International Challenge of Champions

Template:Short description The International Challenge of Champions is an annual nine-ball pool tournament held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has always been broadcast on ESPN and is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association.

As of 2009, four invited notable players compete in this single-elimination event. Different from other pool tournaments, this is a winner-take-all event: The winner earns the entire purse of the division (men's or women's); in 2009, the men's-division pot was US$25,000. Winners of either division earn the title "Champion of Champions".

Format

Promoters describe the geared-for-television event as "international champions ... battling in short, sudden-death shootouts with pressure-cooker formats".

Each match is compose of two sets; each of them is race to 5 and in alternate break. Players lag to determine who shall break in the first set. The player who loses that set will break in the second.

A 30-second shot clock rule is used. This means a player must make a shot within 30 seconds lest the other player will receive ball-in-hand. Each player, however, can call for an extension but only once per rack.

Unlike other 9-ball tournaments, a player must call the 9-ball before pocketing it. Failing to call the shot or the 9-ball going in another pocket other than the one called will result the 9-ball being respotted and the player loses his turn at the table. Also, a player can't win a rack by pocketing the 9-ball in the break.

To win a match, a player has to win both sets. If the sets are split (one player winning the first but other player winning the next), players again lag to break at the one rack decider.

Winners

Men

Year	Winner	Runner-up
1991	Template:Flagicon Mike Lebron	Template:Flagicon Buddy Hall
1992	Template:Flagicon Buddy Hall	Template:Flagicon Johnny Archer
1993	Template:Flagicon Allen Hopkins	Template:Flagicon Jim Rempe
1994	Template:Flagicon Nick Varner	Template:Flagicon Tony Ellin
1995	Template:Flagicon Chao Fong-pang	Template:Flagicon Takeshi Okumura
1996	Template:Flagicon Ralf Souquet	Template:Flagicon Earl Strickland
1997	Template:Flagicon Oliver Ortmann	Template:Flagicon Chao Fong-pang
1998	Template:Flagicon Lee Kun-fang	Template:Flagicon Kunihiko Takahashi
1999	Template:Flagicon Francisco Bustamante	Template:Flagicon Oliver Ortmann
2000	Template:Flagicon Oliver Ortmann (2)	Template:Flagicon Francisco Bustamante
2001	Template:Flagicon Chao Fong-pang (2)	Template:Flagicon Francisco Bustamante
2002	Template:Flagicon Efren Reyes	Template:Flagicon Mika Immonen
2003	Template:Flagicon Francisco Bustamante (2)	Template:Flagicon John Horsfall
2004	Template:Flagicon Thomas Engert	Template:Flagicon Thorsten Hohmann
2005	Template:Flagicon Chao Fong-pang (3)	Template:Flagicon Thomas Engert
2006	Template:Flagicon Johnny Archer	Template:Flagicon Thorsten Hohmann
2007	Template:Flagicon Niels Feijen	Template:Flagicon Lee Van Corteza
2008	Template:Flagicon Fu Jianbo	Template:Flagicon Dennis Orcollo
2009	Template:Flagicon Mika Immonen	Template:Flagicon Darren Appleton
2010	Template:Flagicon Mika Immonen (2)	Template:Flagicon Francisco Bustamante
2011	Template:Flagicon Darren Appleton	Template:Flagicon Huidji See
2012	Template:Flagicon Darren Appleton (2)	Template:Flagicon Shane Van Boening
2014	Template:Flagicon Thorsten Hohmann	Template:Flagicon Darren Appleton
2015	Template:Flagicon Shane Van Boening	Template:Flagicon Niels Feijen
2016	Template:Flagicon Jayson Shaw	Template:Flagicon Shane Van Boening

Top performers

Name	Nationality	Winner	Runner-up	Finals
Chao Fong-pang		3	1	4
Francisco Bustamante		2	3	5
Darren Appleton			2	4
Mika Immonen			1	3
Oliver Ortmann
Shane Van Boening		1	2
Thorsten Hohmann
Buddy Hall			1	2
Johnny Archer
Niels Feijen
Thomas Engert

• In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by first name.

References

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