(born March 4, 1969 in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

player and a WPA World Nine-ball Champion. Nicknamed "the Sniper". He began practicing pool at 17 and turned professional in 1996. In 1998, he won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship by defeating the reigning champion,

Johnny Archer Johnny Archer (born November 12, 1968 in Waycross, Georgia) is an American professional pool player. He is nicknamed "the Scorpion" (his zodiac sign is Scorpio, and one of his sponsors is Scorpion Cues). On June 8, 2009, Johnny Archer was nom ...

, in the final match. He became the second World Nine-ball Champion from Japan, after

Takeshi Okumura (born April 24, 1952 in Fukuoka, Japan) is a Japanese professional pool player. Professional career He started playing pool at 16 and turned professional ten years later. Okumura won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1994, defeating Ya ...

, who won it in 1994. In that same year, Takahashi won the ESPN Ultimate Shootout, earning him

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

40,000. Four years later, Takahashi was three stages away from a second world title when he lost to Earl Strickland, who would later win the championship. Takahashi was critical of the Strickland's behavior during the match: "I lost up here. Strickland shows no sportsmanship. He played very well. But no sportsmanship." Strickland denied the allegation of

unsportsmanlike conduct Unsportsmanlike conduct (also called untrustworthy behaviour or ungentlemanly fraudulent or bad sportsmanship or poor sportsmanship or anti fair-play) is a foul or offense in many sports that violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sport ...

Achievements

* 1998

WPA World Nine-ball Championship The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual professional nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1990. The championship is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Spor ...

* 1997 All Japan Championship * 1996 Japan Open 9-Ball

References

External links

Takahashi's official website

Kunihiko Takahashi's ''AZBilliards'' profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takahashi, Kunihiko Japanese pool players People from Nagasaki 1969 births Living people World champions in pool Asian Games medalists in cue sports Cue sports players at the 2002 Asian Games Cue sports players at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Sportspeople from Nagasaki Prefecture 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people