International Challenge of Champions

The International Challenge of Champions was an annual nine-ball pool tournament held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut from 1991 to 2016. It has always been broadcast on ESPN and is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association.
As of 2009, four invited notable players compete in this single-elimination event. Different from other pool tournaments, this is a winner-take-all event: The winner earns the entire purse of the division ; in 2009, the men's-division pot was US$25,000. Winners of either division earn the title "Champion of Champions".

Format

Promoters describe the geared-for-television event as "international champions... battling in short, sudden-death shootouts with pressure-cooker formats".
Each match is compose of two sets; each of them is race to 5 and in alternate break. Players lag to determine who shall break in the first set. The player who loses that set will break in the second.
A 30-second shot clock rule is used. This means a player must make a shot within 30 seconds lest the other player will receive ball-in-hand. Each player, however, can call for an extension but only once per rack.
Unlike other 9-ball tournaments, a player must call the 9-ball before pocketing it. Failing to call the shot or the 9-ball going in another pocket other than the one called will result the 9-ball being respotted and the player loses his turn at the table. Also, a player can't win a rack by pocketing the 9-ball in the break.
To win a match, a player has to win both sets. If the sets are split, players again lag to break at the one rack decider.

Winners

Top performers

Name	Nationality	Winner	Runner-up	Finals
Chao Fong-pang		3	1	4
Francisco Bustamante		2	3	5
Darren Appleton		2	2	4
Mika Immonen		2	1	3
Oliver Ortmann		2	1	3
Shane Van Boening		1	2	3
Thorsten Hohmann		1	2	3
Buddy Hall		1	1	2
Johnny Archer		1	1	2
Niels Feijen		1	1	2
Thomas Engert		1	1	2

In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by first name.