World Pool Association
world governing body for pool billiards
The World Pool Association (WPA) is the international governing body for pool (pocket billiards). It was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Australia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe. As of 2023, the WPA president is Ishaun Singh of South Africa. It is an associate of the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS), the international umbrella organization that encompasses the major cue sports. WPA is headquartered in Gauteng, South Africa.
History
In the late 1970s, Kazuo Fujima of Japan invited various European players to compete in the All Japan Championship. This led to cooperation with Europe, being the first time contacts between Europe and Asian associations had been made. However, most of the efforts were initiated by individuals, and progressed slowly. By the mid-80s, many European players, who had the European Pool Championship as their highest level of competition, have been aware of pool events in the United States and were dissatisfied with the development of the sport in the continent, and wanted to compete at a higher level.
In November 1987, at a European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) board meeting in Germany, the idea of a worldwide competition resurfaced.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “World Pool Association” is world governing body for pool billiards. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through World, Pool and Association, not as a finished interpretation.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2593770. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1987 and 2023.
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This entry incorporates text from “World Pool Association” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.