Liu Xin and Waratthanun Sukritthanes win inaugural WPA World Heyball Pool Championships

Both champions also completed remarkable title doubles having won their event at the preceding European Heyball Open which took place at the same venue.

The men's championship featured representation from five different continents. Liu defeated opposition from the host nation and Iran as he won three matches in the initial double elimination phase to qualify for the last 16 knockouts.

There, Liu eliminated Radoslaw Babica (Poland) 7-2 and Mustafa Alnar (Turkey) 7-2 before ousting multiple-time JOY World Masters champion Gareth Potts (United Kingdom) 7-6 in the semi-finals.

Joining Liu in the final was the United Kingdom's Jack Whelan, a former IPA world blackball champion and multiple title winner on the Ultimate Pool circuit. Whelan also reached the single elimination phase with a 100% winning record and later made the showpiece match after defeating Stefan Kasper (Germany) 7-2 in the last four.

However, Liu was not to be denied the perfect finish to his memorable week as he won the final 7-3 to become the first WPA Men's Heyball World Champion. Courtesy of his victory, Liu qualifies for the heyball discipline at the 2025 World Games to be held in Chengdu in his home country.

Sukritthanes is also on top of planet heyball after she denied Diana Khodjaeva 6-1 in the final to be crowned the inaugural WPA Women's Heyball World Champion.

The 30-year-old began with an opening match 6-4 loss to Oliwia Zalewska (Poland) before winning her next two assignments 6-0 and 6-1 to qualify for the last 16.

In the knockouts, Sukritthanes pipped Kelly Fisher (United Kingdom) 6-5, whitewashed Tina Vogelmann (Germany) 6-0, and then survived another hill-hill climax as she squeezed past Shi Tianqi (China) 6-5 in the semi-finals in what was a rerun and repeat result of their meeting in the European Open final from a few days earlier.

Belgium's Khodjaeva also bounced back from losing her opening match; later in the event she defeated her sister, Kamila, 6-4 in the quarter-finals, and then Vânia Franco (Portugal) 6-3 in the last four.

Both the men's and women's tournaments had the same total prize funds with Liu and Sukritthanes each collecting $30,000USD. Whelan and Khodjaeva banked $20,000USD while the bronze medallists secured $10,000USD each.

The next major events on the JOY World Heyball Tour are the Champion of Champions (October 3-6) and Oceania Open (October 7-10) which take place in Gosford, Australia.