# WPA World Ten-ball Championship

The WPA World Ten-ball Championship is a professional ten-ball pool tournament sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). The event was first held in 2008 in the Philippines, followed by playings there in 2009 and 2011. After not being contested for several years, it was resurrected in 2015 by boxer Manny Pacquiao, who successfully campaigned to the WPA for the championship to be moved from Metro Manila to General Santos. An event was announced in June 2018, but was postponed until relocating to the Las Vegas Valley in 2019. The scheduled 2020 championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent playings have been held in the fall of 2021 and the spring of 2022.

## History

In 2008 the World Ten-ball Championship was held, with prizes totaling US$400,000 (₱18,860,000), was held at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, September 29 through October 5, 2008. There were 128 players competing, representing 44 countries. Vice-President of the Philippines Noli de Castro made the ceremonial opening break shot, witnessed by officials of the WPA, International Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines, and tournament organizer Raya Sports.
In the final, England's Darren Appleton defeated Nineteen-year-old Wu Jia-qing, who was using a borrowed cue stick, winning $100,000. Appleton was also quoted as saying: "Pool is an easy choice for me as a sport as I have to choose among boxing, football and pool among others. But this victory is sweeter for me and I have to dedicate this to my parents, whose relationship is in the rocks. With the $100,000 grand prize, first, I have to give some to my parents, because we had a difficult way of living."
WPA president Ian Anderson would later announce: "This early, there's a strong clamor for the WTBC and it will definitely be back next year in Manila. It will be staged October of next year and there's also the Philippine Open to be held June 2009. I think Manila is the best place to go in hosting pool and it is living up to its billing as the pool Mecca in Asia." The event would later take place in 2009, being won by Finn Mika Immonen, and then again in 2011 by Dutchman Huidji See. A later event was reimagined by boxer Manny Pacquiao in 2015, with the event being won by Taipei's Ko Pin-yi.
On July 30, 2018, the WPA announced the return of the World Ten-ball Championship. The event was set to take place in the Philippines, but was later postponed. Taipei's Ko Ping-chung won the 2019 event, which took place in Las Vegas. The 2020 edition of the championship was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 edition was won by Albanian Eklent Kaçi, and the 2022 edition was won by Pole Wojciech Szewczyk.

## Winners

The following is a list of Men's WPA World Ten-Ball Champions.
| Year | Host | Final | Final | Final | Semifinalists | Semifinalists |
| Year | Host | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Semifinalists | Semifinalists |
| 2008 | Philippines | Darren Appleton | 13–11 | Wu Jiaqing | Demosthenes Pulpul | Niels Feijen |
| 2009 | Philippines | Mika Immonen | 11–6 | Lee Vann Corteza | Antonio Lining | David Alcaide |
| 2011 | Philippines | Huidji See | 11–8 | Fu Jianbo | Carlo Biado | Yukio Akakariyama |
| 2015 | Philippines | Ko Pin-yi | 11–9 | Carlo Biado | Ko Ping-chung | David Alcaide |
| 2019 | United States | Ko Ping-chung | 10–7 | Joshua Filler | Ko Pin-yi | Masato Yoshioka |
| 2021 | United States | Eklent Kaçi | 10–6 | Naoyuki Ōi | Johann Chua | Aloysius Yapp |
| 2022 | United States | Wojciech Szewczyk | 10–8 | Christopher Tévez | Eklent Kaçi | Jayson Shaw |
| 2023 | United States | Eklent Kaçi | 10–7 | Francisco Sánchez Ruíz | Fedor Gorst | Joshua Filler |
| 2024 | United States | Carlo Biado | 3–1 | Naoyuki Ōi | Denis Grabe | Fedor Gorst |

### Top performers

| Name | Nationality | Winner | Runner-up | Semi-final or better |
| Eklent Kaçi | Albania | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Carlo Biado | Philippines | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Ko Ping-chung | Chinese Taipei | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Ko Pin-yi | Chinese Taipei | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Darren Appleton | England | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Huidji See | Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mika Immonen | Finland | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wojciech Szewczyk | Poland | 1 | 0 | 1 |
* Active participants are shown in bold.
* In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by first name.

## Women

The following is a list of Women's WPA World Ten-Ball Champions.
| Year | Host | Final | Final | Semifinalists | Semifinalists |
| Year | Host | Winner | Runner-up | Semifinalists | Semifinalists |
| 2009 | Philippines | Rubilen Amit | Liu Hsin-mei | Akimi Kajitani | Jasmin Ouschan |
| 2010 | Philippines | Jasmin Ouschan | Kim Ga-young | Kelly Fisher | Rubilen Amit |
| 2011 | Philippines | Kelly Fisher | Tsai Pei-Chen | Kim Ga-young | Han Yu |
| 2012 | Philippines | Kim Ga-young | Chen Siming | Fu Xiaofang | Cha Yu-ram |
| 2013 | Philippines | Rubilen Amit | Kelly Fisher | Han Yu | Tsai Pei-Chen |
| 2022 | Austria | Chou Chieh-yu | Wei Tzu-chien | Jasmin Ouschan | Kelly Fisher |
| 2023 | Austria | Chezka Centeno | Han Yu | Allison Fisher | Kelly Fisher |
| 2024 | Puerto Rico | Kristina Tkach | Seo Seoa | Chezka Centeno | Jasmin Ouschan |

## Mixed teams

The following is a list of Men's & Women's WPA World Mixed Teams Ten-Ball Champions.
| Year | Host | Final | Final | Semifinalists | Semifinalists |
| Year | Host | Winners | Runner-up | Semifinalists | Semifinalists |
| 2022 | Austria | Rubilen Amit Carlo Biado Johann Chua | Kelly Fisher Jayson Shaw Darren Appleton | Pia Filler Joshua Filler Thorsten Hohmann | Chou Chieh-yu Wu Kun-lin Chang Jung-lin |
| 2023 | San Juan | Pia Filler Joshua Filler Moritz Neuhausen | Chou Chieh-yu Chang Jung-lin Wu Kun-lin | Jasmin Ouschan Albin Ouschan Mario He | Sara Rocha João Grilo Miguel Silva |