(born April 24, 1952 in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

, Japan) 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.

Professional career

He started playing pool at 16 and turned professional ten years later. Okumura won the

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 ...

in 1994, defeating Yasunari Itsuzaki in an all Japanese final. With the win, he became the first male Japanese player to win a world championship in pocket billiards. Until Nick Varner won the world 9-Ball title in 1999, Okumura was the oldest champion. Although he won the world nine-ball crown, Okumura wasn't quite successful in the sport for the next ten years. In 1995, he almost won the

International Challenge of Champions The International Challenge of Champions is an annual nine-ball pool tournament held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has always been broadcast on ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming ...

but Chao Fong-pang of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

bested him in the last match. He also was closing to winning the

U.S. Open 9-ball Championship The U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship is an annual professional men's nine-ball pool tournament that began in its current form in 1976. The U.S. Open is one of the most sought-after titles in nine-ball and in pool generally. Traditionally, winners of ...

in 2000 but lost to Earl Strickland, 5-11, in the finals. He nearly had a shot for a second world title in 2002 but again was defeated by Earl Strickland in the semis. After some less impressive past performances, Okumura showed dominance one last time, in 2005. He defeated

Mika Immonen Mika Immonen (born 17 December 1972) is a Finnish professional Hall of Fame pool player, nicknamed "The Iceman." Career Immonen won the 2001 WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deu ...

in the finals to win the All Japan Championship, the longest running tournament in the world, featuring players from Japan and the rest of the world.

Titles

* 2018 Billiard Congress of Japan Hall of Fame * 2005 All Japan Championship 9-Ball * 1999 Japan Open 9-Ball * 1995 All Japan Championship 9-Ball * 1995 Japan Open 9-Ball * 1994

References

Japanese pool players Sportspeople from Fukuoka Prefecture 1952 births Living people World champions in pool WPA World Nine-ball Champions {{pool-bio-stub