In 1910, Jerome Keough invented straight pool as a way to increase the challenge over previous continuous games.[1] Soon after the new rules were adopted for world championship play. The championship was the most prestigious pool tournament until the late 20th century, when the game of Nine-ball surpassed straight pool as the most prominent game for professional players. Other straight pool tournaments which are still held annually such as the American 14.1 Straight Pool Championship and the European Pool Championship 14.1, have gained prominence in recent years.[when?]
The event was revived in 2006, in part to restore straight pool's popularity in the United States.[2] The World Straight Pool Championship was sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010.[3] The tournament continued unsanctioned from 2011 to 2019.
Ralph Greenleaf and Willie Mosconi are the most successful players having both won the tournament on 19 occasions. The oldest player to win the tournament is Irving Crane at 59 years old at the time of his victory. The youngest player to win the tournament is Ralph Greenleaf at 20 years old at the time of his first victory.[citation needed]
Format
In the most recent format of the tournament, all 64 players are divided into 8 groups where they play in round-robin format. Each match in this round is a race to 100 points. The leading 4 players in each group proceed to the next round.[4]
The games of the last-32 round are played in double-elimination format until 16 players remain. Matches are extended to races to 150 points.[4]
The games in the last-16 round are played in single-elimination format, and matches are extended, to races to 200 points.[4] The finals match is further extended to a race to 300 points (with a half-hour break occurring when a player reaches 150).[5]
Winners
Sanctioned World Championship events
No sanctioning body (1912 to 1920)
NBAA – National Billiard Association of America (1921 to 1940)
BAA – Billiard Association of America (1941 to 1947)
BCA – Billiard Congress of America (1948 to 1974)
BRPAA – Billiard Room Proprietors Association of America (1963 to 1969)
PPPA – Professional Pool Players Association (1976 to 1986)
PBA – Professional Billiards Association (1988 to 1990)
WPA – World Pool-Billiards Association (2006 to 2010)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
