Matt Edwards (born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

) is a New Zealand player of

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * 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 roc ...

. Edwards is from

Kaiapoi Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimak ...

North Canterbury Canterbury () is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was estab ...

. He started playing Pool at the age of 12. He is considered New Zealand’s greatest ever pool player, being a record twenty times New Zealand pool champion. In 2019 he became the first ever New Zealander to be invited to play in the 24 player invitational

World Pool Masters The World Pool Masters is an annual international nine-ball tournament. Formerly, it was called the European Pool Masters (until 1995) until players from other parts of the globe were invited. History Throughout much of its history, the tournament ...

held in Gibraltar where he made it to the quarter-finals.

Career

Edwards made his

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

(WPA) debut in 2012 with the 2012 WPA World Nine-ball Championship the first New Zealander to qualify in the World Championship. At the event, Edwards defeated American

Shane Van Boening Shane Van Boening (; born July 14, 1983) is an American professional pool player from Rapid City, South Dakota. Van Boening is considered one of the best players of all time. Van Boening has won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and has won ...

9–7 after trailing 1–5. He lost in the last-32 to the eventual winner

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

11–10. In 2016, Edwards competed in the All Japan Championship where he defeated Chang Jung-lin 9–7 who was the WPA world number one at the time. He finished the event in ninth place. Edwards was the first New Zealander to play in the

2017 World Games The 2017 World Games (), also known as Wrocław 2017, was the tenth edition of the World Games, held from 20 to 30 July 2017 in Wrocław, Poland. The World Games were organized by the Wrocław Organizing Committee. Wrocław was selected as the h ...

. At the championship, held in Poland, he defeated Russia's

Ruslan Chinakhov Ruslan Yuryevich Chinakhov (; born 25 January 1992) is a Russian professional primarily nine-ball pool (billiards), pool player. Ruslan was the WPA World Nine-ball Championship, world nine-ball Juniors champion in 2009. Chinakhov has won several ...

11–10 in the last-16. He finished 5th place losing to

Jayson Shaw Jayson Shaw (born 13 September 1988) is a Scottish professional pool player. In 2010, Shaw was a WPA World Blackball Champion. Shaw has won the Mosconi Cup seven times whilst representing Team Europe. Career In 2016, Shaw won the 25th Interna ...

in the quarter finals 5–11. In 2019 Edwards was selected to play in the 2019 World Pool Masters. In the first session Edwards defeated Chris Melling 7–3, the two players had never met in competition prior to this. In the second session Edwards defeated the

European Pool Championships European Pool Championship (also called Dynamic European Championships) is a Pool (cue sports), pool competition organized by the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF). The tournament is held annually since 1980. It should not be confused with ...

nine-ball winner Konrad Juszczyszyn 7–6. The match saw the players share the first six racks, at 3–3, before Juszczysyn took three racks to lead 6–3. Edwards then took the remaining four racks to win the match. He finished fifth place losing to

Alexander Kazakis Alexander Kazakis (Born July 16, 1991) is a Greek professional pool player. Kazakis is a former European 10-ball champion, and regular 9-ball player. In 2018, he was the number one ranked player by the World Pool-Billiard Association. Career In ...

in the quarter-finals.

Controversy

Matthew Edwards was suspected of dishonesty charges in October 2022. Edwards always claimed he was innocent of any wrongdoings. In April 2023 all charges were dropped.

Titles and Accomplishments

* 2023 Oceania 9-Ball Championship * 2021 New Zealand Pool Championship Nine-ball * 2021 New Zealand Pool Championship Ten-ball * 2020 New Zealand Pool Championship Nine-ball * 2020 New Zealand Pool Championship Eight-ball * 2019 New Zealand Pool Championship Ten-ball * 2019 New Zealand Pool Championship Nine-ball * 2019 New Zealand Pool Championship Eight-ball * 2018 New Zealand Pool Championship Ten-ball * 2017 New Zealand Pool Championship Nine-ball * 2017 New Zealand Pool Championship Ten-ball * 2016 New Zealand Pool Championship Eight-ball * 2016 New Zealand Pool Championship Nine-ball * 2015 New Zealand Pool Championship Eight-ball * 2015 New Zealand Pool Championship Nine-ball * 2014 New Zealand Pool Championship Ten-ball

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Matt New Zealand pool players Sportspeople from Auckland 1980s births Living people