TheWPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual professionalnine-ball pool tournament contested since 1990. The championship is sanctioned by theWorld Pool Association (WPA) and principally sponsored and organized byMatchroom Sport, who promote the event as theWorld Pool Championship. The championship has men's, women's, youth and wheelchair divisions.
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In the summer of 1989, theWorld Pool-Billiard Association (now the World Pool Association or WPA) began plans for a world championship tournament. They created a provisional Board to oversee the creation of a tournament.[1] The event was one of the first time the world's topnine-ball players met in a competition.[2] The inaugural WPA World Nine-ball Championship was held inBergheim, Germany. A men's event contested between 32 players was won byEarl Strickland and a 16-player women's event won byRobin Bell.[3] A junior's event was first played in 1992, won byHsia Hui-kai and a wheelchair event was created in 1999 first won byBob Calderon.[4] The event was organised solely by the WPA from this inauguration through 1999.[5]
In July 1999,Matchroom Sport attempted to get involved with the organisation of the event, but their bid failed. The 1999 event was played inAlicante,Spain, and won byNick Varner. Broadcast onESPN, it was the first pro nine-ball championship to be televised.[2] Matchroom Sport, meanwhile, instead organised a new tournament called the "World Professional Pool Championship", a competing event inCardiff, Wales, which was won byEfren Reyes and broadcast onSky Sports.[6] With the World Professional Pool Championship being successful, the WPA and Matchroom agreed to merge their two tournaments, with both 1999 events being considered as official world championships.[7][8] Matchroom continued to promote and organise the event until 2007 when it was not held after they were unable to fund it due to the2008 financial crisis.[2][5]
For the 2001 event, the number of competitors in the men's division was increased to 128 and a men's division first prize raised to $65,000 from $17,500.[5][9] The event stayed in Wales until2003.[2] The prize money continued to increase. The2004 and2005 events were held inTaiwan, with a men's division first prize of $75,000.[5] Thepockets on the tables were narrowed, to make the game more difficult.[10] The tournament moved to the Philippines in2006 and2007. the event ran from November 3–11, andDaryl Peach of theEngland was the victor.[11]
After a two-year hiatus, the tournament returned being organised by the WPA as the2010 WPA World Nine-ball Championship inDoha,Qatar.[12] The event was then held annually in Doha through 2019.[13] Prize money had reduced, with the winner's prize being $36,000, only rising to $40,000 by2018.[14][15] After not being contested in 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the championship resumed in 2021 inMilton Keynes, England. The 2022 edition was April 6–10 in Milton Keynes.[16]
Earl Strickland holds the record for winning the WPA World Nine-ball Championship the most times with three. (1990, 1991, 2002).
Earl Strickland holds the record for the most consecutive wins with two. (1990, 1991).
Albin Ouschan holds the record for the most final appearances with four. (2014, 2016, 2021, 2022).
The oldest pool player to ever win the tournament to date isNick Varner of theUnited States, at 51 years old at the time of his victory, The youngest isWu Jia-qing ofChinese Taipei, aged 16 years old at the time of his victory.
2025 WPA World Nine-ball Championship
Carlo Biado
