The World Cup of Pool was an annual international single-elimination tournament for doubles teams in nine-ball pool competition. The Philippines holds the record for World Cup wins, winning the title on four occasions. In 2023, they also became the first unseeded country to win the tournament.
History The tournament is held annually, at various locations, and was first held in 2006 in Newport, Wales. The tournament was hosted by Matchroom Pool but they have remained silent on why they have not produced the event since 2023.
Format There are usually 32 participating teams, representing 31 nations (the host nation is represented by two teams, A and B) composed of two players each. The participating nations do not have to go through a qualifying tournament in order to join, as they are selected by the organizers. Sixteen teams are seeded; they will face the unseeded teams at the first round.
The individual matches are with alternating , which are to seven racks for Round 1 and 2, nine racks for the quarterfinals and semifinals, and eleven for the final. The rules used are World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World Standardized Rules for nine-ball, modified for scotch doubles play (players on a team alternate shots; no one shoots twice in a row, unless being asked to play again after pushing out).
Results YearHostFinalSemi-finalistsWinnerScoreRunner-up2006 Details (Newport) Philippines (Reyes / Bustamante)13–5 United States(Strickland / Morris)Germany(Engert / Ortmann)Vietnam(Nguyen / Luong)2007 Details (Rotterdam)China(Li / Fu)11–10Finland(Immonen / Juva)Japan(Kawabata / Oi)Canada(Martel / Montal)2008 Details (Rotterdam)United States(Morris / Van Boening)11–7England(Peach / Gray)Philippines(Bustamante / Orcollo)China(Li / Fu)2009 Details (Quezon City)Philippines(Reyes / Bustamante)11–9Germany(Souquet / Hohmann)China(Li / Fu)Philippines(Alcano / Orcollo)2010 Details (Manila)China(Li / Fu)10–5Philippines(Orcollo / Gomez)Germany(Souquet / Ortmann)Chinese Taipei(Pin-yi / Jung-lin)2011 Details (Quezon City)Germany(Souquet / Hohmann)10–4Thailand(Kanjanasri / Palajin)Korea(Lee / Hwang)Chinese Taipei(Pin-yi / Ping-chung)2012 Details (Manila)Finland(Immonen / Makkonen)10–8Poland(Skowerski / Szewczyk)United States(Van Boening / Morris)Chinese Taipei(Hsu / Chen)2013 Details (London)Philippines(Orcollo / Corteza)10–8Netherlands(Feijen / van den Berg)Finland(Immonen / Makkonen)Chinese Taipei(Pin-yi / Jung-lin)2014 Details (Portsmouth)England(Appleton / Boyes)10–9Netherlands(Feijen / van den Berg)Finland(Immonen / Makkonen)Austria(Ouschan / He)2015 Details (London)Chinese Taipei(Ko / Chang)10–8England(Gray / Peach)Japan(Oi / Kuribayashi)England(Appleton / Boyes)2017 Details (London)Austria(He / Ouschan)10–6United States(Van Boening / Woodward)China(Wu / Dang)Chinese Taipei(Ko / Chang)2018 Details (Shanghai)China(Wu / Liu)10–3Austria(He / Ouschan)Chinese Taipei(Jung-lin / Yu-hsuan)China (Kong / Wang)2019 Details (Leicester)Austria(He / Ouschan)11–3Philippines(Biado / de Luna)Netherlands(Bijsterbosch / Feijen)Spain(Alcaide / Sánchez Ruíz)2021 Details (Milton Keynes)Germany(Filler / Reintjes)11–7Great Britain(Appleton / Boyes)Estonia(Grabe / Magi)Slovakia(Koniar / Polách)2022 Details (Brentwood)Spain(Alcaide / Sánchez Ruíz)11–6Singapore(Yapp / Toh)Chinese Taipei(Ko / Ko)United States(Van Boening / Woodward)2023 Details (Lugo)Philippines(Aranas / Chua)11–7Germany(Filler / Neuhausen)Austria(He / Ouschan)China(Wu / Wang)
Statistics
Performances by nation # Country Winners Runners-up Semi-finalists Top 41 4 (2006, 2009, 2013, 2023) 2 (2010, 2019) 2 (2008, 2009) 82 3 (2007, 2010, 2018) — 5 (2008, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2023) 83 2 (2011, 2021) 2 (2009, 2023) 2 (2006, 2010) 64 2 (2017, 2019) 1 (2018) 2 (2014, 2023) 55 1 (2014) 3 (2008, 2015, 2021) 1 (2015) 56 1 (2008) 2 (2006, 2017) 2 (2012, 2022) 57 1 (2012) 1 (2007) 2 (2013, 2014) 48 1 (2015) — 7 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2022) 89 Spain1 (2022)—1 (2019)210 — 2 (2013, 2014) 1 (2019) 311 — 1 (2011) — 1 — 1 (2012) — 1 — 1 (2022) — 112 — — 2 (2007, 2015) 213 — — 1 (2006) 1 — — 1 (2007) 1 Korea — — 1 (2011) 1 Estonia — — 1 (2021) 1 Slovakia — — 1 (2021) 1 Total 16 16 32 64
- Results include England from 2006 to 2018.
Performance by Continent # Continent Winners Runners-up Semi-finalists Total1 Asia 8 4 18 302 Europe 7 10 11 283 North America 1 2 3 64 South America - - - -5 Africa - - - -6 Oceania - - - -
References
External links World Cup of Pool – Official site WPA Pool Calendar AzBilliards.com