Chao Fong-pang

Medal record
Men's pool
Competitor for  Chinese Taipei
Asian Games
Gold	1998 Bangkok	Eight ball individual
Bronze	1998 Bangkok	Nine ball individual

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chao.

Chao Fong-pang (Chinese: 趙豐邦) (b. September 15, 1967 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese professional pool player.

He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1993 against Thomas Hasch of Germany. Thus, he became the first Asian to win a world title in pocket billiards.

In 1995, he won the International Challenge of Champions against Japan's Takeshi Okumura, a player who won the world nine-ball the year after he did.

Three year later, he won the gold medal in the eight-ball event of the Asian Games.^[1]

Chao regained the world nine-ball championship in 2000 by defeating Mexico's Ismael Paez, 17-6. The lead of that score was the largest deficit ever made in a world championship final.

By 2001, Chao won for the International Challenge of Champions for the second time, defeating Francisco Bustamante who won the event back in 1999. He won it again for the third time in 2005 with a victory over Thomas Engert, the 2004 winner.^[2]

Chao Fong-pang is renowned for his jump shots, relying on them considerably more frequently that most other pros. One notable instance was when he played versus Francisco Bustamante at the 2001 ICC tie-breaker: Bustamante had made a good snooker behind a ball, leaving Chao in a difficult position. But Chao went for the jump, and made it to win the match and the title.^{[citation needed]}

While a majority of Taiwanese players play with open bridge hands, Chao is among the few who play with a closed or loop bridge.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ "Sports 123: Pool: Asian Games: Men: 8-Ball". Sports 123. http://sports123.com/poo/masg-8.html. Retrieved 2008-08-11. 
2. ^ "Chao is Champion of Champions". AZ Billiards.com. http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?id=2922. Retrieved 2007-08-11. 

Tournament wins

• 1993 WPA World Nine-ball Championship
• 1995 International Challenge of Champions
• 1998 Asian Game gold medalist (eight-ball)
• 2000 WPA World Nine-ball Championship
• 2001 International Challenge of Champions
• 2005 International Challenge of Champions

Preceded by Johnny Archer	WPA Men's World Nine-ball Champion 1993	Succeeded by Takeshi Okumura
Preceded by Efren Reyes	WPA Men's World Nine-ball Champion 2000	Succeeded by Mika Immonen

Persondata
Name	Chao, Fong-pang
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1967-09-15
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death