World Cup of Pool

The World Cup of Pool took place in Newport, Wales for the first time in August of 2006, as Matchroom Sport devised an exciting instant knock-out format to pit nation against nation in a major international pool event.

Over six days, each two-man team first did battle in race-to-9 matches and then in race-to-11 games as the event progressed.

All games were played to a 'scotch doubles' format where the players take alternate shots. This makes teamwork essential as each player attempts to read his partner's game over the course of the match.

The major pool-playing nations such as Taiwan, the USA, Philippines and Germany were all seeded and the lesser lights attempted to upset the apple cart in pursuit of the lion’s share of the $250,000 prize fund.

In the end, the mastery of Team Philippines, made up of legends Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, took the title against America's Rodney Morris and Earl Strickland in front of a record crowd of over 900 people.

In 2007 and 2008 the tournament moved to Outland, a futuristic nightclub in Rotterdam, and once again all of pool's big guns were in attendance.

Perhaps signalling the future of pool, the Chinese pair of Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo took the glory, completing a momentous 11-10 victory over Finland in one of the most exciting finals of recent times.

Having come second in 2006, Team USA made amends in 2008 as Rodney Morris, this time partnered by talented youngster Shane Van Boening, scored an 11-7 victory in the final over a strong English team consisting of 2007 World Pool Champion Daryl Peach and European No.1 Mark Gray.