The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) is the international

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

for pool (pocket billiards). It was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

consisting of representatives from

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, and

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. , the WPA president is

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...

. It is an associate of the

World Confederation of Billiards Sports The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) is the international umbrella organization encompassing the major cue sports (billiards-type games), including carom billiards, pool games of several varieties, and snooker.cue sports Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

History

Many European players, who had the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

as their highest level of competition, have been aware of pool events in the United States; they were dissatisfied with the development of the sport in the continent, and wanted to compete at a higher level. In the late 70s, a tournament in Japan was held, were the

European Pocket Billiard Federation The European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) is the European governing body for pocket billiards. EPBF is the European regional affiliate member of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). The federation holds the European Championships since ...

(EPBF) was in cooperation with Asian associations, during which the first contacts to Asia were made. However, most of the efforts were initiated by individuals or national organizations, and progressed slowly. In November 1987, at a

(EPBF) board meeting in Germany, the idea of a worldwide competition resurfaced. The EPBF board members used their own money to fund a group to create a logo, letterheads and communications with various pool organizations. Kazuo Fujima of Japan replied that Asia was interested in participating. The group's general assembly was held in conjunction with the 1988 European Championships in

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. The group also formed a provisional board that consisted of Kazuo Fujima (Japan), Paul Gerni (USA), Jorgen Sandman (Sweden), and Horst Vondenhoff (Germany). In March 1990, the inaugural

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 Sport, ...

was held in Bergheim, Germany. The playing field included 32 men and 16 women in separate divisions, and has since become an annual event. On March 3, 1990, the World Pool-Billiard Association was sanctioned by the general assembly as the international governing body for pool. The acronym WPA was selected so it would not conflict with the existing

Women's Professional Billiard Association The Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) is a professional women's pool tour based in the United States. It was founded in 1976 as the Women's Professional Billiard Alliance by players Madelyn Whitlow and Palmer Byrd, and by Larry Mi ...

(WPBA). Membership in the WPA has grown since its inception. In 1991, Australia and New Zealand, under the umbrella of the Australasian Pool Association, became members. In 1999, the organizations associated with Latin America and the Caribbean became members, and in 2000, a substantial portion of the organizations from Africa joined.

Sanctioned tournaments

WPA World Ten-ball Championship The WPA World Ten-ball Championship is a professional ten-ball pool tournament sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). The event was first held in 2008 in the Philippines, followed by playings there in 2009 and 2011. After not bei ...

WPA World Eight-ball Championship The WPA World Eight-ball Championship is a professional eight-ball pool tournament sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), initially contested from 2004 to 2012 in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. After not being held for several ...

* WPA World Straight Pool Championship * WPA World Blackball Championship * WPA World Artistic Pool Championship * WPA World Pyramid Pool Championship

Member confederations and countries

The WPA members are grouped by six continental/regional confederations, who in turn, consist of members from a country's national federation. The chart and table shows the WPA's members : WPA map

Board members

, the WPA board consist of: *

(Australia), President * Shane Tyree (North America), Vice President * Ishaun Singh (South Africa), Sports Director * Javiera Rivera (South America), Board Member *

Ralf Souquet Ralf Souquet ( ; born 29 November 1968) is a German professional pool player. His nickname is "The Kaiser". Since 1988, he has won more than 200 tournament titles, including 23 Euro Tour titles, 20 European Pool Championship and 12 German Pool C ...

(Germany), Player Representative *

Kelly Fisher Kelly Fisher (born 25 August 1978) is an English professional pool, snooker and English billiards player. Career Fisher grew up in South Elmsall, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire. She learned to play pool in her parents' pub and took up snooke ...

(Great Britain), Player Representative

Notes

References

External links

* {{Cue sports nav Cue sports governing bodies Pool organizations Carom billiards organizations Sports organizations established in 1987 Organisations based in Sydney