Keighley potters Chris Melling and Arfan Dad have had contrasting Monday nights in the Ultimate Pool Champions League this month.

The pair were in Groups Nine and Ten respectively, with Melling getting his campaign underway last week, and Dad in action just four days ago.

On his day, few can live with Melling, one of British pool’s legitimate superstars over the last 20 or 25 years.

He stormed into the last-16 by winning Group Nine in emphatic fashion, beating all three of his group stage opponents.

The Keighley native crushed Tom Ford 4-0 in his opener, though he was pushed much harder next up by Adam Bassoo, before coming up with a 3-2 win.

The final game of the night saw Melling pitted against Chris Day, and victory for the latter would have led to a six-red shootout between the pair to decide who made it through to the last-16.

But the Keighley man ensured there was no need for that nerve-shredding finale, beating Day 4-2 to progress with a perfect record.

The last-16 comprises of four groups of four, and while Melling’s spot in Group C is now confirmed, he must wait until Groups 11 and 12 conclude in the coming weeks until he knows the identity of all three of his opponents.

He does know one of those opponents, and that is Kristi Caulfield, who joins him in Group C after overcoming Dad, Gary Clarke and Neil Raybone on Monday.

Whereas Melling was the standout player in Group Nine at the start of the month, Group Ten proved far more closely fought.

But it was a nightmare start on Monday for Keighley potter Dad, as he was thumped 4-0 by Clarke in his opener.

That left him on the back foot straight away, but he bounced back in the next game of the night, dismantling Raybone 4-0 to fire his way back into contention to qualify.

Dad knew victory in his last game would give him a chance of going through, but he could only draw 3-3 with Caulfield.

All Clarke had to do was defeat the hitherto struggling Raybone in the final game of the night to go through, but he was thumped 4-1, meaning Caulfield edged through with four points from his three games, a win and two draws.

With Dad and Clarke level on three points, a six-red shootout was played to determine who finished second in the group, with the Keighley man’s rapid clearance in 22.22 seconds ensuring he was the runner-up, a small consolation on an ultimately disappointing night for him.