2007 WPA World 9Ball Championship for Wheelchair Players

England’s Danny Luton grabs the bronze as thirty-five top wheelchair pool players from nine different countries recently gathered at Planet 9 Ball in Tampa, Florida to compete in the 2007 WPA World 9-Ball Championship for Wheelchair Players. The field of players included competitors from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Wales) and the United States.

This championship was an official event of the World Pool Billiard Association (WPA), which is recognized around the world as the international governing body for pool and billiards and was organized on behalf of the WPA by the National Wheelchair Pool players Association, Inc. (NWPA). The NWPA is the recognized governing body for wheelchair billiards in the United States.

Just before the competition for the world championship began on the morning of October 1^st 2007, players were seeded into the double elimination tournament brackets, based on their continental player rankings and past tournament accomplishments. Preliminary round matches were determined by the first player to win nine (9) games against their opponent and the later round matches were to be increased to eleven (11) games, with the world championship final match increased further to a race to thirteen (13).

During the early rounds of the tournament, the competition was fierce, with several matches decided by only a game or two. However, the seeding process used at the beginning of the tournament appeared to be appropriately balanced, as ail of the final eight were seeded players, with 3 of the top 4 seeds still in contention.

At this stage in the tournament, the North American contingency of eighteen (18) players was reduced to just two competitors. The European delegation of sixteen (16) players still had five competitors and the Asian delegation still had its single player in the event.

The final eight players were Charlie Hans, Kray Mims (both USA), Henrik Larsson (Sweden), Danny Luton (England), Fred Dinsmore (Ireland), Kurt DeKlerck (Belgium), Tankred Volkmer (Germany) and Takahiro Terada (Japan).

Charlie Hans, who is the # 1 ranked player in North America, was playing very well in the preliminary rounds, including a hill-hill victory (9 games to 8) against former two-time world wheelchair 9-ball champion, Fred Dinsmore. Hans' run on the no loss side was cut short by Danny Luton, the current reigning European wheelchair 8-ball champion, in a closely decided match (9 games to 7) in the no loss side bracket semi-finals. On the one loss side, Hans met up with former two-time U.S. National wheelchair 9-ball champion, Kurt DeKlerck. DeKlerck played flawlessly against Hans, winning by a convincing score of 9 games to 2.

Hans finished the event tied for 5/6th place. Also finishing tied at this level was Tankred Volkmer. Volkmer, Germany's top wheelchair pool player, was also competing strongly in the early rounds, but he failed to advance against former world wheelchair 9ball champion, Henrik Larsson in the no loss side semi-finals, losing 3 games to Larsson's 9 games. Volkmer was unable to recover his form in his next match against Fred Dinsmore, as he was only able to win 4 games to Dinsmore's 9 games. Prior to meeting Volkmer, Dinsmore had defeated Japan's no1 wheelchair player, Takahiro Terada, in a tightly contested match, eventually winning 9 games to 6. Terada finished the event tied for 7/8th place, along with Kray Mims. Mims, who is currently ranked #3 in North America, was eliminated by Kurt DeKlerck (9 games to 3).

These results left only four very strong players remaining in the world championship competition. At this stage, the match races were increased to eleven (11) games. This also increased the difficulty of advancing to the next round. In the no loss side bracket final, Henrik Larsson and Danny Luton were matched up against each other on a custom built Olhausen table with Simonis 860 cloth, which was installed in Planet 9 Ball exclusively for this event. The table was built and donated by Olhausen Billiards Manufacturing, Inc. specifically for the world championship and it was installed by Florida Billiards and covered with the cloth donated courtesy of Simonis Cloth.

The Larsson-Luton match was well played by both players. In the end, Larsson proved to be too much for Luton, winning the match 11 games to 4.

As the winner of the no loss side bracket, Larsson was guaranteed to capture at least the silver medal in this event. Luton could finish no lower than 3rd place and with it, the bronze medal. Luton's next opponent was determined by the outcome of the 1^st semi-final match between Kurt DeKlerck and Fred Dinsmore.

This was an intense and lengthy match, with both players refusing to give in to the other. At several points in the match, Dinsmore had at least a two game lead. DeKlerck continued to battle, eventually equalizing the score at 10 games each. In the alternating break format, Dinsmore had the final break, which resulted in a ball being pocketed and a layout, which could possibly be run out.

Dinsmore skillfully ran the balls down to the 9 ball, but then missed a 40 degree cut shot for the win. DeKlerck successfully sank the final ball on the next shot and advanced to meet Luton in the next semi-final. A very disheartened Dinsmore finished in 4th place.

In the 2nd semi-final match between Luton and DeKlerck, Luton battled hard on the Olhausen table, playing brilliant safeties and running balls at will. However, DeKlerck managed to secure an early lead and refused to let Luton catch up, matching safety for safety whenever needed. In the end, DeKlerck proved too much for Luton, winning match 11 games to 7. Luton finished in 3rd place, capturing the bronze medal. Kurt DeKlerck moved on to the championship match to face Henrik Larsson.

The championship match between Larsson- and DeKlerck was a race to thirteen (13) games. This increased challenge proved to be no obstacle for Larsson. He took an early lead on DeKlerck and refused to let Kurt gain any momentum. Throughout the two-hour match, Larsson played brilliantly and masterfully, winning the world championship and the gold medal with a final victory of 13 games to 5. Kurt DeKlerck finished in 2nd place, winning the silver medal.

Fran Crimi, WPA representative for the Billiard Congress of America, was on hand for the medal ceremony, presenting each of the finalists with their respective medals. Accompanying the medals were colour coordinated Viking cues (gold, silver and bronze), which were custom engraved for the world championship by Viking Cue Manufacturing, Inc.