Thorsten Hohmann
Thorsten Hohmann (born 14 July 1979 in Fulda, West Germany) is a German professional pool player, nicknamed "the Hitman." He is a three-time world champion, winning the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 2003, and 2013, and World Straight pool champion, winning in 2006 (2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018 not sanctioned by the WPA) Career. Early life. Thorsten was born and raised in Fulda, 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 of Hessia. Europe-based career. In 2003 Hohmann reached the finals of the World Pool League but lost to Rodney Morris, 8–3. Later in 2003, Thorsten would win the 2003 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, defeating previous champion Earl Strickland in the semi-final, before defeating Alex Pagulayan in the final 17–10. He became the third German  to become World Champion after Oliver Ortmann (1995) and Ralf Souquet (1996). US-based career. In 2004, Hohmann signed on to be managed by US- and South Korea-based event promotions company Dragon Promotions, who transplanted the German-resident champion to Jacksonville, 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. In 2004, Hohmann reached the finals of  the US Open Nine-ball Championship. However, he lost to Gabe Owen, 3–11. The year 2005 was his most successful to date as he dominated a number of tournaments, including the BCA Open Nine-ball Championship, the Sudden Death Seven-ball event and the World Pool League. In 2006, he won the inaugural World Straight Pool Championship by defeating Thomas Engert 200–80. Later, he defeated Marlon Manalo 8–7 to win the IPT North American Open Eight-ball Championship with a first prize of US$350K. 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 2006 IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship, the second major IPT event.