International Challenge of Champions
Encyclopedia
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
. Existing since 1991, it is also the second longest running pool tournament in the United States where it lies second only to the US Open Nine-ball Championship
.
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 ($25K) and the title of "Champion of Champions."
A 30-second shot clock rule of 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 nineball 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.
holds the most wins (3) in the tournament. Mika Immonen
is the only player to successfully defend his title the year following a win.
Mohegan Sun
Mohegan Sun, located in Uncasville, Connecticut, is the second largest casino in the United States with of gaming space. It is located on along the banks of the Thames River. It is at the heart of the scenic foothills of southeastern Connecticut, where 60 percent of the state's tourism is...
in Uncasville, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. It has always been broadcast on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association
World Pool-Billiard Association
The World Pool-Billiard Association is the international governing body for pocket billiards . The group was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Japan, the United States, Sweden, and Germany...
. Existing since 1991, it is also the second longest running pool tournament in the United States where it lies second only to the US Open Nine-ball Championship
US Open Nine-ball Championship
The U.S. Open Championships is an annual professional pool tournament that began in 1976 at Q-Master Billiards in Norfolk, Virginia. Today, it is held in the Chesapeake Conference Center, Chesapeake, Virginia...
.
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 ($25K) and the title of "Champion of Champions."
Format
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 of 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 nineball 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
Chao Fong-pangChao Fong-pang
Chao Fong-pang is a Taiwanese professional pool player.He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1993 against Thomas Hasch of Germany...
holds the most wins (3) in the tournament. Mika Immonen
Mika Immonen
Mika Immonen is a Finnish professional pool player, nicknamed "the Ice Man."He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales in 2001. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deuel in the US Open Nine-ball ChampionshipHe has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the...
is the only player to successfully defend his title the year following a win.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1991 |  United States Mike LebronMike Lebron Miguel Benjamin Lebrón-Laboy , best known as Mike Lebrón is a Puerto Rican professional pool player nicknamed "Spanish Mike".... |
| 1992 | United States Buddy Hall Buddy Hall Cecil P. "Buddy" Hall has been an American professional pool player for three decades. The International Pool Tour heralds Hall as a "living pool legend." He is nicknamed "The Rifleman" for his accuracy... |
| 1993 | United States Allen Hopkins Allen Hopkins (pocket billiards) Allen Hopkins is an American professional pocket billiards player, professional billiards color commentator and BCA Hall of Fame inductee... |
| 1994 | United States Nick Varner Nick Varner Nick Varner is an American pool player and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America in 1992.-Career:... |
| 1995 |  Republic of China Chao Fong-pangChao Fong-pang Chao Fong-pang is a Taiwanese professional pool player.He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1993 against Thomas Hasch of Germany... |
| 1996 |  Germany Ralf SouquetRalf Souquet Ralf Souquet is a German professional pool player. His nicknames are "The Kaiser" and "The Surgeon." Since 1981, he has won more than 250 tournament titles, including 41 German Championship titles and 34 European Championship titles.He began playing billiards at the age of six in his parents'... |
| 1997 | Germany Oliver Ortmann Oliver Ortmann Oliver Ortmann is a German top professional pool player whose nickname is "The Machine". He is renowned not only as a World Champion in Nine-Ball but also in the resurgent discipline of 14.1 or straight pool.... |
| 1998 | Republic of China Lee Kun-fang Lee Kun-fang Lee Kun-fang is a Taiwanese professional pool player. He came close to winning his first world title at the 1997 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, but the American cue artist Johnny Archer defeated him in the final match. In 1998, Lee won the International Challenge of Champions, defeating... |
| 1999 |  Philippines Francisco BustamanteFrancisco Bustamante Francisco Bustamante is a Filipino professional pocket billiards player from Tarlac, and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion., nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States.-Early life:Bustamante is the... |
| 2000 | Germany Oliver Ortmann |
| 2001 | Republic of China Chao Fong-pang |
| 2002 | Philippines Efren Reyes Efren Reyes Efren Manalang Reyes is a Filipino professional pool player and a two-time world champion. Reyes is considered by many to be the greatest all-around pool player in the history of the game. He is affectionately nicknamed "Bata" and "the Magician".-Early life:Reyes was born in Pampanga in 1954... |
| 2003 | Philippines Francisco Bustamante |
| 2004 | Germany Thomas Engert Thomas Engert Thomas Engert is a German professional pool player. Engert won the 2004 International Challenge of Champions beating fellow German Thorsten Hohmann in the finals... |
| 2005 | Republic of China Chao Fong-pang |
| 2006 | United States Johnny Archer Johnny Archer Johnny Archer is an American professional pool player. He is nicknamed "the Scorpion" .... |
| 2007 |  Netherlands Niels FeijenNiels Feijen Niels Feijen is a professional pool player, from the Hague, Netherlands. His nickname is "the Terminator".In 2001, Feijen reached the finals of a nine-ball tournament in Tokyo, Japan. The event had a field of more than 700 players and offered the largest prize money at that time. However, he lost... |
| 2008 |  People's Republic of China Fu Jian-bo |
| 2009 |  Finland Mika ImmonenMika Immonen Mika Immonen is a Finnish professional pool player, nicknamed "the Ice Man."He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales in 2001. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deuel in the US Open Nine-ball ChampionshipHe has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the... |
| 2010 | Finland Mika Immonen Mika Immonen Mika Immonen is a Finnish professional pool player, nicknamed "the Ice Man."He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales in 2001. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deuel in the US Open Nine-ball ChampionshipHe has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the... |
| 2011 |  United Kingdom Darren AppletonDarren Appleton Darren Appleton is a British pool player, nicknamed "Dynamite". He won the first WPA World Ten-ball Championship in 2008 against Wu Chia-ching, the former world champion in both nine-ball and eight-ball from Taiwan... |
Miscellaneous
- The Int'l Challenge of Champions, as of 2009, has been the only winner-take-all tournament tournament still running. A similar tournament includes the Texas Hold'em Billiards Championship but has been changed and was only short-lived.
- The tournament is also known as the being the only one to have used the Elephant Beautiful Balls, a brand of billiard balls with a patented swirly colored design. These were last applied in the 2002 edition of the event. From there, standard balls from Aramith became the norm eversince.