The World Pool Association is conducting three World Championships at once at the Sands Regency Casino Hotel in Reno, Nevada. The World Wheelchair and the World Junior Championships for both boys and girls are now underway. As day number one winds down some of the top players in all divisions are facing one another.

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Finland's mighty Mika Immonen finally won the 41st All Japan 9-Ball Championships. It was an all-star field, with names such as Taiwan's World Champion Wu Chia Ching, Kuo Po Cheng, China's Li He-wen and Challenge of Champions Winner Fu Jianbo, Japan's former World 9-Ball Champion Kunihiko Takahashi, and Korean Champions Young Hwa Jeong and Seung Woo Ryu. Throw in western counterparts World 9-Ball and 14.1 Champ Thorsten Hohmann (GER), World 9-ball and 8-Ball Champ Ralf Souquet (GER), and USA top pros Rodney Morris, Charlie Williams, and Max Eberle. Then add in arguably the toughest country, the Phillippines, with Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamente, Alex Pagualyan, Ronnie Alcano, Dennis Orcullo, Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Warren Kiamco, Ramil Gallego, Lee Van Corteza, and Antonio Lining.In this 128 man super elite field, even the hottest pool player in the world could easily settle for a top 10 finish and be happy.

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This year's International Challenge of Champions saw four WPBA stars battle for a $25,000 winner take all first prize, and it was Ireland native Karen Corr who took home the cash!

In the first semi-final, Britain's Allison Fisher and China's Xiaoting Pan each took one race-to-four set, which forced a single game playoff to determine who would move on. Pan got the nod.

Meanwhile, Karen handily defeated Taiwan's Ga Young Kim, and headed to the finals. Each player won a set, forcing another sudden death playoff to determine the champ.

Pan won the lag, played safe on the five and let Corr to the table. A critical shot on a seven-nine combo later and Karen Corr was $25,000 richer!

It was an exciting day for fans in Chesapeake, Virginia as the final four in the 33rd Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships took the stage.

In the match to determine the winner of the winner's bracket final, Ronnie Alcano defeated Mika Immomen 11-6 to take the point and wait for his final opponent. The only American left standing was Johnny Archer, who fell to Warren Kiamco 11-4, finishing in fourth with $8,000.

Immomen was ready for the tough shooting Kiamco though, and he wasn't willing to settle for third. He eked out an 11-9 win over Kiamco, leaving Warren with $10,000 for third. Then, in a race to 13 final match, Mika Immomen sought revenge, pulling to a 10-2 lead and eventually winning the match, title, and hefty $40,000 purse! Alcano took home $20,000 for his second place finish.

USA's victorious World Cup of Pool pairing of Rodney Morris and Shane Van Boening are the first Americans to win the prestigious team trophy. They defeated England's Daryl Peach and Mark Gray 11-7 in a thrilling final at the Outland nightclub in Rotterdam, Holland. "This is a major tournament, a world event, a world title, so to win this is just awesome," said Morris. "We didn't perform at our best in the beginning of the tournament but that's why we were seeded and we felt good and gelled nicely. Shane is a good partner because he never misses.

"I think we peaked at the right time and got a nice rhythm. Shane got me playing a little smarter and tighter and got me concentrating. I'm just happy we made it and it's a relief. I didn't want to let my team down and that keeps me tight."

Shane van Boening was representing the USA for the first time in this tournament and he believed him and Morris had made a bit of history. "Winning this means we are the first American team to win it and that really means something," said van Boening. "We didn't know each other very well but we got along well and had a good time. We're looking forward to coming back here next year as well and defending our title."

This was the third staging of the World Cup of Pool, which this year was sponsored by PartyPoker.net, and this victory wipes out the painful memory of 2006 where USA lost in the final. Morris was part of the American side, along with Earl Strickland, that lost 13-5 against Philippines and 2006, and admitted he had been more determined to win as a result. "It's a big relief but it feels really good," said Morris. "I didn't want to get to the final again and lose."

Daryl Peach was disappointed that he could not add the World Cup of Pool title to go with the World Pool Championship that he claimed last November. "I'm absolutely gutted but at the same time there has to be a winner and loser. We said we would win as a team and lose as team - there's no in between. It's been a pleasure to team up with Mark. We did England proud and I hope everyone else thought so. We hope to come back here stronger next year."

