In 2008 the
World Ten-ball Championship was held, with prizes totaling
US$400,000 (
₱18,860,000), was held at the
Philippine International Convention Center,
Manila, September 29 through October 5, 2008. There were 128 players competing, representing 44 countries.
Vice President of the Philippines Noli de Castro made the ceremonial opening break shot, witnessed by officials of the WPA,
International Olympic Committee,
Philippine Sports Commission,
Philippine Olympic Committee,
Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines, and tournament organizer Raya Sports. In the final, England's
Darren Appleton defeated nineteen-year-old
Wu Jia-qing, who was using a borrowed
cue stick, winning $100,000. Appleton was also quoted as saying: "Pool is an easy choice for me as a sport as I have to choose among boxing, football and pool among others. But this victory is sweeter for me and I have to dedicate this to my parents, whose relationship is in the rocks. With the $100,000 grand prize, first, I have to give some to my parents, because we had a difficult way of living." WPA president
Ian Anderson would later announce: "This early, there's a strong clamor for the WTBC and it will definitely be back next year in Manila. It will be staged October of next year and there's also the Philippine Open to be held June 2009. I think Manila is the best place to go in hosting pool and it is living up to its billing as the pool Mecca in Asia." The event would later take place in 2009, being won by Finn
Mika Immonen, and then again in 2011 by Dutchman
Huidji See. A later event was reimagined by boxer
Manny Pacquiao in 2015, with the event being won by Taipei's
Ko Pin-yi. On July 30, 2018, the WPA announced the return of the World Ten-ball Championship. The event was set to take place in the Philippines, The 2020 edition of the championship was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 edition was won by Albanian
Eklent Kaçi, and the 2022 edition was won by Pole
Wojciech Szewczyk. ==Winners==