There’s one guarantee in the bewildering landscape that is professional pool and that is that the players will always deliver. And, 2025 has been no exception, with new champions crowned and stories written.
From US Open champion Aloysius Yapp going on a rampage and winning 91 percent of his matches in World Nineball Tour majors to Seo Seoa fulfilling her destiny and becoming women’s world champion, this year has been simply unforgettable.
Absolute Pool have selected our Match of the Year, Tournament of the Year, Breakout Player of the Year, Women’s Player of the Year and Men’s Player of the Year to round off a tremendous season.
Match of the Year
Seo Seoa v Kristina Tkach – Women’s World 9-Ball Championship final
It may involve an element of recency bias, although the gripping intensity of the Women’s World 9-Ball Championship conclusion between first-time world champion Seo Seoa and Kristina Tkach provided a final that will certainly never be forgotten. It was simply drama of the highest calibre.
Both players produced impressive shots and showcased their incredible skills in the most nerve-wracking and pressurised match in women’s pool. Neither player could be separated in normal play and it became the first world championship to be decided by an intense shootout.
Seoa and Tkach both amicably showed tremendous mutual respect for one another following a thriller encounter, with Seoa rattling the jaws of the pocket on the match-winning spot shot, before subsequently being reduced to tears as a lifelong dream became reality.
Arseni Sevastyanov’s stunning deciding rack victory over Jayson Shaw in the Philippines Open semi-finals was the front-runner for the award heading into December, while two other thrillers in Manila in David Alcaide v Jaybee Sucal and Fedor Gorst v Francisco Bustamante were also considered.
Other praiseworthy matches include Aloysius Yapp’s wins over Gorst in the US Open final and Skyler Woodward at the International Open, as well as Carlo Biado’s win over Gorst in the World Pool Championship final and Alex Kazakis beating Shane van Boening in a World 10-Ball Championship semi-final that required 13 innings in a shootout.
Tournament of the Year
Philippines Open
More than a decade after the World Cup of Pool was held in the Philippines, pool returned to a Filipino shopping mall and the atmosphere at the Gateway Mall in Quezon City was sensational. Fans gathered on all three floors to witness the world’s best in action, creating a rather unique environment for the players.
David Alcaide reigned supreme as he clinched a fourth major accolade, scuppering the fairytale run of Finland’s Arseni Sevastyanov in the final. Both players had come through epic encounters with Jaybee Sucal and Jayson Shaw respectively during their routes to the showpiece.
Players were treated like superstars by the Pinoy spectators in a tournament that saw Filipino legend Francisco Bustamante stun world number one Fedor Gorst, the mind-blowing popularity of teenage phenom Sucal, and Sevastyanov asked to sign a cleaning mop as he became a cult hero amongst the fans.
The World 10-Ball Championship was a close second as the lucrative tournament debuted in Ho Chi Minh City. Thousands of passionate Vietnamese fans witnessed Ko Ping-Chung become the champion for the second time.
Vietnamese number one Duong Quoc Hoang reached the last 16 of that tournament on home soil, with his last 16 defeat to Aloysius Yapp being watched live by a record of more than 400,000 people on YouTube, after his win over Joshua Filler was viewed live by 200,000.
Breakout Player of the Year
Arseni Sevastyanov
Shane van Boening was stunned in the US Open qualifying rounds by a lightning-quick Finnish youngster. He was recognisable to almost no one, unless perhaps they’d seen his name pop up during a Euro Tour event. A month later, he followed that shock win by beating Francisco Sanchez Ruiz in Hanoi.
Nowadays, everyone is familiar with Finland’s Arseni Sevastyanov. His run to the Philippines Open final was nothing short of breathtaking, notably beating the likes of Jayson Shaw, Jefrey Roda and Mickey Krause. He became a cult hero at the Quezon City shopping mall due to his vivacious nature, and he was hilariously asked to sign a cleaner’s mop during the event.
Sevastyanov has already proven that his Filipino exploits were no flash in the pan, overcoming Albin Ouschan on his way to the Jax Open semi-finals in Florida, and there’s now plenty of anticipation as to what 2026 holds for the fast-paced Fin.
Qatar 10-Ball World Cup champion Jonas Magpantay was considered for the award following his remarkable run in Doha, although he was already known to many following his Manny Pacquiao International Open triumph two years ago.
Women’s Player of the Year
Seo Seoa
Only ten male players have earned more prize money than South Korean sensation Seo Seoa and that is testament to the incredible year that she has experienced. At just 23 years of age, she’s now fully established herself as one of the very elite female players.
Having sizzled beneath the surface since breaking through by winning the Las Vegas Open in 2023, Seoa was crowned the women’s world 9-ball champion for the first time earlier this month in Florida after winning lucrative titles in Indonesia and Spain too.
She avenged her 2024 Women’s World 10-Ball Championship final defeat to Kristina Tkach in the aforementioned four-hour long thriller, notably following in the footsteps of her legendary compatriot Kim Ga-Young in becoming the champion of the world.
In addition, Seoa has provided some of the most heartwarming moments this year. Her contrasting reactions to winning the Indonesia International Open and the World 9-Ball Championship would bring a smile to anyone’s face – she actually wasn’t even aware that she’d won in Jakarta!
It hasn’t just been on the women’s scene that Seoa has impressed either. She became just the fourth female cueist to reach the World Pool Championship last 64 in Saudi Arabia in what was a tremendous achievement, notably stunning two-time champion Albin Ouschan in a seismic shock.
Player of the Year
Aloysius Yapp
Bearing a similar resemblance to Fedor Gorst winning this award in resounding fashion in 2024, Aloysius Yapp has unequivocally been this year’s most distinguished cueist. He has commanded the World Nineball Tour this season and almost everything that’s unfolded has revolved around him.
Yapp achieved a groundbreaking accomplishment in winning three consecutive open championships, following his elusive major accolade at the UK Open by winning Florida Open and US Open titles stateside. His US Open triumph fulfilled a childhood dream.
Yapp has emerged victorious in 39 of the 43 matches he has played on the World Nineball Tour this season, aside from the marathon Premier League, which merely highlights his undeniable dominance as well as the relentless momentum that he had gathered.
Nonetheless, perhaps his most impressive feat came at November’s International Open, where he completed an unprecedented three-peat. No one else has even successfully defended that title and Yapp had the audacity to win three in succession – something Joshua Filler referred to as ‘actually unbelievable’.
There was perhaps just one fly in the ointment in Yapp’s sensational season and that downside was not sealing World Pool Championship success. He experienced a deciding rack defeat to Jeffrey Ignacio in a controversial contest in the Middle East, and his goal for 2026 will certainly be picking up that title.
Carlo Biado, who was crowned the first Filipino two-time world champion in the summer, and Moritz Neuhausen – the Premier League and Peri Open champion and Mosconi Cup MVP – deserve honourable mentions, although their achievements were simply exceeded by the formidable Yapp.
