Few players have surged through the sport’s modern era with the same blend of dominance, discipline, and versatility as Fedor Gorst.
Still only 24, Gorst has already carved out a legacy that includes the sport’s most prestigious titles and a reputation for fearless, clinical performances under pressure. As he returns to the glorious stage in the Kingdom to defend his crown, Gorst finds himself not only as the man to beat, but as a benchmark for excellence in today’s game.
Returning to the World Pool Championship, now as defending champion, Fedor Gorst’s mindset is a mixture of quiet confidence and grounded focus. “It honestly feels great to come back,” he says, “It’s the biggest tournament of the year. I haven’t played much this year due to a little injury, but now I’m back at it—practising hard, spending as much time on the table as I can. The next few weeks are all about getting myself back to my best form.”
 Posted By admin on Monday, July 21 2025 @ 08:37:53 UTC (131 reads)
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Rising Stars Ready As Saudi Junior Championship Returns
RISING STARS READY AS SAUDI JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS WITH 2025 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIP
The World Nineball Tour is thrilled to confirm the return of the Saudi Junior Championship, set to take place from 22–25 July 2025 at Green Halls, Jeddah, once again alongside the glorious World Pool Championship.
Now in its second year, the Saudi Junior Championship will welcome a full field of 16 rising stars aged 17 and under to compete for a $20,000 prize fund, with the winner set to receive $5,000. The tournament will follow the same format as its inaugural edition — beginning with a double elimination stage before transitioning to a knockout format for the final eight.
The event returns after a hugely successful debut in 2024, which saw Germany’s Felix Vogel crowned the inaugural champion. Vogel’s breakout win in Jeddah kickstarted a remarkable rise, going on to win the JS Junior Open in the UK this past May and earning a place not only on the Tour but in the 2025 World Pool Championship — marking his debut in the sport’s most prestigious event.
 Posted By admin on Monday, July 21 2025 @ 08:37:18 UTC (171 reads)
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No Grip No Gain
No Grip No Gain
A billiard cloth is like a tyre on a car. It gives the grip and precision for your ball to go exactly in the direction you want to.
In cue sports like Snooker, English and Chinese pool, players need extra grip to master the game.
To talk about it, we interviewed Gareth Potts, multiple Chinese and English 8-ball World Champion.
In this second of 6 episodes, Gareth Potts shows how Strachan cloths enable you to achieve advanced shots in Chinese pool.
The grip of the cloth “The grip of the cloth is what all of the players talk about and what they think about. When you're playing Eightball in particular, you're always trying to play little clever cannons, little clever nudges, you're developing balls. This is a huge part of the game. You play this on every single frame that you play. When we talk about grip of the cloth, we talk about the cue ball gripping the nap of the cloth. It grips the nap on the cloth, which all of a sudden grabs the spin of the cue ball and then ultimately sends it in the direction that you're trying to send it in.”
 Posted By admin on Saturday, July 19 2025 @ 14:35:13 UTC (141 reads)
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Draw Confirmed For 2025 Florida Open Pool Championship
GORST, VAN BOENING AND STRICKLAND HEADLINE FLORIDA PREMIERE – DRAW CONFIRMED FOR 2025 FLORIDA OPEN POOL CHAMPIONSHIP
The draw has been confirmed for the 2025 Florida Open Pool Championship – the newest Matchroom Major on the World Nineball Tour – taking place from 5–10 August at the stunning Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The brand-new event will be staged at the same venue that hosted last year’s sold-out Mosconi Cup and features a 256-player field, including the world’s top-ranked professionals. Players will battle it out for a share of the $200,000 prize fund, with the champion set to take home $40,000.
Selected First Round Matches
Fedor Gorst (USA) v Franklin Hernandez (USA)
Shane Van Boening (USA) v Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP)
Aloysius Yapp (SGP) v Brian Brekke (USA)
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) v Daniel Ramirez (USA)
Skyler Woodward (USA) v Michael Dunn (USA)
Johann Chua (PHI) v Rick Miller (USA)
Jayson Shaw (GBR) v Eliseo Omar Marin Pinto (PAN)
Eklent Kaçi (ALB) v Bobby Garza (USA)
Carlo Biado (PHI) v Sam Henderson (USA)
Naoyuki Oi (JPN) v Andri Januarta (IDN)
AJ Manas (PHI) v Lance Schofield (USA)
Earl Strickland (USA) v Andy Goldstein (GBR)
The full draw is available at WNT Live Scores, where fans can follow live rack-by-rack scoring throughout the tournament.
