WPA Asian Nine-ball Tour

The WPA Asian Nine-ball Tour (also known as the Guinness Asian 9-Ball Tour or San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour for sponsorship reasons) was an annual series of nine-ball pool tournaments around East and Southeast Asia. The tour began in 2003, and is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association.

From 2003 to 2005, each leg had a field of 32 players and the total purse was US$50,000. In 2006, the number of players was reduced to 24 and total purse decreased to $40,000.

The winner in each leg of the tour receives a cash prize and points for the ranking for the yearly WPA World Nine-ball Championship.

San Miguel Beer and 188BET were the sponsor of the tournament prior to 2007, when this slot was taken over by Guinness.

Format

In each leg, the 24 players are divided into 8 groups having 3 players each. The players in a particular group play in round-robin where the one who's on top moves into the quarter finals.

From the group stages to the quarter finals, the matchers are race to 9. The semis and final matches are race to 11. Also in the semi-finals and finals, a player must win by at least 2 racks. This means he can 11–9. If the other player manages to makes 10-10, the match goes into extra racks, one of them will have to make 12-10 or 13–11 to win. The maximum extension is up to 13, so it is also a win for a player to score 13–12.

A shot clock of 45 seconds is used with one extension for each player per rack. Failing to shoot within the clock will fine the player US$50.

The "alternating break" rule is enforced.

Starting in 2008, the final will be a race to 11 racks affair and the "at least 2 racks to win" rule has been scrapped.

Tournament results

San Miguel era
YearLocationWinnerScoreRunner-up
2003  Singapore Yang Ching-shun11-7 Warren Kiamco
 Philippines Efren Reyes11-2 Warren Kiamco
2004  Singapore Efren Reyes11-4 Warren Kiamco
 Vietnam Efren Reyes11-9 Chao Fong-pang
 Hong Kong Yang Ching-shun11-9 Hsia Hui-kai
 Taiwan Efren Reyes12-10 Jeong Young Hwa
 Philippines Lee Van Corteza13-11 Francisco Bustamante
2005  Singapore Gandy Valle11-9 Wu Chia-ching
 Indonesia (Jakarta) Efren Reyes11-6 Yang Ching-shun
 Taiwan (Kaoshiung) Yang Ching-shun11-3 Au Chi-wai
 Philippines (Manila) Ronato Alcano11-6 Yang Ching-shun
2006  Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) Efren Reyes11-6 Li He-wen
 Thailand (Bangkok) Ramil Gallego11-8 Au Chi-wai
 Taiwan (Kaoshiung) Rodolfo Luat11-7 Hsia Hui-kai
 Indonesia (Jakarta) Efren Reyes11-6 Ricky Yang

Guinness era
YearLocationWinnerScoreRunner-up
2007  Indonesia (Jakarta) Chang Jung-lin11-5 Lee Van Corteza
 Taiwan (Kaoshiung) Yang Ching-shun11-6 Chao Fong-pang
 Malaysia (Genting Highlands) Chang Jung-lin11-8

Dharminder Lilly

 Singapore Yang Ching-shun11-8

Ibrahim Bin Amir

 China (Shanghai) Yang Ching-shun12-10 Ronato Alcano
 Indonesia (Bali) Chang Jung-lin11-8 Lee Van Corteza
2008  Republic of China (Taipei) Chang Jung-lin11-5 Joven Bustamante
 Malaysia (Penang) Chang Jung-lin11-7 Wang Hung-hsiang
 Malaysia (Genting Highlands) Chang Jung-lin11-6 Antonio Gabica
 Singapore Alex Pagulayan11-6 Dennis Orcollo
 China (Guangzhou) Dennis Orcollo11-9 Wang Hung-hsiang
 Indonesia (Jakarta) Yang Ching-shun11-9 Wu Chia-ching

Trivia
  • There were supposed to be 5 legs in 2003. But the other 3 were cancelled because of the SARS outbreak.
  • All those who won a leg in the tour each won $10,000 for 1st place. However, Efren Reyes earned $20,000 for winning the Manila leg in 2003.


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