Philippines.svg Dennis Orcollo Flag of Japan.svg Toru Kuribayashi 8–3
2011 Quezon City, Philippines Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Souquet (6) Flag of the Philippines.svg Dennis Orcollo 8–5
2012 Kielce, Poland Flag of Poland.svg Karol Skowerski Flag of Poland.svg Mateusz Śniegocki 8–6
2013 Barnsley, England Flag of the Netherlands.svg Niels Feijen Flag of England.svg Darren Appleton 8–6
2014 Nottingham, England Flag of the United States.svg Shane Van Boening Flag of Greece.svg Nikos Ekonomopoulos 8–2
2015 Manchester, England Flag of the United States.svg Shane Van Boening (2) Flag of England.svg Darren Appleton 8–2
2017 Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar Flag of Spain.svg David Alcaide Flag of Scotland.svg Jayson Shaw 8–7
2018 Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar Flag of the Netherlands.svg Niels Feijen (2) Flag of the United States.svg Shane Van Boening 8–4
2019 Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar Flag of Spain.svg David Alcaide (2) Flag of Greece.svg Alexander Kazakis 9–8
2020Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Europa Sports Park, Gibraltar Flag of Greece.svg Alexander Kazakis Flag of the United States.svg Shane Van Boening 9–0
2022 Europa Sports Park, Gibraltar Flag of Germany.svg Joshua Filler Flag of Hong Kong.svg Lo Ho Sum 9–6
2023 Brentwood, England Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Ko Pin-yi Flag of Albania.svg Eklent Kaçi 13–5

Records

Top Performers

NameNationalityWinnerRunner-upFinalsSemi-final
or better
Ralf Souquet Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 6288
Shane Van Boening Flag of the United States.svg  United States 245
David Alcaide Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 133
Francisco Bustamante Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 02
Niels Feijen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Thomas Engert Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
Darren Appleton Flag of England.svg  England 1234
Alex Pagulayan Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 125
Earl Strickland Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4
Alex Lely Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 3
Dennis Orcollo Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines
Alexander Kazakis Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 2
Ko Pin-yi Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei

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References

  1. Matchroom Sport (January 28, 2010). "Masters Invites Announced". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  2. Matchroom Sport (September 5, 2011). "Souquet wins Masters for the sixth time". MatchroomPool.com. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
  3. "Expanded World Pool Masters Returns To Gibraltar, March 29–31 – Matchroom Pool". Matchroom Pool. Retrieved 31 December 2018.