If you want to check out numbers 6 to 10, CLICK HERE.
With that said, here are the next five names of this list.
5 | MIKA IMMONEN | FINLAND
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1990 TO 1999
NONE
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1999 TO PRESENT
WINNER | 1
RUNNER-UP | 0
FINAL FOUR | 0
FINAL EIGHT | 2
ROUND OF 16 | 4
ROUND OF 32 | 2
ROUND OF 64 | 4
During the peak of billiards in the Philippines, there were
a bunch of guys that came and went. One of these guys that we sort of adopted
as our own is Mika Immonen. I have seen a couple of tourneys where he acted as a commentator and there have been instances when he became a guest on a random
Pinoy sitcom. Anyway, in 2001, Immonen won the World 9-Ball Championship in what
is to be a battle of Pinoy foreign favorites. The Iceman prevailed over Ralf
Souquet, 17 racks to ten. Immonen would win another world title as he became
the second World 10-Ball Championship when he defeated Lee Van Corteza. Immonen
is tied for second alongside Dennis Orcollo and Oliver Ortmann for most
knockout stages stints with 13.
4 | ALEX PAGULAYAN | CANADA
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1990 TO 1999
NONE
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1999 TO PRESENT
WINNER | 1
RUNNER-UP | 1
FINAL FOUR | 1
FINAL EIGHT | 0
ROUND OF 16 | 3
ROUND OF 32 | 1
ROUND OF 64 | 5
In 2016, the feel-good Alex Pagulayan would reach the semifinal
just to fall at the hands of eventual champ Albin Ouschan. Now don’t feel sorry
because The Lion is just one of a handful of OGs still succeeding in the
tourney’s current setup. In 2003, Pagulayan would finish second after losing to
eventual champ Thorsten Hohmann. In the following year, The Lion would claim
the 9-Ball Championship at the expense of Chinese Taipei’s Chang Pei-Wei. The
post-recession tournament saw a couple of DNPs and a bunch of preliminary
failures as well. The only other point worth noting is how Pagulayan would
ping-pong his allegiance from Canada to the Philippines because the former is a
place that gave him the opportunity while the other is kind of ignoring his
talents.
3 | RALF SOUQUET | GERMANY
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1990 TO 1999
WINNER | 1996 WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1999 TO PRESENT
WINNER | 0
RUNNER-UP | 2
FINAL FOUR | 1
FINAL EIGHT | 0
ROUND OF 16 | 2
ROUND OF 32 | 5
ROUND OF 64 | 6
Another foreign billiard icon loved by Filipinos, the last
time Ralf won the event was in 1996 when The Kaiser battled and devastated
Swede Tom Storm, eleven racks to one. In the current incarnation of the event,
Souquet has yet to win a crown. In 2005, Ralf Souquet was unable to make the
knockout stages. The same can be said in 2017. But here’s the thing – the
reason why he’s ranked this high is that of the 18 WPA World 9-Ball
Championship editions, Souquet managed to make the Round of 64 a record 16
times. Also, he almost won the title in 2001 when he faced Mika Immonen and in
2006, when he was unable to shake off the hometown momentum of Ronnie Alcano.
The Kaiser did manage to get back on Alcano, this time defeating The Volcano
to rule the 2008 WPA World 8-Ball Championship.
2 | THORSTEN HOHMANN |
GERMANY
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1990 TO 1999
NONE
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1999 TO PRESENT
WINNER | 2
RUNNER-UP | 0
FINAL FOUR | 0
FINAL EIGHT | 1
ROUND OF 16 | 2
ROUND OF 32 | 3
ROUND OF 64 | 4
The five-time World Straight Pool champion (also the current
champion as of this writing) is the only man to win the current incarnation of
the WPA World 9-Ball Championship twice. Hohmann also came in a time when most
of the billiard legends are in semi-retirement mode. In 2003, Hohmann defeated
Django Bustamante in a nail-biter in the quarterfinals after the latter won a
classic match against bosom buddy Efren Reyes. Hohmann would then defeat
another legend in Earl Strickland in the semis before destroying Alex Pagulayan
in the final. The frequent Philippine visitor would replicate his feat a decade
later when he defeated four consecutive Filipinos en route to the 2013 WPA
World 9-Ball Championship. Hohmann would end the tourney of Dennis Orcollo in
the Round of 16, stop Jeff de Luna in the Round of 8, finish Carlo Biado in the
Final Four, and finish Antonio “Gaga” Gabica, 13 racks to 6. This German thorn
also played in a couple of Pinoy tourneys alongside fellow frequent Pinoy
visitors like Mika Immonen and Ralf Souquet and win a couple of events like the 2011
Philippine Open and the 2014 Manny Pacquiao Cup.
1 | FRANCISCO BUSTAMANTE |
PHILIPPINES
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1990 TO 1999
NONE
WPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | 1999 TO PRESENT
WINNER | 1
RUNNER-UP | 1
FINAL FOUR | 1
FINAL EIGHT | 2
ROUND OF 16 | 1
ROUND OF 32 | 1
ROUND OF 64 | 5
If you’re Pinoy and straight up love the sport of pool,
there are two schools of thought you’ll likely adhere. If you like the showmanship,
you go with Efren “Bata” Reyes. If you like to win with a no-nonsense approach,
then chances are you’re a Django Bustamante fan. Regardless, Bustie is my pick
to top this list. The German-based cue legend is part of the 90s Pinoy crew led
by Reyes, Amang Parica, Dodong Andam, and Boy Samson Luat in their quest to
destroy the norms of world pool. He may not be known for his razzle-dazzle
shots, he does his damage by striking the ball Bustamante is tied for second
alongside Nick Van Der Berg for most consecutive Round of 64 appearances with
twelve. Five of his twelve knockout stage finishes are within the first and
eighth range. When a family tragedy struck his household in 2002, he finished
second to Earl Strickland. And then after two years of no events due to the
worldwide recession, Bustie outlasted Kuo Po-Cheng to finally win the WPA World
9-Ball Championship. Now I know that Hohmann had two titles but The Hitman is
still young enough to top this list in the future and the same can’t be said
with Bustamante. After missing the knockout stage in 2013, Bustamante has yet
to appear in the event. So a Round of 32 finish in the 2019 WPA World 9-Ball
Championship should catapult Thorsten Hohmann, Ralf Souquet, Alex Pagulayan,
and even Carlo Biado on top of the list. So yeah, I’m letting Django have
number one.
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