Artistic Pool Players put a
World Championship in their sites

24 players from around the world burst into living color as balls flew around the tables at “The Pool Room Sports Bar and Grill” in Duluth, Georgia, the host venue for the 2008 Artistic Pool World Championships. The current Trick Shot Magic Champion, Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman and the defending World Artistic Pool Champion, Andy “The Magic Man” Segal were hoping to add to their titles as well as a host of other worthy professionals.

            The event was hosted by the World Pool Association and was run smoothly by the World Pool Association Artistic Pool Division President Nate “Okinawa Slim” Bryant, the Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association Chairmen Mark Dimick and the staff of the Pool Room Sports Bar and Grill of Duluth, Georgia. The World Pool Association selected a 56 shot program that consisted of 40 preliminary round shots broken up into the 8 traditional disciplines. With 16 more shots added (2 per discipline) to spice up the playoffs. The disciplines are; Trick and Fancy Shots, Prop/Novelty/Special Arts Shots, Draw Shots, Follow Shots, Bank and/or Kick Shots, Stroke Shots, Jump shots and last but certainly not least are the Masse’ Shots.

            All 24 players were put into flights of 3 players with each flight consisting of experienced and newer players to allow a better showing for the crowds present. Throughout the preliminary rounds you could see the better players coming to the front as this difficult shot program claimed its victims.

The preliminary rounds saw some amazing play as the current World Artistic Pool Champion did not fail to disappoint as he won two of the World Discipline titles. Andy won the Trick and Fancy portion of the shot program as well as the Stroke portion of the program propelling him to first place with 232 points and a guaranteed bye in the playoffs, this total was only 18 points shy of his personal best of 250 points.

The other discipline medal winners were starting to be determined as the 2008 Trick Shot Magic third/fourth place finisher, Eric Yow, took the Prop/Novelty/Special Arts Discipline on his way to a 6th place finish in the preliminary rounds. David “Triple Jump” Nangle proved that jumps aren’t all he knows as his performance earned him the title, Masse’ World Champion. The play of Chi Ming Lin of Taiwan proved himself as a force in the Artistic Pool World with the winning of the World Draw Title.

The Romanian representative, Gabriel “Gabi” Visoiu found himself the proud owner of 3 discipline medals which included the Follow Shot World Title, the Bank / Kick title and part ownership of the World Jump Title with Jason “The Michigan Kid” Lynch. Part ownership? Let me explain that in the event of a tie between two players we try to break that tie in a number of ways including first attempt differences or differences in the difficulty of the shots made. In this instance it was impossible as “Gabi” scored a perfect Jump discipline and his American friend, Jason “The Michigan Kid” Lynch also scored a perfect Jump discipline. This is so rare that it has never happened at a World Championship, and we were allowed to see it happen twice!

Places after the preliminary rounds were:

            The playoffs were taking shape. The top 4 players from the preliminary rounds were awarded with a first round bye, while the other 8 players from the top 12 were set to battle it out in the preliminary playoff round.

The first match pitted Nick “Quick Nick” Nikolaidis against Chi-Ming Lin. Nick’s speed and accuracy proved too much for Chi-Ming as Nick won with a score of 112–91.

The next match pitted a veteran in the form of Bruce “The Big Guy” Barthelette rising to victory against Stefan “The Governor” Mendrick with a score of 76-68. The third match was a nail biter as it came down to the last shot for Eric “The Preacher” Yow as he faced Ralph “The Gladiator” Eckert. The score was so close that if Eric made the shot he advanced if not, then Ralph would have a shot at reaching the next round with a make on any of his three attempts. It was not in the cards for Ralph as Eric, with the composure that earned him a spot on this years ESPN Trick Shot Magic, made the shot securing a 98-91 win and the chance to meet Gabriel “Gabi” Visiou in the next round.

The last of the first round matches was one we are used to seeing by now as Dave “Triple Jump” Nangle met Charles “Spitball” Darling for the third time in tournament play. In the last two outings, Dave had gotten the better of Charles and was hoping for history to repeat itself. Charles wrote a new chapter as he defeated David by a score of 116-96.

            Fresh off his win in the preliminary rounds, Nick “Quick Nick” Nikolaidis carried his momentum into the Quarter-final match with tournament leader and defending World Champion, Andy Segal. Nick defeated Andy by a score of 102-80 to earn a spot in the Semi-finals. The second match of the Quarter-finals saw a man on a mission as Jamey “The Sharpshooter” Gray with the same look of intense concentration that earned him the bye in the first round, beat Bruce “The Big Guy” Barthelette 103-96. (Bruce actually introduced Jamey to this sport).
It was Eric “The Preacher” Yow, facing “Gabi” in the third of the Quarter-final matches. Eric emerged victorious with a score of 117-97. Tom “Dr.Cue” Rossman faced Charles “Spitball” Darling and also lived to continue the fight in the Semi-finals with a score of 113-95.

The Semi-finals saw the closest match in the tournament to that point as Jamey “The Sharpshooter” Gray defeated the veteran Nick ‘Quick Nick” Nikolaidis with a score of 111-109. It would seem that Jamey was destined to make the finals from the first stroke of his cue that weekend. Jamey had to wait on the second match of the Semi-finals. The other Semi-final was much like the first as a veteran took on a determined young gun in the form of Eric Yow. Tom “Dr.Cue” Rossman won in a close match over Eric “The Preacher” Yow 110-99.
 
            The final match was one you could not have scripted with the best writers in Hollywood. The audience seemed to be in awe as the players traded the lead throughout the match while giving each other a high five after every shot. To cheer for your opponent is so ingrained in Artistic Pool; to do anything else would seem unnatural. The match reached the final shot. Tom was behind and had to pick a shot that he could make with hopes that Jamey would not. Tom picked a difficult 5 rail kick to pocket a ball that was placed a diamond out of the corner pocket (see diagram). Tom hit the ball and as it banked around the table, he shouted his trademark “Look at this!” The ball split the pocket for 9 points, giving Tom a slight lead of 116-110. Jamey “The Sharpshooter” Gray took a few moments to compose himself, checked his notes on the shot and approached the table. With the calm, steady hand of a sniper, Jamey lived up to his name. He fired the cue ball 5 rails around the table and cut the 5 ball clean in the corner to win the World Championship by the score of 119-116.

Congratulations to Jamey “The Sharpshooter” Gray, the 2008 World Pool Association Artistic Pool Champion.

First, Second and Third received a medal from the WORLD POOL ASSOCIATION, a Trophy and a Cue from McDermott Cues. Chi-Ming Lin received the Sportsmanship medal with a vote from his peers as well as a McDermott Cue. Discipline awards winners received a medal from the WORLD POOL ASSOCIATION.

Final Results (with preliminary scores)