Eleven masters of Artistic Pool traveled to Kiev, Ukraine, to compete in the World Pool Association Artistic Championships on June 7-8. Mike Massey edged Italy's Stefano Pelinga by a single point in a high scoring shootout to defend his title. The ideal conditions combined with the competitors ever increasing dedication to the sport were largely responsible for six of the players exceeding 200 points for the first time. In three previous World Championships the highest score was Massey's 193 at last year's event.
The championship was comprised of 40 shots. Each competitor took from one to three attempts per shot. Points were awarded for each successful attempt. After 37 shots, Massey held an 11 point lead over Pelinga. Two shots later his lead was down to a single point. The final shot was an extremely difficult masse. The cue ball had to map out a huge semi circle before traveling six diamonds to pocket a ball at the opposite end of the table. Massey failed to pocket the shot and forced to sweat out Pelinga's three attempts. On his final shot, Pelinga missed pocketing the ball by a half inch, enabling Massey to retain his title by the narrowest of margins, 230-229. A totally drained but happy Massey commented that "This is the most exciting event I've ever played in".
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe
