The 2018 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was a Nine-ball pool tournament. The event took place between December 10 to 20, 2018 in the al-Attiya Sports Arena of the Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar. The Qatari capital held the WPA World Nine-ball Championship for the eighth time in a row.
The reigning champion was Filipino Carlo Biado, who defeated his compatriot Roland Garcia 13âÂÂ5 in the 2017 final. Biado would reach the final of the event, defeating Shane Van Boening in the semi-final. Germany's Joshua Filler won the event, defeating Biado in the final 13âÂÂ10.
The event was entered by 128 participants who were initially divided into 16 groups of 8 players, in which they competed against each other from December 14 to 16 in a double elimination tournament. Four players in each group qualified for the final round, which will be played from December 17 to 20. The event was played under "alternating break" format.
In the initial double-elimination round, 2003 and 2013 champion Thorsten Hohmann was eliminated, having first lost 6âÂÂ9 to Jason Theron, and then to 2005 champion Wu Jia-qing also 6âÂÂ9, despite being ahead 6âÂÂ2.
Later in the event, 9-ball world number one Eklent Kaçi was defeated in the round of 32 â 10âÂÂ11 to 17 year old Robbie Capito. Capito was at one stage 7âÂÂ1, and 10âÂÂ8 down in the match, but won the final three racks to win the match.
The semi-finals and final were played on the December 20, 2018. The reigning champion Carlo Biado defeated Shane Van Boening in the first semi-final, whilst Joshua Filler defeated Alexander Kazakis in a final rack decider. Filler would win the event; climbing to an 11âÂÂ7 lead, and eventually winning 13âÂÂ10.
The event saw a total prize pool of $200,000.