TheWorld Straight Pool Championship is a top-level competition forstraight pool, also known as "14.1 continuous".
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 ofNine-ball surpassed straight pool as the most prominent game for professional players. Other straight pool tournaments which are still held annually such as theAmerican 14.1 Straight Pool Championship and theEuropean 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 theUnited States.[2] The World Straight Pool Championship was sanctioned by theWorld Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010.[3] The tournament continued unsanctioned from 2011 to 2019.
Ralph Greenleaf andWillie Mosconi are the most successful players having both won the tournament on 19 occasions. The oldest player to win the tournament isIrving Crane at 59 years old at the time of his victory. The youngest player to win the tournament isRalph Greenleaf at 20 years old at the time of his first victory.[citation needed]
In the most recent format of the tournament, all 64 players are divided into 8 groups where they play inround-robin format. Eachmatch in this round is arace 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 indouble-elimination format until 16 players remain. Matches are extended to races to 150 points.[4]
The games in the last-16 round are played insingle-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]
In 2009,Dragon Promotions created the Dragon 14.1 Tournament, later known as the World 14.1 Tournament.
| Year | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 |  Stephan Cohen |  Mika Immonen |
| 2011 |  Thorsten Hohmann |  Mike Davis |
| 2012 | John Schmidt |  Efren Reyes |
| 2013 | Thorsten Hohmann (2) |  Darren Appleton |
| 2014 | Darren Appleton | Shane Van Boening |
| 2015 | Thorsten Hohmann (3) | Darren Appleton |
| 2016 | Mika Immonen | Earl Strickland |
| 2017 | Lee Vann Corteza | Thorsten Hohmann |
| 2018 | Thorsten Hohmann (4) | Tony Robles |
| 2019 | Shane Van Boening | Corey Deuel |
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