Takeshi Okumura
Born | (1952-04-24) 24 April 1952 (age 72) Fukuoka, Japan |
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Sport country | Japan |
Professional | 1978 |
Tournament wins | |
World Champion | 9-Ball (1994) |
Takeshi Okumura (奥村 健, Okumura Takeshi) (born April 24, 1952 in Fukuoka, Japan) is a Japanese professional pool player.
Professional career
He started playing pool at 16 and turned professional ten years later.[1]
Okumura won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1994, defeating Yasunari Itsuzaki in an all Japanese final. With the win, he became the first male Japanese player to win a world championship in pocket billiards. Until Nick Varner won the world 9-Ball title in 1999, Okumura was the oldest champion.
Although he won the world nine-ball crown, Okumura wasn't quite successful in the sport for the next ten years. In 1995, he almost won the International Challenge of Champions but Chao Fong-pang of Taiwan bested him in the last match. He also was closing to winning the U.S. Open 9-ball Championship in 2000 but lost to Earl Strickland, 5-11, in the finals.[2] He nearly had a shot for a second world title in 2002 but again was defeated by Earl Strickland in the semis.[3]
After some less impressive past performances, Okumura showed dominance one last time, in 2005. He defeated Mika Immonen in the finals to win the All Japan Championship, the longest running tournament in the world, featuring players from Japan and the rest of the world.[4]
Titles
- 2018 Billiard Congress of Japan Hall of Fame
- 2005 All Japan Championship 9-Ball
- 1999 Japan Open 9-Ball
- 1995 All Japan Championship 9-Ball
- 1995 Japan Open 9-Ball
- 1994 WPA World Nine-ball Championship
- 1994 Japan Open 9-Ball
- 1993 All Japan Championship 9-Ball
- 1988 Japan Open 9-Ball
- 1985 All Japan Championship 9-Ball
- 1984 All Japan Championship 14.1
- 1982 All Japan Championship All-Around
- 1982 All Japan Championship Rotation
- 1982 All Japan Championship 14.1
- 1981 All Japan Championship All-Around
- 1981 All Japan Championship 9-Ball
- 1980 All Japan Championship All-Around
- 1980 All Japan Championship Rotation
- 1980 All Japan Championship 9-Ball
- 1980 All Japan Championship 14.1
- 1979 All Japan Championship All-Around
- 1979 All Japan Championship 14.1
References
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(men's)
- 1990: Earl Strickland
- 1991: Earl Strickland
- 1992: Johnny Archer
- 1993: Chao Fong-pang
- 1994: Takeshi Okumura
- 1995: Oliver Ortmann
- 1996: Ralf Souquet
- 1997: Johnny Archer
- 1998: Kunihiko Takahashi
- 1999: Efren Reyes & Nick Varner
- 2000: Chao Fong-pang
- 2001: Mika Immonen
- 2002: Earl Strickland
- 2003: Thorsten Hohmann
- 2004: Alex Pagulayan
- 2005: Wu Chia-ching
- 2006: Ronato Alcano
- 2007: Daryl Peach
- 2010: Francisco Bustamante
- 2011: Yukio Akakariyama
- 2012: Darren Appleton
- 2013: Thorsten Hohmann
- 2014: Niels Feijen
- 2015: Ko Pin-yi
- 2016: Albin Ouschan
- 2017: Carlo Biado
- 2018: Joshua Filler
- 2019: Fedor Gorst
- 2021: Albin Ouschan
- 2022: Shane Van Boening
- 2023: Francisco Sanchez Ruiz
- 2024: Fedor Gorst
(women's)
- 1990: Robin Bell
- 1991: Robin Bell
- 1992: Franziska Stark
- 1993: Loree Jon Jones
- 1994: Ewa Laurance
- 1995: Gerda Hofstätter
- 1996: Allison Fisher
- 1997: Allison Fisher
- 1998: Allison Fisher
- 1999: Liu Hsin-mei
- 2000: Julie Kelly
- 2001: Allison Fisher
- 2002: Liu Hsin-mei
- 2004: Kim Ga-young
- 2006: Kim Ga-young
- 2007: Pan Xiaoting
- 2008: Lin Yuan-chun
- 2009: Liu Shasha
- 2010: Fu Xiaofang
- 2011: Bi Zhu Qing
- 2012: Kelly Fisher
- 2013: Han Yu
- 2014: Liu Shasha
- 2015: Liu Shasha
- 2016: Han Yu
- 2017: Chen Siming
- 2018: Han Yu
- 2019: Kelly Fisher
(champions)
- 2004: Efren Reyes
- 2005: Wu Chia-ching
- 2007: Ronato Alcano
- 2008: Ralf Souquet
- 2010: Karl Boyes
- 2011: Dennis Orcollo
- 2012: Chang Jung-Lin
- 2022: Francisco Sanchez Ruiz
- 2008: Darren Appleton
- 2009: Mika Immonen
- 2011: Huidji See
- 2015: Ko Pin-yi
- 2019: Ko Ping-chung
- 2021: Eklent Kaçi
- 2022: Wojciech Szewczyk
- 2023: Eklent Kaçi
- 2024: Carlo Biado
- 2006: Thorsten Hohmann
- 2007: Oliver Ortmann
- 2008: Niels Feijen
- 2009: Stephan Cohen
- 2010: Oliver Ortmann
- 2011: Thorsten Hohmann
- 2012: John Schmidt
- 2013: Thorsten Hohmann
- 2014: Darren Appleton
- 2015: Thorsten Hohmann
- 2016: Mika Immonen
- 2017: Lee Vann Corteza
- 2018: Thorsten Hohmann
- 2019: Shane Van Boening
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