KEIGHLEY'S Chris Melling became an internet sensation after a wonder clearance in a World Pool Series event in New York.

Melling, who has earned the nickname 'The Magician', took his on-table tricks to new heights during his Ryo Rack Classic Championship match against Finland's Mika Immonen.

His sequence included three incredible shots (see video below) which went viral on social media and earned plaudits from snooker legend Steve Davis among other famous names.

Melling said: "Some are saying it was the greatest pool clearance ever seen. It went up on social media and got four and a half million views in three days.

"It just went crazy and even broke the official streaming as so many people were trying to watch it.

"I had a message from Steve Davis, and darts players Adrian Lewis and Chris Mason."

His eight-ball match against four-time world champion Immonen was tied at 1-1 when his first out-of-the-ordinary pot saw him sink the spotted four-ball involving an elaborate cannon shot.

The cue ball was now hooked behind the 13 but, without even blinking, Melling jacked up his playing cue and swerved the cue ball on a full table arc and incredibly potted the two-ball at the other end of the table.

Several easy shots later Melling ran into a wall as his last ball, the one-ball, was blocked from both corner pockets.

In a format where players must call which ball they want to pot and into what pocket, Melling called the one-ball in the very corner that was blocked.

The crowd seemed to sense something special was about to happen and indeed it did.

Melling sent the one-ball on a four-rail journey around the table, through all of Immonen’s stripes, barely past the eight-ball and into the tight four-inch corner pocket.

With the cue ball in position and with the crowd going wild, the Keighley potter tapped in the eight-ball to win the rack.

Melling, who went on to beat Immonen 9-3 before bowing out in the last 16, said: "That was the greatest clearance of my career.

“On the one-ball a lot of people might say that was lucky, but eight-ball is 'call shot'. It’s going to take something for somebody to beat that shot.”

Melling's magic put his name back on the map in a sport in which he has excelled in the past, having been a former eight-ball world champion, world number three at nine-ball and a key member of Europe's Mosconi Cup team.

He had returned to the green baize to make a go of it on the world professional snooker circuit but was hampered by an injury.

"I had a good first year back but then in my second year I trapped a nerve in my neck and couldn't move my arm properly for a long time," he said.

The 38-year-old is now relishing life back on the pool circuit, with more competitions planned in America, China and India.

Video courtesy of Youtube