Efren "Bata" Manalang Reyes is a Filipino professional pool player. A winner of over 70 international titles, Reyes was the first player to win world championships in two different pool disciplines. Among his numerous titles, Reyes is a four-time World Eight-ball champion, the 1999 WPA World Nine-ball Championship winner, a three-time U.S. Open winner, a two-time World Pool League winner and a 13-time Derby City Classic winner. Reyes also represented the Philippines at the World Cup of Pool, winning the event with partner Francisco Bustamante in 2006 and 2009. By defeating American player Earl Strickland in the inaugural Color of Money event in 1997, Reyes took home the largest single match purse in pool history of $100K. Many analysts, fans and players consider Reyes to be the greatest pool player of all time.
Francisco Bustamante is a Filipino professional pool player from Tarlac, Central Luzon and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion, nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the 1966 film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States. Bustamente has won over 50 International titles.
Alex Lely is a Dutch former professional pool player. Lely won the 1999 World Pool Masters after defeating Efren Reyes 7–5, and reached the final in 2000 but lost to Ralf Souquet 7–3. He is a two-time European champion having won the nine-ball and eight-ball at the 2005 European Pool Championships.
Sandor Tot is a Serbian professional pool player. During the 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Championship he survived the group stages, the round of 64 and the round of 32, but was eliminated in the round of 16 by Li He-wen. This performance secured him a spot in the 2007 edition of the tournament. Tot plays for Slovenian club Biljard Klub Gomes.
David Alcaide Bermúdez is a Spanish pool player. He is a two-time winner of the World Pool Masters, winning the 2017 event, defeating Jayson Shaw 8–7 in the final, and again in 2019 defeating Alexander Kazakis 9–8. Alcaide is a three-time world championship semi-finalist having reached the stage at the WPA World 10-ball Championship, in 2009 and 2015, and the WPA World Eight-ball Championship in 2011.
Marcus Chamat, is a Swedish professional eight-ball and nine-ball pool player. He was nicknamed "Napoleon" due to his personality and standing at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) tall. He is a two time European Pool Championships winner, and one of the most successful players on the Euro Tour, winning four events, and finishing runner-up on twice. Chamat reached the semi-finals of the 2004 WPA World Nine-ball and the 2008 WPA World Eight-ball Championships, but did not reach the final of a world championship event.
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 2011 WPA World Eight-ball Championship was an eight-ball world championship, organized by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and held 19–26 February 2011 at the Fujairah Exhibition Centre of the Al Diar Siji Hotel in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. A total of 116 players from all of the WPA's six regions participated.
Fabio Petroni is an Italian pool player.
The WPA 9-Ball-World Championship 2015 was the 24th edition of the 9-Ball pool World Championships. It took place from September 7 to 18, 2015 in the al-Attiya Sports Arena of the Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha. The Qatari capital was the sixth time in a row the venue for the 9-Ball Championships.
The 2019 WPA World Ten-ball Championship was a professional pool tournament for the discipline of ten-ball, organised by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and CueSports International. It was the fifth WPA World Ten-ball Championship with the previous championship held in 2015. The event was originally scheduled to be held in the SM City Activity Center in General Santos, Philippines, but was later moved to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of a three-year deal for the event to be played in the United States. It was held concurrently with the Billiard Congress of America national ten-ball event from June 22 to 26, 2019. The event was sponsored by cue manufacturer Predator Group.
Joshua Filler is a German pool player from Bönen, Germany. In 2018 Filler defeated Carlo Biado 13–10 to win the 2018 WPA World Nine-ball Championship. The same year he was the youngest player to win the China Open and 2018 10-ball European Pool Championships. Filler became WPA and Euro Tour world number 1 in 2019, and later reached the final of the 2019 WPA World Ten-ball Championship before losing 10–7 to Ko Ping-chung.
Fedor Alekseyevich Gorst is a Russian professional pool player.
The 2011 European Pool Championships was a series of professional pool championships that took place at the Steel Palace, in Brandenburg, Germany. The events were played between 23 March and 3 April 2011 were part of the European Pool Championships; and featured events for men, women and wheelchair players across four pool disciplines: straight Pool, eight-ball, nine-ball, and ten-ball. The tournament was hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation and organised by the International Billiard Promotion, with the final of the men's nine-ball event broadcast on Eurosport. Austria was the most successful nation, winning three events – all by Jasmin Ouschan. Jouni Tähti won two of the three wheelchair events, losing just one match in the final of the nine-ball tournament to Henrik Larsson.
Michael Schmidt is a German professional pool player. After turning professional in 1991, he continually reached the knockout rounds of the WPA World Nine-ball Championships. He represented Germany at the 2002 World Pool Masters, where he reached the last 16 before losing to Marcus Chamat.
Han Yu is a Chinese professional pool player. She is a three time WPA World Nine-ball Championship women's champion, winning the event in 2013, 2016 and 2018. Han is also a semi-finalist in three further world championships, in 2017 in the 9-ball event, and 2011 and 2014 in 10-Ball.
Marharyta Aljakandrauna Fjafilawa is a Belarusian professional pool player from Minsk, Belarus. Fjafilawa has won a total of 26 Belarusian national women's championships, with an additional three national championships in mixed competitions against both men and women. She is the first player from Belarus to win a medal at the European Pool Championships, a bronze medal in the nine-ball competition in 2015. She also reached the final of the European Girls Championship in 2014, losing 3–6 to Diana Khodjaeva.
Kristina Olegovna Tkach is a Russian professional pool player. She became the 2017 WPA World Nine-ball Junior Championship winner, defeating Lee Woo-jin in the final 9–6. Tkach is a four time European champion having won the eight-ball event in 2016 and 2019, as well as Straight pool in 2017 and 2019. In addition, she is a nine-time Junior European Champion.
Nikolaos "Nick" Malai is an Albanian professional pool player. Malai is a former winner of an event on the Euro Tour, winning the 2012 North Cyprus Open.
Diana Khodjaeva is a Belgian pool player. Khodjaeva is a former junior WPA World Nine-ball Championship winner, having won the girls event in 2012. Khodjaeva represented Europe at the Atlantic Challenge Cup in 2017 against the United States team. Khodjaeva is a two time European champion.
