Two-time world champion Chris Melling is back on top after winning his first Pro Series event of the year, catapulting him to number one in the Ultimate Pool Tour’s rankings.
Melling, the only player to have played professionally in eight ball, nine ball, Chinese eight ball, and snooker, returned to English eight ball two years ago following a seven-year hiatus and he is once again the world number one. The 44-year-old returned to English eight ball pool to help spearhead the Ultimate Pool Tour having focused on playing other cue sports such as snooker.
‘The Magician’ spoke with Fen Regis Trophies shortly after winning his first event of 2023 and he believes that he was full value for his tournament win as he’s “been the most consistent player on the circuit for the last two years”.
Melling said: “I’ve been the most consistent player on the circuit for the last two years. That was my seventh final, and the tour has only been going for a few years…but it’s the wins are the ones that count!
“I won an event last year on the Ultimate Pool Tour, that was one of the series.
“I won two events before that, which were the Champions League and the Champion of Champions on Freesports TV. This was my fourth win on the Ultimate Pool Tour series.
“It’s always difficult to win events because there are so many great players. There are now 96 professionals, so it is even harder as there were only 44 before.
“It’s a lot tougher and a lot of snooker players have come over, with the likes of Mark Williams, Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Tom Ford, Stephen Maguire etc…”
Snooker and Pool
Melling admits that having some of the bigger names from the world of snooker competing on the tour is exciting, and discussed the generalisations made between the differences between pool and snooker.
He said: “It’s brilliant [having the snooker players competing]. Mark Selby is a former world champion (winning the WEPF World Eight Ball Championship in 2006).
“Tom Ford has played a lot of pool – I think he got to the quarter-final of the World Championships a few years ago – and Joe O’Connor (confirm spelling) has played county for Leicester.
“All three of them players come from Leicester and they’ve all played county pool in the past. They know how to play and they know how to win.
“From where I’m looking, Mark Allen is probably the standout of the other snooker players. Mark Williams has got a table at home, so he has probably been practising quite a bit! It will be interesting to see how well he plays.
“I think the snooker players that are playing on the Ultimate Pool Tour are all aware of how difficult it is. The general consensus between snooker and pool spectators is that pool is an easier game and snooker players are far better, but they couldn’t be more wrong if they tried!
“In my opinion, there are only two or three snooker players that can compete when they come up against the top pool players.”
World Champion, Mosconi Cup Winner…and Ladies Player of the Year?!
Having lifted the sport’s most prestigious trophies, it might come as a surprise that the first trophy Melling remembers collecting was the 1989 Ladies Player of the Year award for his local team.
“When I was 10 years old,” he said. “I was playing for a local ladies’ team and won Player of the Year in 1989…I still have the trophy at home!”
By the age of 13, Melling was winning junior tournaments and was making notable strides, winning national junior titles at the age of 17. He was aged only 22 when he won his first world title in 2001, defeating Rob McKenna 11-10 in a gripping final.
It isn’t often that winning a World Championship doesn’t rank as the number one sporting achievement by any sportsman fortunate to have done so, but that is the case for Melling, who was a pivotal part of Europe’s Mosconi Cup successes in 2011 and 2012, the second of which he was named MVP.
“Winning the Mosconi Cup is definitely my biggest achievement,” he admitted. “Playing in the Mosconi Cup was unbelievable.
“The first time I played was in Las Vegas at the MGM, and the second time was in London. The atmosphere was just crazy.
“The pressure is something that you cannot recreate unless you have played in that event. It is the standout event I have played in – there is a lot more pressure when it comes to team events.
“You’re not only letting yourself down, but also your team, your country, your continent, and the fans. You let them down if you lose. If you lose on your own, you’re only letting yourself down and maybe your sponsors.”
He added: “There’s not as much pressure on you in individual matches, but when you play team events there is more pressure – and the more pressure there is the more I enjoy it, to be honest.
“I never actually lost a singles match in the Mosconi Cup. I think I’m the only player that has never lost a singles game.
“I won the MVP in 2012, I won four out of five matches and that was nice to win it in front of a home crowd down in London. That was pretty special.”
Now that he is back at the top of his game, you wouldn’t rule ‘The Magician’ adding to his already impressive CV by winning a few more major titles before he hangs up his cue once and for all.
