World Pool Championship ball-waxing controversy rages on as authorities issue 'cheating' statement
The controversy and fallout from the recent 2025 World Pool Championship continues to rumble on, with governing body the World Pool Association stepping in to make an official statement surrounding allegations of ‘ball-waxing’ during the blue riband event.
It has been over a week since the Philippines’ Carlo Biado sank the winning nine-ball to dethrone defending champion Fedor Gorst 15-13 in a thrilling final at the Green Halls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to claim the biggest title in the sport and collect a $250,000 payday.
Biado joined an even more exclusive club of multiple-time winners of the world title having first secured the crown in 2017.
World number one Gorst - a Russian-born but now American citizen and representative on the global stage - was aiming to become only the second player in history to successfully defend the title. Earl ‘The Pearl’ Strickland did just that with back-to-back triumphs in 1990 and 1991.
Gorst fell one step short of that achievement, but he still pocketed $100,000 for his efforts and stays top of the rankings tree.
Carlo Biado brings the #WorldPoolChampionship home to the Philippines 🇵🇭🏆 pic.twitter.com/L9qdH3BmuG
— Matchroom Pool (@MatchroomPool) July 26, 2025
What is the ball-waxing controversy at the World Pool Championship?
Away from the baize, though, discussion has swept across social media about allegations towards several players in the tournament of ‘ball tampering’ by subtly applying wax to the cueball to make it react differently than it naturally should during a match.
The accusations appear to be focused on certain Filipino players who were in the competition. Seven cueists from the nation reached the last 16 in the Middle East.
The debate was seemingly taken up another level by Albania’s Eklent Kaci - last year’s World Championship runner-up - who posted on Facebook following his last 32 defeat to Patric Gonzales of the Philippines.
“Lost in the last 32 against one of the 30 Filipinos in the tournament. Weird cue ball, (it) was all over the place.
“I think the cue ball was waxed real bad, and I think whoever gets caught doing it should get banned for enough time for their gloves, towel and whatever to get real dry.”
“I’m not complaining because I lost, is not my first time and is not going to be my last time losing for sure. My mind says that the cue ball was different comparing to my first 3 previous matches where the start of the match plays just fine, and then mid match till end match tables and balls play tougher and tougher.
“Last match I had too many over-draw shots, playing a safe shot, aiming half of the ball with english, and didn’t even hit the ball, missed lots of shots by a mile where english was needed, out of position totally sometimes.
“Maybe I just played bad, it’s possible of course.
“Maybe Patrick played just better and well done to him.
“Even if nothing wrong was with that cue ball, I still think that the authorities in charge about this stuff should take this seriously cause it has happened many times in many tournaments where lots of players have complained about it and no one has gotten punished about it, it will keep happening from one or another.”
Kaci’s comments came after fellow competitor Aloysius Yapp (Singapore) posted on his Instagram “wax on, wax off” in the wake of his 11-10 loss to Jeffrey Ignacio (Philippines).
Reigning UK Open champion Yapp later apologised for that comment, although stood by his beliefs that it was “unlikely for a cueball to play the way it did.”
Another Filipino star who got caught up in the controversy online was current Hanoi Open champion Johann Chua, who made his feelings clear on Facebook about the accusations, and threatened legal action:
“I decided to wait for the conclusion of this tournament. While I kept my silence, my legal team secured all evidences, screenshots, pages and account information of all the people who blatantly spread false and defamatory statements against me. I will not allow anyone to malign my name and reputation without solid proof or evidence.
“My lawyers will deal with this matter in court, both in the US and in the Philippines. I know who you guys are, see you in court.”
Four-time Mosconi Cup winner with Team Europe Karl Boyes - who was in Jeddah commentating on the World Championship - has since produced a fantastic video on his YouTube channel explaining and demonstrating the effect that wax has on the cueball.
During the event and a few days after its conclusion, authorities did not publicly comment about the ball-waxing allegations, but the World Pool Association did release an official statement on their website on Saturday 2nd August.
The WPA made their stance clear that waxing balls in this fashion constitutes to cheating and athletes found guilty of doing this will be punished:
“It has come to the attention of the World Pool Association (WPA) that certain athletes have been waxing balls during matches. It has also been suggested that some players believe there is no rule prohibiting this practice.
“The WPA would like to make it explicitly clear that the waxing of balls is considered a form of cheating and will be dealt with under the WPA’s rules governing unsportsmanlike conduct. Athletes found guilty of such actions risk facing the maximum disciplinary penalty, including a lifetime ban from WPA-sanctioned events.
“To address this issue, the WPA will implement additional checkpoints and equipment inspections during tournaments to detect and prevent this type of misconduct.
“The WPA remains committed to ensuring fair play and preserving the integrity of the sport.”
Next up for Matchroom Pool’s World Nineball Tour is the inaugural Florida Open (August 5-10) with one of the sport’s most prestigious events - the US Open - taking place in Atlantic City shortly afterwards between August 18-23.