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Ko Becomes Pool’s Hardcore Man

Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi wins his first World 9-ball Championship with a gritty 13-11 win over the USA’s Shane Van Boening Final Day Report from the 2015 World 9-ball Championship by Ted Lerner – WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy Richard Walker & WPA (Doha, Qatar)–Showing why he is not only one of pool’s most talented performers, but perhaps its most hardcore player as well, Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi captured his first World 9-ball Championship tonight in Doha, trading blows with the USA’s Shane Van Boening for two and a half hours before pulling away in crunch time to win 13-11. Both players put in gritty, high quality performances, with brilliant shot making under pressure, coupled with just a handful of errors from both superstars. The outcome was in doubt right down to the dramatic end, but it was Ko who seemed to will himself over the finish line for the historic win. The win is the 26 year old Ko’s second world championship this year, after capturing the 10-ball world title in the Philippines back […]

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A Four Way Showdown For Pool History

Ko Ping Chung, Ko Pin Yi, Shane Van Boening and Wu Jia Qing reach the final four at the 2015 World 9-ball Championship Day 6 Report from the 2015 World 9-ball Championship by Ted Lerner – WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy Richard Walker & WPA (Doha, Qatar)–If you like your pool served up on a golden platter, with the very best in the sport battling it out for the ultimate prize, count yourself lucky because the 2015 World 9-ball Championship just delivered the goods. With literally everything riding on the line at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha, four of the sport’s premiere players braved a marathon day of pool, fought their way through a minefield, and emerged into a final four on Friday that is about as rock solid as it gets in pool. In one semi-final Ko Pin Yi of Taiwan will take on former World 9-ball champion Wu Jia Qing of China. In the other semi-final, Ko’s younger brother Ping Chung will match wits with the USA’s Shane Van Boening. Both […]

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Pool’s Best Get Ready To Run The Gauntlet

With the field at the 2015 World 9-ball Championship now down to the final 32, it’s clear that the sprint to the finish line is anyone’s game. Day 5 Report from the 2015 World 9-ball Championship by Ted Lerner – WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy Richard Walker & WPA (Doha, Qatar)— So you want to be the champion of the world? Well good because now comes the hard part. After a day of weeding out the pretenders from the contenders at the Al Arabi Sports Club, and with the field having been halved from 64 to 32 players, the 2015 World 9-ball Championship is now headed for what will surely be a dramatic climax over the next two days. Thursday promises to offer up enough drama, nerves and memorable pool to last many years as anyone who has designs on 9-ball’s biggest prize will be put through the meat grinder, with the field being whittled down to just four players at the end of the day’s play. The group of 32 remaining players offers pool […]

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It’s Knockouts For The New Guys

Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Al Amar leads a crop of surprising players who have booked their spots in the Final 64 of the World 9-ball Championship Day 3 Report from the 2015 World 9-ball Championship by Ted Lerner – WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy Richard Walker & WPA (Doha, Qatar)–If the results of Day 3 at the 2015 World 9-ball Championship are any indication, change in the sport of pool is most definitely in the air. Today’s three sessions were given over to all winners’ side matches in the 16 groups with 32 spots available in the coveted single elimination round of 64, which begins on Wednesday. Losers in Monday’s matches knew they’d be given another chance to advance on Tuesday so the brutal pressure of judgement day, where every match is do-or-die, wasn’t quite as bad. Still, five former World 9-ball champions and the current defending champion all had chances to advance today. All lost and will have to come back again for one final go on Tuesday. It was an excellent day for the […]

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From Singapore, With Serious Talent

Singapore’s Aloisius Yapp arrives on pool’s biggest stage with a dominating win over England’s Darren Appleton on day 2 at the World 9-ball Championship Day 2 Report from the 2015 World 9-ball Championship by Ted Lerner – WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy Richard Walker (Doha, Qatar)— Each year at the World 9-ball Championship seems to bring pool fans a revelation, a new talent who makes his mark on the scene with such aplomb and style that you just know that big time success is surely in this young man’s future. This year in Doha it only took until the beginning of day 2 for one such player to arrive. Singapore’s 19 year old Aloisius Yapp has been on the international scene for about a handful of years, but was never really noted for much more than an interesting sounding name. Then late in 2014 the teenager pulled off his biggest success to date; capturing the WPA World Junior 9-ball Championship in Shanghai. Still, while winning the junior world title is quite the accomplishment, it’s a […]

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Hohmann raises the bar!

GERMANY’S THORSTEN HOHMANN WINS HIS SECOND WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A SEARING 13-7 VICTORY OVER THE PHILIPPINES ANTONIO GABICA BY TED LERNER WPA PRESS OFFICER Photos courtesy Vinod DivaKaran, Doha Stadium Sports Weekly and Richard Walker (Doha, Qatar)–Playing with a laser-like focus and an intensity that spoke of a clear desire for pool immortality, Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann capped an incredible week with yet another a searing performance,  and won the 2013 World 9-ball Championship, beating the Philippines Antonio Gabica, 13-7, in front of nearly 1000 highly partisan Filipino fans at Doha’s Al Arabi Sports Club. With the victory Hohmann now becomes only the second man to win the WPA World 9-ball Championship two times, matching American Earl Strickland, who won pool’s most prestigious crown in 1991 and 2002. Hohmann will now also take over as the World Number 1 ranked player. Hohmann’s second World 9-ball Championship comes exactly ten years after he burst on to the international scene with a powerful run through a stacked  field in Cardiff, Wales in 2003.  In the intervening years […]