Mark Gray, the European No. 1, was competing in the biggest match of his career after only taking up the game seriously four years ago. He believes himself and Peach have earned the right to represent England in next year's World Cup. "I'm disappointed but in the match we didn't get the rolls when we needed to and we didn't break too well apart from once," said Gray. "We made a couple of errors early but in general looking at the big picture to come runners-up in the World Cup is a pretty big achievement."

Nothing in Darren Appleton's record in WPA events suggested that he would prevail in a 10-ball tournament. But when he made it to the finals, he did not waste his chance at destiny. He brought down former double world world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball) Wu Chia-ching of Chinese Taipei, 13-11, to become the frirst WPA world 10-ball champion.

Appleton led the match most of the way to the surprise of many who picked Wu as the big favorite to take the $100,000 first place prize. He raced to a 3-0 lead and stretched it to 6-1 and 10-5.

But Wu was not about to give up his chance of becoming the first player to win the triple crown in pool; 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball world championships. He made a determined charge with four games in a row to narrow the count to 10-9.

Appleton answered by taking racks 20 and 21 to stretch his lead again to 12-9. In the 22nd rack, Wu made his final charge. He quickly ran out the table after Appleton failed to sink a ball on the break. And then in the 23rd rack, Wu showed his brilliance as a player. He ran out a very difficult layout by making two spectacular banks in the right corner pocket.

Then came the dramatic 24th rack. Wu failed to sink a ball on the break. Appleton was faced with a difficult shot on the 1-ball. He sank it in the side, and then proceeded to run the table, one nerve-racking ball at a time, and crowned it all with a confident shot on the 10-ball.

With the victory, Appleton continued the domination by Europe of pool over the year. His compatriot Daryl Peach won the 2007 WPA World 9-ball Championship in Manila. Ralf Soquet won the 2008 WPA World 8-ball Championship in Fujairah, UAE. And Niels Feijen of the Netherlands took the WPA World Straight Pool Championship in the US two months ago.

Kelly Fisher put another notch on her 2008 tour title belt this weekend, defeating the Texas Tornado Vivian Villarreal 7-5 with a final bank on the nine ball to win the match.

Kelly defeated Karen Corr in a thrilling 7-6 hill-hill match to reach the finals. Vivian defeated Monica Webb 7-4 to earn her own finals berth. This is Kelly Fisher's second 2008 tour title; she won the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Norman, Oklahoma earlier this year.

For more info, visit www.wpba.com

The World Ten Ball Championship in Manila has come down to a contest between two players from two different continents: former world 8-Ball and 9-Ball champion Wu Chia-ching of Chinese Taipei and Darren Appleton of Great Britain.

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As the field narrowed to the final 16 single elimination rounds, several players had their hopes up for a victory. Janet Atwell, having a great tournament, fell to veteran Monica Web 9-7. Defending champ Allison Fisher defeated Sarah Rousey 9-3. Vivian Villarreal pulled out a stunning victory over Ga Young Kim 9-4 and China's Xiaoting Pan emerged over a tough-playing Gerda Hofstatter 9-6. U.S. Open champion Kelly Fisher scored a decisive victory over Jeanette Lee 9-4; ditto Kim Shaw over Iris Ranola 9-4. Korea's Yu Ram Cha bested former junior champ Anna Kostanian 9-6, and in the last match to finish the round, Ireland's Karen Corr defeated Norway's Line Kjorsvik in a nailbiter 9-8.

The final 8 are competing now for who will play in Sunday's ESPN televised matches while defending champ Allison Fisher sets her sights on another victory:
Kelly Fisher vs. Yu Ram Cha
Vivian Villarreal vs. Xiaoting Pan
Allison Fisher vs. Monica Webb
Kim Shaw vs. Karen Corr

Stay tuned for details! Live updates are available at www.wpba.com

Just 16 players remain undefeated in the Pacific Coast Classic taking place at Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, Oregon this week. They include defending champ Allison Fisher, Monica Webb, Jeanette Lee, Ga Young Kim, Gerda Hofstatter (after a brilliant 9-7 victory over Genpool champion Xiaoting Pan, Line Kjorsvik, Iris Ranola, and Anna Kostanian, who defeated Sarah Rousey in a 9-8 thriller!

Watch for ongoing results here. For full coverage including tournament brackets, visit www.wpba.com