‘A dream come true’: Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp wins surprise 8-ball world title in US

SINGAPORE – Having mostly made his name in 9-ball and 10-ball pool, Singapore cue master Aloysius Yapp outdid himself on April 8, when he was crowned world champion after beating Spain’s Francisco Ruiz in the final of the WPA Men’s 8-Ball World Championship.

He looked on in disbelief after potting the final 8-ball for a 10-4 win at the US$300,000 (S$382,000) tournament, before climbing on top of the table to celebrate with a double-fisted flex.

After hearing Majulah Singapura played at a pool world championship for the first time, Yapp said: “This is definitely one of the biggest moments of my career, and I can finally call myself a world champion.

“It’s really a dream come true for me. I’m happy and relieved.”

He now joins a list of 8-ball world champions that includes Filipino legend Efren Reyes, boyhood hero Wu Jia-qing, Taiwan-born mentor Chang Jung-lin – who died in 2025 aged 40 – and modern-day greats such as American Shane Van Boening and Ruiz.

First on the southpaw’s thank-you list was his mother Angie Tay. “It’s been really hard for her and I hope I didn’t disappoint her,” he told The Straits Times.

Yapp was only nine when his father died, and just 14 when he wanted to stop school to pursue pool full-time.

Against conventional wisdom, Tay agreed and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to support his development.

He also credited those who helped him on his journey – Paul Pang, Dominic Pan and Greg Pan from The Q Shop, his coach and fellow national player Toh Lian Han, as well as his fiancee, Indonesian pool pro Silviana Lu, who was in the stands.

Paying tribute to Chang, he added: “It’s really sad that he passed on last year. He was also a former 8-ball world champion, so to win this is like going down memory lane for me and maybe he is still watching over me.”

En route to the title, Yapp defeated Poland’s Radoslaw Babica (8-1), Russian-born Fedor Gorst (8-5), Finland’s Casper Matikainen (10-6), Gorst (10-9) again, then two more Poles Daniel Maciol (10-6) and Wiktor Zielinski (10-4) before his final victory at the Hyatt Regency in Missouri, United States.

Besides becoming Singapore’s first world champion in the sport, there was more reason to cheer for the 29-year-old, as he picked up US$90,000 to take his earnings to US$794,411 (S$1,012,500), according to online resource AZBilliards.

He said: “I never thought I would earn $1 million by playing pool. I’m definitely going to buy something nice or give a big ang pow to my mother and fiancee, and invest the rest of the prize money.”

Yapp’s latest accolade comes as a surprise as this is only the second time he has played in the 8-ball world championship, after he failed to make the last 32 in 2022.

The game of 8-ball is played with seven solid-coloured (numbered one to seven), seven striped balls (nine to 15) and the black 8-ball. The objective is to pot either set of balls and then the 8-ball before your opponent.

In Missouri, Yapp played like a man on fire, especially when he bounced back from 5-8 down to beat two-time 9-ball world champion and World Nineball Tour No. 1 Fedor Gorst in the last 16.

He said: “I play 8-ball tournaments maybe just once a year, so to be able to win this feels really incredible. I had lots of luck, and my break worked a lot while my opponents had many dry breaks.”

In the latter stages of the tournament, he never trailed. Using the second-ball break in the final, he had a superb 78 per cent break success and missed just three balls in an imperious performance.

He played steady pool throughout the six-day event, with a TV commentator noting that it felt like “Aloysius could prevail in any variation of cue sport”.

Yapp, an industrious player who trains late into the night and pays a lot of attention to details, had little time to celebrate his success. Just hours after his win, he flew to Philadelphia to play in the April 9-12 Players Championship.

Yapp had a sterling 2025 in which he won 10 local and international 9-ball and 10-ball tournaments, including three majors, and earned his first World Nineball Tour Player of the Year gong.

In 2021, he became the first Singaporean to reach world No. 1 in pool when he topped the World Pool-Billiard Association rankings, which meant all that was left on his career bucket list was to become world champion.

He first played in a world championship in 2014, the same year he became the 9-ball world junior champion, and finished in the top 64 of the 9-ball edition.

The closest he came to winning an individual world title was in 2021, when he reached the WPA World 10-Ball Championship semi-finals.

In 2022, he teamed up with compatriot Toh Lian Han to reach the final of the World Cup of Pool, a 9-ball doubles competition, where they lost to Spain.

After completing his career bucket list – become world No. 1, lift a major title and win a world championship – Yapp is hungry for more.

“I definitely want to win the 9-ball and 10-ball world championships,” he said.

Cuesports Singapore president Christopher Chuah hailed Yapp’s “latest groundbreaking achievement” which also comes as a timely boost as the national sports association is targeting to open its national training centre at 371 Tanjong Katong Road in May.

He said: “Having distinguished himself mainly in 9-ball and 10-ball, Aloysius has proven that he can prevail indeed in any variation of pool billiards.

“We are extremely proud of him and hope that he will continue to grow from strength to strength. I am sure he will be a good role model for our athletes and inspire many generations to come.”