The WPA World Ten-ball Championship is a professional

ten-ball Ten-ball is a rotation pool game similar to nine-ball, but using ten balls instead of nine, and with the 10 ball instead of the 9 as the "" Although the game has existed for since the early 1960s, its popularity has risen since the early 2000s ...

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

tournament sanctioned by the

World Pool-Billiard Association The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) is the international governing body for pool (pocket billiards). It was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Australia, Americas ...

(WPA). The event was first held in 2008 in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, followed by playings there in 2009 and 2011. After not being contested for several years, it was resurrected in 2015 by boxer

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Phil ...

, who successfully campaigned to the WPA for the championship to be moved from

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

to General Santos. An event was announced in June 2018, but was postponed until relocating to the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area i ...

in 2019. The scheduled 2020 championship was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. 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 The Philippine International Convention Center ( fil, Sentrong Pangkumbensyong Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas, or PICC) is a convention center located in the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. The facility ha ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, September 29 through October 5, 2008. There were 128 players competing, representing 44 countries.

Vice-President of the Philippines The vice president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangalawang Pangulo ng Pilipinas, also referred to as ''Bise Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the second-highest official in the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the first in the p ...

Noli de Castro Manuel Leuterio de Castro Jr. (; born July 6, 1949), professionally known as Noli de Castro, is a Filipino journalist, news anchor and politician who served as the 12th vice president of the Philippines from 2004 until 2010, under President ...

made the ceremonial opening break shot, witnessed by officials of the WPA,

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Philippine Sports Commission The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC, ) is an agency of the Philippine government which tackles matters concerning sports in the country. The sports agency is independent from the Philippine Olympic Committee which enjoys autonomy from the go ...

Philippine Olympic Committee The Philippine Olympic Committee Inc. (POC) is the National Olympic Committee of the Philippines. The POC is a private, non-governmental organization composed of and serve as the mother organization of all National Sports Associations (NSAs) i ...

, Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines, and tournament organizer Raya Sports.''ABS-CBNNews.com'', "World Ten Ball Kicks Off in Manila; 128 in Main Draw"
/ref> In the final, England's

Darren Appleton Darren Appleton (born 8 February 1976) is an English pool player, best known for playing Eight-ball, Nine-ball and Ten-ball pool.

defeated Nineteen-year-old

Wu Jia-qing Wu Jiaqing (; born February 9, 1989) is a Taiwanese-born Chinese professional pool player. He is nicknamed the ''Taishan Shentong'' ("Little Genius from Taishan"). Since 2011, Wu switched from representing Chinese Taipei to representing the co ...

, who was using a borrowed

cue stick A cue stick (or simply cue, more specifically billiards cue, pool cue, or snooker cue) is an item of sporting equipment essential to the games of pool, snooker and carom billiards. It is used to strike a ball, usually the . Cues are tapered sti ...

, 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 Mika Immonen (born 17 December 1972) is a Finnish professional Hall of Fame pool player, nicknamed "The Iceman." Career Immonen won the 2001 WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deu ...

, and then again in 2011 by Dutchman

Huidji See Huidji See (born 30 May 1981 in Arnhem, Netherlands, also known as Huidji Lake) is a Dutch pool and billiards player. He was the 2011 WPA World 10-Ball Pool Champion. Career Early life See was born in 1981 in the Netherlands, the son of Chinese ...

. A later event was reimagined by boxer

in 2015, with the event being won by Taipei's

Ko Pin-yi Ko Pin-yi (born 31 May 1989) is a Taiwanese professional pool player. He became multiple World Champion in the disciplines of 9-ball and 10-ball in 2015. Career Ko defeated Carlo Biado in the final of the 2015 WPA World Ten-ball Championship. ...

. 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 Ko Ping-chung (also Ko Pin-chung , born 18 September 1995) is a Taiwanese 9-ball pool player. Ko is the younger brother of Ko Pin-yi. Career In November 2010, Ko Ping-chung reached his first major final the All Japan Championship. However, he l ...

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 Wojciech Szewczyk (Born 1 September 1994) is a Polish professional pool player. Szewczyk is a two time junior European Pool Championship winner, winning the 8-ball event in 2010, defeating Finn Eschment in the final, and the 9-ball event in 2 ...

Winners

Men

The following is a list of WPA World Ten-Ball Champions.

Top performers

* 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 WPA World Ten-Ball Champions.

Broadcasting Rights

* TSN -

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and

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* Univision Deportes -

* Televisa Deportes -

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* Univision Deportes -

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* Caracol Sports - Colombia * TVes -

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TV Peru Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

* Television Boliviana - Bolivia * RPC -

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* Cubavision -

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and Television Publica -

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* Television Nacional de Chile -

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* Match TV -

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and CIS *

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and

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* SPOTV Asia -

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* Premier Sports Networks -

References

{{Cue sports nav World championships in pool Recurring sporting events established in 2008