KEIGHLEY potter Chris Melling saw his defence of the Champions League end last night, but he did himself proud with two broken ribs.
His last-16 group at this Ultimate Pool event was always going to be tough to get out of, with only the winner able to progress to Finals Night.
Melling, Tom Cousins, Jack Whelan and Shane Thompson have five world championships and seven major Ultimate Pool titles between them and are all in good form.
Despite his rib injury, which was affecting his breaks in particular, Melling started brightly, crushing Whelan 4-0.
But in his second match against Cousins, Melling was second-best.
He went down 4-1, with Cousins sealing the victory with a golden break, which occurs when the 8-ball goes in from the break.
At 2-0 down in his final match against Thompson, Melling had to concoct a brilliant run of a break clearance – reverse clearance – break clearance to come back and win 3-2.
That kept his qualification hopes alive, but Cousins only needed a point in his final match to pip him to top spot and go through.
And the Welshman held his nerve to beat Whelan 3-2, putting himself into finals night and knocking Melling out in the process.
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