Keighley pool ace Chris Melling nearly a World Champion

He won seven games on his way to the quarter-finals, before coming up just short against one of the events top-ranked players in Karl Sutton.

The tournament got underway for the Keighley native last Wednesday, as he demolished Hanis Gany 7-1 in his opening game.

Melling was not troubled in his second qualifying round game either, beating Toby Clack by the same scoreline.

He faced a trickier task against regular Ultimate Pool rival Shane Thompson, but came through that encounter with a 7-4 win.

Melling’s final qualifier came against Owen Amato, which he managed to win 7-5 after a fierce battle against his Maltese opponent.

Those four victories put unranked Melling into the last-64, where he produced his best performance of the tournament yet in demolishing fifth seed Josh Kane 8-2.

The Keighley man was on song by this point, and he thrashed Matthew Ryall by the same scoreline in the next round.

Melling’s last-16 clash came against Kristi Caulfield, where he managed to defeat the Irishman 8-7 in a thriller.

Chris Melling looked in good touch, winning some games easily and some where he really had to dig deep. (Image: Ultimate Pool.)

That put him into a quarter-final clash on Tuesday evening against Sutton, who he had beaten en route to the Ultimate Pool Champions League final a few weeks ago.

But fourth seed Sutton exacted revenge on his Keighley rival at the Worlds, beating him 9-5 to make the last-four.

Sutton made the final after beating Giuseppe D’Imperio 10-6, where he faced Ronan McCarthy, who had obliterated Jordan Shepherd 10-1 in the other semi.

And in a titanic final, played on Thursday, sixth seed McCarthy came out on top against Sutton, winning a magnificent match 11-9 to be crowned world champion.

Melling’s fellow Keighley native Arfan Dad had been pencilled in to play at the Worlds, but he pulled out, giving first qualifying round opponent Damien Grondin a walkover victory.