Canadian snooker player Alex Pagulayan won the World Pool Championship 2004 title early yesterday morning in Taipei by defeating Chinese Taipei's Chang Pei-wei (張裴瑋) 17-13.
Pagulayan was so excited after winning the tough match that he roared like a lion and lay on the ground.
"This is the game I've been waiting to win my whole life!" he exclaimed.
With the win, he takes home US$75,000 in prize money.
It was Pagulayan's first world championship. He came close last year in Cardiff, Wales, only to lose to German player Thorsten Hoh-mann in the finals.
The eight-day long World Pool Championship 2004 was held at the World Trade Center, starting on July 10, with 128 top players from around the world taking part.
It was tough road for Pagulayan to win the championship, meeting all four ace snooker players from Taiwan, including Chao Fong-pang (趙豐邦), world pool champion in 1993 and 2000, along the way.
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