2004 WPA World 9-Ball Championship

Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Alex Pagulayan
2	Chang Pei-wei

Recap

Published April 13, 2026

The 2004 WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Taipei saw Filipino-Canadian Alex Pagulayan defeat local favorite Chang Pei-wei 17-13 in the final. The tournament took place at the World Trade Center from July 10-18, with Pagulayan winning in front of a large Taiwanese crowd.

The tournament featured 128 players initially divided into 16 round-robin groups, with the top four from each group advancing to the knockout rounds. The 64 survivors then competed in single elimination play for a total purse of $350,000.

Defending champion Thorsten Hohmann was eliminated in the round of 32 by Taiwan’s Kang Chin-ching. Pagulayan advanced through the bracket to face Chang Pei-wei in the final.

The final match remained competitive throughout, with Chang staying close to Pagulayan. Pagulayan secured the victory at age 26, earning the first-place prize of $75,000. Chang received $35,000 for finishing as runner-up.

This championship made Pagulayan the first Filipino-Canadian to win the WPA World Nine-ball title. He would later win the 2006 U.S. Open championship and multiple Derby City Classic titles. The tournament’s success in Taipei demonstrated Asia’s growing prominence in professional billiards.

Sources: 2004 WPA World Nine-ball Championship – Wikipedia Alex Pagulayan – Wikipedia

This recap was compiled from public tournament records and tournament organizer communications. ForceFollow is not affiliated with the tournament organizer.