CUE ace Chris Melling came within a whisker of taking the World 8-Ball pool championship last weekend.

Chris, has been setting the world of the green beize alight around the world with top performances in China and Las Vegas, but his latest triumph came closer to home -- in Blackpool.

The competition at the Hilton Hotel saw him beat the current World No1 Darren Appleton and Double World Champion Rob McKenna on his way to the quarter finals.

"I was playing some of the best pool of my career, and fans packing the arena were all supporting me. The atmosphere was fantastic," he said.

He lost in the quarter-finals to Terry Hunt, only the second time he has beaten Melling in 10 attempts. Hunt went on to lose 11-10 in the finals to Karl Morris.

The competition is to be televised by Sky Sports, and will be broadcast from July 15.

He was also a member of the England team which came fourth in the European 9-Ball championships in Austria and recently won the Yorkshire Open Championship, beating 40 of the top players from around the country. He was 13th out of 2,500 top players in Las Vegas on a recent trip to America.

"That was an incredible experience, there were 242 pool tables in one arena and everyone was pool crazy," he said.

His success has earned Chris a place in the England team for the home international competition which is to be held in Dublin in August and he has been invited to play a number of exhibition matches in South Africa.

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