The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that was held up until the game of Nine-ball became popularized in America. It was the most prestigious straight pool tournament up until the early 21st century, tournaments like the American 14.1 Straight Pool Championship and the European Pool Championship 14.1 that are still held annually, have gained prominence in recent years. During the tournament's early years, it was the only global professional title for straight pool (also known as 14.1 continuous). The event was revived in 2006, in part to restore the game's popularity in the United States.[1] The World Straight Pool Championship was sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010.[2] The tournament continued unsanctioned from 2011 to 2019. Ralph Greenleaf & Willie Mosconi are the most successful players having both won the tournament on 19 occasions. The oldest player to win the tournament is Irving Crane at 59 years old at the time of his victory. The youngest player to win the tournament is Ralph Greenleaf at 20 years old at the time of his first victory.
In the modern format of the tournament, all 64 players are divided into 8 groups where they play in round-robin format. Each in this round is a to 100 points. The leading 4 players in each group proceed to the next round.[3]
The games of the last-32 round are played in double-elimination format until 16 players remain. Matches are extended to races to 150 points.
The games in the last-16 round are played in single-elimination format, and matches are extended, to races to 200 points. The finals match is further extended to a race to 300 points (with a half-hour break occurring when a player reaches 150).[4]
In 1910, Jerome Keough invented the game of Straight pool.[5]
Year | Winner | Runner-up | |
---|---|---|---|
1912 | |||
1912 | |||
1912 | |||
1912 | |||
1913 | |||
1913 | |||
1913 | |||
1913 | |||
1914 | |||
1914 | Edward Ralph | ||
1914 | |||
1914 | |||
1916 | |||
1916 | |||
1916 | |||
1916 | |||
1916 | |||
1917 | |||
1917 | |||
1917 | |||
1917 | Larry Stoutenberg | ||
1917 | |||
1917 | |||
1918 | |||
1919 | |||
1920 | |||
1921 | |||
1922 | |||
1922 | Walter Franklin | ||
1922 | Bennie Allen | ||
1922 | Arthur Church | ||
1923 | |||
1924 | Bennie Allen | ||
1926 | |||
1927 | |||
1927 | Harry Oswald | ||
1927 | Erwin Rudolph | ||
1927 | Thomas Hueston | ||
1927 | Pasquale Natalie | ||
1928 | Arthur Woods | ||
1928 | Andrew Jean | ||
1928 | Ralph Greenleaf | ||
1929 | Erwin Rudolph | ||
1930 | Ralph Greenleaf | ||
1931 | |||
1932 | Jimmy Caras | ||
1933 | |||
1933 | Andrew Ponzi | ||
1934 | Erwin Rudolph | ||
1935 | Erwin Rudolph | ||
1936 | Erwin Rudolph | ||
1937 | Andrew Ponzi | ||
1937 | Irving Crane | ||
1938 | Andrew Ponzi | ||
1940 | Jimmy Caras | ||
1941 | Andrew Ponzi | ||
1941 | Irving Crane | ||
1942 | Erwin Rudolph | ||
1942 | Andrew Ponzi | ||
1943 | Willie Mosconi | ||
1943 | Irving Crane | ||
1944 | |||
1945 | Ralph Greenleaf | ||
1946 | Jimmy Caras | ||
1946 | Irving Crane | ||
1946 | Willie Mosconi | ||
1947 | Irving Crane | ||
1947 | Jimmy Caras | ||
1948 | Andrew Ponzi | ||
1949 | Willie Mosconi | ||
1950 | Irving Crane | ||
1951 | Irving Crane | ||
1952 | Irving Crane | ||
1953 | Joseph Procita | ||
1954 | Joseph Procita | ||
1955 | Willie Mosconi | ||
1955 | Irving Crane | ||
1956 | Jimmy Caras | ||
1956 | Irving Crane | ||
1963 | Jimmy Moore | ||
1964 | |||
1964 | Luther Lassiter | ||
1965 | Luther Lassiter | ||
1965 | Jimmy Moore | ||
1966 | Cisero Murphy | ||
1966 | Willie Mosconi | ||
1966 | Cisero Murphy | ||
1967 | Jack Breit | ||
1968 | Luther Lassiter | ||
1969 | Cisero Murphy | ||
1970 | Steve Mizerak | ||
1971 | Joe Balsis | ||
1972 | Lou Butera | ||
1973 | |||
1974 | Allen Hopkins | ||
1976 | Steve Mizerak | ||
1977 | Peter Margo | ||
1978 | |||
1979 | Joe Balsis | ||
1980 | Mike Sigel | ||
1981 | |||
1982 | Danny DiLiberto | ||
1983 | |||
1986 | Allen Hopkins | ||
1988 | |||
1990 | |||
2006 | Thomas Engert | ||
2007 | Huidji See | ||
2008 | Francisco Bustamante | ||
2010 | Mika Immonen |
Rank | Name | Nationality | Winner |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ralph Greenleaf | 19 | |
Willie Mosconi | |||
2 | Frank Taberski | 14 | |
3 | Luther Lassiter | 7 | |
4 | Irving Crane | 6 | |
Bennie Allen | |||
5 | Erwin Rudolph | 5 | |
Jimmy Caras | |||
6 | Andrew Ponzi | 4 | |
Alfredo de Oro | |||
7 | Mike Sigel | 3 | |
Ray Martin | |||
Joe Balsis | |||
8 | Edward Ralph | 2 | |
Nick Varner | |||
Oliver Ortmann | |||
Steve Mizerak |
In 2009, Dragon Promotions created the Dragon 14.1 Tournament.
Year | Winner | Runner-up | |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Mika Immonen | ||
2011 | Mike Davis | ||
2012 | Efren Reyes | ||
2013 | Thorsten Hohmann (2) | Darren Appleton | |
2014 | Shane Van Boening | ||
2015 | Thorsten Hohmann (3) | Darren Appleton | |
2016 | Earl Strickland | ||
2017 | Thorsten Hohmann | ||
2018 | Thorsten Hohmann (4) | Tony Robles | |
2019 | Corey Deuel |
See main article: world championships.