 Posted By admin on Saturday, July 19 2025 @ 14:26:00 UTC (230 reads)
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It’s Spitzky’s Title In Dramatic Finale
Predator Euro Tour Series
2025 Kamui Slovenian Open
IT’S SPITZKY’S TITLE IN DRAMATIC FINALE
12th July 2025
MARCO SPITZKY IS the KAMUI SLOVENIAN OPEN champion as he defeated Mario He 10-9 in a thrilling climax as he came from 9-5 down to grab victory at the death. Mario had enough chances to win and was bitterly disappointed with his display as he squandered the opportunity to take down his seventh Predator Euro Tour title.
Spitzky who came into the event ranked No.10, is something of a part-time player, working by day with children at a kindergarten, but he showed nerves of steel to hang in there and take advantage of Mario’s errors.
Hailing from Hamburg, Germany, Spitzky’s previous best was a semi-final spot in Austria last year. This time out he got off to the worst possible start in the competition as he was relegated to the losers side at the hands of Ralf Souquet. However, he battled through, and went on to beat Mariusz Sniegocki in the last eight before defeating recent Predator Austrian Open winner, Mieszko Fortunski 10-9 to make his way to the final.
Fedor Gorst is gearing up for glory as he returns to Jeddah to defend his World Pool Championship title at the world’s richest Nineball tournament, set to make history once more in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the second consecutive year.
In collaboration with the Saudi Arabian Billiard & Snooker Federation and under the supervision of the Ministry of Sport, the 2025 World Pool Championship will return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, taking place from 21–26 July at the iconic Green Halls in Jeddah.
 Posted By admin on Saturday, July 19 2025 @ 09:08:03 UTC (138 reads)
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Wu Jia-Qing and the Unbreakable Record
Phil Yates
Author
Most sporting cliches, while undoubtedly annoying, are centred in fact. ‘Records are made to be broken’ is a prime example, although when it comes to the World 9-Ball Championship one unprecedented achievement may well last a lifetime.
Twenty years ago this month, Wu Chia-Ching, now known as Wu Jia-Qing, captured the sport’s most prestigious title in Kaohsiung, the largest port in Chinese Taipei. The home-grown champion rallied from 16-12 down to dramatically edge Kuo Po-Cheng 17-16.
Wu was 16.
Absorb that for a moment. Wu was 16.
“It was just phenomenal,” recalls Karl Boyes, who was transfixed watching history unfold on TV back home in the UK. “I remember thinking, ‘This is unbelievable’. I thought the kid was unbelievable.
“At the time I was transitioning from English 8-Ball to a serious tilt at 9-Ball and seeing Wu really inspired me. It was a massive buzz, the shot-making, the way he seemed to take the big shots totally in his stride, the cue-ball control. It was all top notch outstanding.”
“The whole thing astounded me to be honest. What you’ve got to remember, it was a big, packed arena, a whole new experience for the lad and he was up against an opponent good enough to get back to a World 9-Ball Championship final five years later.”
 Posted By admin on Saturday, July 19 2025 @ 08:39:21 UTC (138 reads)
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Join Us – WNT Summer Showcase This Monday in London!
Join Us – WNT Summer Showcase This Monday in London!
You're invited to the World Nineball Tour Summer Showcase this Monday, July 14, from 1pm at Spots and Stripes, London SE1 (just 5 minutes from Southwark Tube).
What to expect:
• A preview of the 2025 World Pool Championship – with key insight from Matchroom CEO Emily Frazer, star of the upcoming Matchroom Netflix series
• The LIVE Florida Open draw – see who Andy Goldstein will face in the US
• Special guests including Darren Bent – with media interview opportunities throughout
RSVP to: Jack Mitchell – jack.mitchell@matchroom.com
For two special evenings only, fans will have the exclusive opportunity to meet the greatest player of all time, get his autograph, and take a photo with him – all as part of the most prestigious tournament on the World Nineball Tour.
This rare Meet and Greet is only available to World Pool Championship ticket holders.
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