2006 World Cup of Pool


The 2006 World Cup of Pool was the first 9-Ball world team championships. The event was held in Newport, Wales from 22–27 August 2006. The event was won by the Philippine team of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, who defeated Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris 13-5 in the final. The event saw multiple world pool champions in the field, as well as Snooker world champions in Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Tournament Summary

The event was played under the alternate break system, as opposed to winner breaks traditional in other 9-Ball events. The event was the first ever World Cup of Pool event, sponsored by Partypoker, and created by Matchroom Sport. The event would see 16 seeded teams, and 16 unseeded teams of two play alternating shots in scotch doubles style. The unseeded Vietnamese team of Nguyen Thanh Nam and Luong Chi Dung won three straight 9-8 victories over Croatia, second seeds Netherlands, and Italy, before being knocked out by the USA team in the semi-finals.
The Philippine team made up of two former WPA World Nine-ball Championship winners, won convincingly against Malta, Malaysia and the Czech Republic, before meeting the Germans in the Semi-final. In a tight match, the Philippines defeated Germany 9-7, and met the USA in the final.
The final was contested on 27 August 2006, between Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante of the Philippines, and Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris of the USA. With the scores tied at 4-4, the Philippine team won 7 consecutive racks, to take a 11-4 lead, and eventually win the final 13-5. Runner up Morris said of the match: "That was pretty disappointing. After 4-4 it didn't go our way although the match was closer than the score suggested but when it went to 7-4 we were both pretty deflated and felt it slipping away. We never really got a clear shot off the break and it was a tough hill to climb but they played great - the way they were supposed to so congratulations to them."

Participating nations