| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nickname | The Hitman | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1979-07-14)14 July 1979 (age 46) Fulda, Hesse,West Germany | ||||||||||||||
| Pool career | |||||||||||||||
| Country | |||||||||||||||
| Tournament wins | |||||||||||||||
| World Champion | Nine-ball (2003,2013), Straight pool (2006) | ||||||||||||||
| Highest rank | 1 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Thorsten Hohmann (born 14 July 1979) is aGerman professionalpool player, nicknamed "the Hitman." He is a three-time world champion, winning theWPA World Nine-ball Championship in 2003, and 2013, and winning theWPA World Straight Pool Championship in 2006.[1]
Thorsten was born and raised inFulda, Germany and at a very young age had always been interested in sports, playing football, table tennis and badminton. At the age of nine Thorsten's father took him to a local pool hall. On his 10th birthday Thorsten received a miniature pool table. By age twelve Thorsten and a friend began playing pool at a local pool hall. By age 16 he had won his first open adult tournament, of 128 players in the state ofHessia.[2]
In 2003 Hohmann reached the finals of theWorld Pool League but lost toRodney Morris, 8–3.[3] Later in 2003, Thorsten would win the2003 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, defeating previous championEarl Strickland in the semi-final, before defeatingAlex Pagulayan in the final 17–10.[4] He became the third German to become World Champion afterOliver Ortmann (1995) andRalf Souquet (1996).
In 2004, Hohmann signed on to be managed byUS- andSouth Korea-based event promotions companyDragon Promotions, who transplanted the German-resident champion toJacksonville, Florida, as a base of practice and preparation for US competitions. Hohmann then signed with Florida-based sponsors Lucasi Cues and Universal Smartshaft as their official representative and spokesperson. He remains a German citizen, but a US permanent resident. Thorsten has since been featured on the cover of many pool magazines.[clarification needed]
In 2004, Hohmann reached the finals of theUS Open Nine-ball Championship. However, he lost toGabe Owen, 3–11.
The year 2005 was his most successful to date as he dominated a number of tournaments, including theBCA Open Nine-ball Championship, the Sudden Death Seven-ball event[5] and theWorld Pool League.[6]
In 2006, he won the inauguralWorld Straight Pool Championship[7] by defeatingThomas Engert 200–80. Later, he defeatedMarlon Manalo 8–7 to win theIPT North American Open Eight-ball Championship with a first prize ofUS$350K.[8] The IPT prize set a record as the largest first prize ever won in a pool tournament at that time. However,Efren Reyes beat the record shortly afterwards by winning $500,000 in the 2006IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship, the second major IPT event.