Wu Jiaqing (; born February 9, 1989) is a

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 ...

ese-born Chinese 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 pool ...

player. He is nicknamed the ''Taishan Shentong'' ("Little Genius from

Taishan __NOTOC__ Taishan may refer to: *Mount Tai or Taishan (), Shandong, China *Taishan District, Tai'an (), named after the Mount Tai, a district in Tai'an, Shandong, China *Taishan, Guangdong (), a county-level city of Jiangmen, Guangdong, China **Gre ...

"). Since 2011, Wu switched from representing Chinese Taipei to representing the country of China. Previously known as Wu Chia-ching, the spelling of his name was changed upon moving to mainland China.

Career

Raised by his grandmother from the age of 2, Wu began playing

eight-ball Eight-ball (also spelled 8-ball or eightball, and sometimes called solids and stripes, spots and stripes or rarely highs and lows) is a discipline of pool played on a billiard table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls (a ...

at the age of 10 at his family-run

pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

. When he became serious about pool, his grandmother would shuttle him from one competition venue to another on her scooter. In 2005, after only six years of playing, Wu became the youngest player (at 16 years, 5 months old) ever to win 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 Sport, ...

. The next year, he was the top seed of the event, but lost in the quarter-final round to eventual winner

Ronato Alcano Ronato (Ronnie) Alcano (pronounced al-kah-no) (born 27 July 1972 in Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines), is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed "Ronnie ''Calamba''" and "the Volcano". He won both the 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Champions ...

of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Wu also won the 2005

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 ...

. Previously, he was the runner-up at the 2004 Juniors Nine-ball World Championship. He placed second to

Darren Appleton Darren Appleton (born 8 February 1976) is an English pool player, best known for playing Eight-ball, Nine-ball and Ten-ball pool.

in the inaugural

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 ...

in 2008, claiming the runner-up prize of

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 ...

40,000dailytimes.com.pk
, "Britain's Appleton Wins World 10-Ball Championship" In the semi-finals of the event, Wu had defeated

Demosthenes Pulpul Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowe ...

of the

, 11–8, using a borrowed

cue stick A cue stick (or simply cue, more specifically billiards cue, pool cue, or snooker cue) is an item of sporting equipment essential to the games of pool, snooker and carom billiards. It is used to strike a ball, usually the . Cues are tapered stick ...

.sports.inquirer.net
, "Pulpul's Magical Run Ends"abs-cbnnews.com
, "Pulpul Fails to Reach World 10-Ball Finals"
, "Dynamite Blasts World 10-Ball Championship" In 2011 Wu applied for and obtained citizenship of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Ostensibly, Wu did this, to allow himself to compete in more international events. Wu stated the decision was made for sporting reasons and should not be regarded in a political light. As of April, 2011, Wu has not given up his

Republic of China 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 northeast ...

nationality.China Post, 26 April 2011 http://www.china-defense-mashup.com/wu-still-obliged-to-serve-in-taiwan-military.html Republic of China Deputy

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Lin Tzu-ling Lin Tzu-ling () is a Taiwanese politician. She currently serves as the Administrative Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Interior. ROC Interior Ministry In 2000, Lin was appointed leader of the Civil Affairs Department. By 2002, she had b ...

stated that "An ROC national who wants to give up his or her citizenship must go through certain procedures. So far, I do not think we have received any application from him (Wu) to do so". The Minister noted that “As long as he is still an ROC national, he will be drafted into the military if he comes back to Taiwan.” The Republic of China's

Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area The Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (), also called Cross-Strait Act (), is the law of the Republic of China (Taiwan or ROC) governing cross-Strait relations. The main purpose of the act is to ...

stipulates that both the “Taiwan Area” and the “Mainland Area” are parts of the ROC, and the “Mainland Area” is legally defined as “ROC territory outside of the Taiwan Area.” In addition, the law does not recognize PRC citizenship and defines PRC citizens as “people of the Mainland Area” who “have household registration in the Mainland Area.” Article 9-1 of the same law prohibits “the people of the Taiwan Area” from obtaining household registration in “the Mainland Area,” those who break the law are banned from voting and serving in office, while their household registration in “the Taiwan Area” is annulled.

Career achievements

* 2021 Chinese Pool Elite Tour Event 3 * 2019 China Open 9-Ball Championship * 2018

World Cup of Pool The World Cup of Pool is an annual international single-elimination tournament for doubles teams in nine-ball pool competition. The event has been dominated by the Philippines and China, with both nations winning the event on three occasions. His ...

- with ( Liu Haitao) * 2016 China Open 9-Ball Championship * 2015 CBSA Hongze 9-Ball Open * 2008 Quezon City Invasion * 2007 All Japan Championship * 2006 Mezz Crowd Nine Cup Doubles * 2005 Billiards Digest Players of the Year * 2005

* 2005 Mezz Crowd Nine Cup * 2005

References

External links

AZBilliards.com profile

Worldpoolchampionship.com profileGuinness9balltour.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Jia-qing 1989 births Living people Taiwanese pool players World champions in pool Sportspeople from New Taipei Chinese pool players Chinese people of Taiwanese descent Cue sports players at the 2006 Asian Games WPA World Nine-ball Champions WPA World Eight-ball Champions Asian Games competitors for China