The International Challenge of Champions was an annual nine-ball pool tournament held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut from 1991 to 2016. It has always been broadcast on ESPN and is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association.
As of 2009, four invited notable players compete in this single-elimination event. Different from other pool tournaments, this is a winner-take-all event: The winner earns the entire purse of the division (men's or women's); in 2009, the men's-division pot was US$25,000. Winners of either division earn the title "Champion of Champions".
Format Promoters describe the geared-for-television event as "international champions ... battling in short, sudden-death shootouts with pressure-cooker formats".
Each match is compose of two sets; each of them is race to 5 and in alternate break. Players lag to determine who shall break in the first set. The player who loses that set will break in the second.
A 30-second shot clock rule is used. This means a player must make a shot within 30 seconds lest the other player will receive ball-in-hand. Each player, however, can call for an extension but only once per rack.
Unlike other 9-ball tournaments, a player must call the 9-ball before pocketing it. Failing to call the shot or the 9-ball going in another pocket other than the one called will result the 9-ball being respotted and the player loses his turn at the table. Also, a player can't win a rack by pocketing the 9-ball in the break.
To win a match, a player has to win both sets. If the sets are split (one player winning the first but other player winning the next), players again lag to break at the one rack decider.
Winners YearWinnerRunner-up1991 Mike Lebron Buddy Hall 1992 Buddy Hall Johnny Archer 1993 Allen Hopkins Jim Rempe 1994 Nick Varner Tony Ellin1995 Chao Fong-pang Takeshi Okumura1996 Ralf Souquet Earl Strickland 1997 Oliver Ortmann Chao Fong-pang1998 Lee Kun-fang Kunihiko Takahashi1999 Francisco Bustamante Oliver Ortmann2000 Oliver Ortmann (2) Francisco Bustamante 2001 Chao Fong-pang (2) Francisco Bustamante 2002 Efren Reyes Mika Immonen 2003 Francisco Bustamante (2) John Horsfall 2004 Thomas Engert Thorsten Hohmann 2005 Chao Fong-pang (3) Thomas Engert 2006 Johnny Archer Thorsten Hohmann 2007 Niels Feijen Lee Vann Corteza 2008 Fu Jianbo Dennis Orcollo 2009 Mika Immonen Darren Appleton2010 Mika Immonen (2) Francisco Bustamante 2011 Darren Appleton Huidji See2012 Darren Appleton (2) Shane Van Boening 2014 Thorsten Hohmann Darren Appleton2015 Shane Van Boening Niels Feijen2016 Jayson Shaw Shane Van Boening
Top performers
Name Nationality Winner Runner-up Finals Chao Fong-pang314 Francisco Bustamante235 Darren Appleton24 Mika Immonen13 Oliver Ortmann Shane Van Boening12 Thorsten Hohmann Buddy Hall12 Johnny Archer Niels Feijen Thomas Engert
In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by first name.
References