The 2006 Philippines World Pool Championship (WPC) in Manila is the 17th edition of the tournament that was first staged in Bergheim, Germany by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) in 1990.

The WPC is the flagship event of the World Pool-Billiard Association, the governing body for pool. Over the last 16 years, the event has grown to become the most prestigious and coveted pool tournament in the world.

Since its launching, the tournament has been staged in six different countries: Germany (two times), the United States (three times), Taiwan (five times), Sweden (once), Spain (once), and the United Kingdom (five times). The Philippines will be the seventh country to host the tournament.

In 1999, Matchroom Sport of the United Kingdom took over the organization and management of the WPC under a long-term agreement with the WPA. It staged the tournament in Cardiff, Wales. For the first time that year, the event was broadcast live and delayed to a global audience. On that historic occasion, Filipino great Efren Reyes was crowned world champion. From thereon, the WPC has gotten bigger and better as more networks around the world took part in the broadcast and more pool fans tuned in to the event.

In Manila, as in previous years, 128 of the best players in the world will be competing for the title of 2006 world pool champion and the top prize of $100,000, the highest ever for the tournament. Forty-six countries will be participating in the event this year. Prior to the main tournament, 10 qualifying tournaments will be held to fill 10 slots in the main draw.

In 2005, the WPC was staged at the Kaoshiung Exhibition Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. At the end of the nine-day event, the 16-year-old Taiwanese Wu Chia Ching emerged as the 2005 world pool champion.  

The growth of the WPC has coincided with the phenomenal spread of pool around the world. To pool’s original home in the United States, new powers have emerged in Asia and Europe. The Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and Korea are the biggest pool-playing nations in Asia. Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are the top powers in Europe. But many new strong players have emerged in other countries as well, notably Russia, China, Australia, Italy, Canada and Hungary.