(born March 4, 1969 in Nagasaki) is a Japanese professional pool 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, in the final match. He became the second World Nine-ball Champion from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, 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 Earl Strickland (born June 8, 1961) is an American professional pool player who is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time. He has won over 100 championship titles and three world titles. In 2006 he was inducted into the Billiar ...

, 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.

Achievements

* 1998 WPA World Nine-ball Championship * 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