Chris Melling - Part 3 (Triumph Through Loss — China Open, Mosconi Cup & MVP)

Allison Fisher 0:14

During the same period you won on the Snooker secondary circuit, including an international open series event. You once explained that you loved Snooker but Pool helped pay the bills. How difficult was that financial balancing act?

Chris Melling 0:30

It was really hard because obviously I was doing a lot of exhibitions with the English pool, doing well with the tournaments. So for me to kind of practice snooker all the time and risk not earning that money at Pool, it was really hard. And you know, I I wish I could have just played snooker full time because I do think I would have I definitely think I'd have made top 32. Um beat a lot of the top players, but I lost to players that I never thought should be beating me. Likes of I beat Joe Perry with Joe O'Connor's Q because my Q didn't turn up, and then I beat Matthew Stevens, I beat Peter Ebden, Nigel Bond, Tom Ford, Mark Selby. Um, you know, lo loads loads of players that have done really well. Um but then the draws wasn't my favourite as well because I drew what's his name the young kid who won it last year, the left-hander. I forgot his name. He won the World Snooker Championships, not last year, the year before. Yeah, the Chinese kid. Xiao Tong, no? Xing Tong. Zingtong.

Allison Fisher 1:26

Yeah.

Chris Melling 1:27

And then I I lost to him, then I lost to Zhao Yu Long. So they were two who were top eight players now in the rankings. And I I drew I drew him first round. I didn't have the best of draws either.

Mike Gonzalez 1:37

Yeah.

Chris Melling 1:37

But yeah, you know, I've no regrets. It were my own choice, my own decision not to practice as much snook as I maybe should have done. But then again, there were times where I'm really good friends with a lot of the snooker players, and that I won't mention his name, but one in particular was struggling for money, and he was one of the top 32 players. And I'm thinking, well, hang on a minute, did I make the right decision to stick to pool? And you know, in my heart, yeah, I think I did.

Mark Wilson 2:03

By 2008, you were reaching the late stages of the BPA world events on the nine-foot table. What technical changes did you have to make?

Chris Melling 2:13

I'd I didn't play as much English pool when I was playing nine ball. I I really enjoyed it. It was a new challenge to me to play full-time. I had a good sponsor that paid for me to go wherever I wanted. He actually came with me to most of the events, Carl Fitzsimmons. And I got to go up to the semi-final of the World Eight Ball in Fajera, where I lost to Chan Chan Jun Ling, and he was that obviously uh unfortunately he's not here anymore, and it's really sad because he was one of the best players I've ever played in my life. But I played faultless against him. I I didn't make a mistake. Um it was just a break that let me down. And then um I think I didn't uh I've lost twice in the quarter final of the World Nine Bowl Championship, won the China Open, won the Derby City Classic. Um I think I finished fifth in the US Open once. So I've always been somewhere near, let's say, fifth in the World 10 ball, but just never got that you know match room ranking ahead, let's say, which is one thing I definitely want to win. And I do believe that I can win it. Every dog has his day, you know. We've seen players go through stages where you you like Josh Filler, Jason Shaw, Appleton, Mika Riminen, you know, all these players went through stages where they won four or five events, Francisco Ruiz, another one, Fedor Ghost. And I do think it happens like you do go through stages where you think you're untouchable and the pool gods are on your side, let's say. But who knows? I I know that if I turn it on and play my A game, that I'm I'm a test for any of them.

Mike Gonzalez 3:42

Yeah. Well, we're gonna talk about some of those pool victories that you'd mentioned. Uh if you go back to 2010, you you won the Euro Tour Portugal Open defeating Carlos Cabelo 9-4. Did that feel like the result that that that proved you belonged among Europe's elite nine ball players?

Chris Melling 4:01

Yeah, definitely. That elevated me to the number one spot to get on the Moscone Cup. Lucky for me, I kept getting good results. I qualified through every single Euro tour, I think for three years I got through to the last 32 minimum. Um so I was very consistent, and I was getting the good results against the good players. I I must have lost to Ralph Suke for two years running, I just couldn't beat the guy. And then all of a sudden I started beating him, and then that became consistent. And so I I wasn't fearing I I didn't really fear them anyway, but I knew there were better players than me. But then all of a sudden, certain elements of my game came to the fore, like my jump shots became better, my break became better, my kicking probably became as good as virtually anyone. Um and I just think them elements helped my game because it wasn't the potting side of the game that was letting me down, it was the other parts of the game, and I I still think that now I think my potting's totally fine, I think my kicking's good, my safety's good. My break does let me down sometimes, but you know, the more I play, the more I'm gonna be consistent.

Mike Gonzalez 5:03

Yeah, yeah. Now the same general period we're in, sort of 2010, coming into 2011, uh it was it was a difficult time for you as well, and and part of that was the diagnosis that your mother received, which you had mentioned. So take us through sort of that time frame when she was diagnosed and and what that was like for you, both on and off the table during that time.

Chris Melling 5:24

Yeah, so any anybody who who knew me or has known me throughout my life knows how close I was to my mum and dad, especially my mum. I I'm an only child, I don't have any brothers or sisters. My mum's she she did everything. She did all the cooking, the washing, cleaning, everything, you name it, she did it. And she helped me endlessly with anything I ever wanted, if she could afford to do that. Um basically she'd she'd come home one day and she said, Oh, I don't feel right well, I keep going dizzy. And I was like, Are you okay? She's like, Oh, I'm not sure, I'll just keep going dizzy. I went, Well, sit down, you know, have a glass of water, I'll get you some water, blah blah blah. Got some headache tablets. Anyway, she she had it for a few days, so she went to the doctor, and the doctor referred us to the hospital. So my dad took her to the hospital, and um I got um invited to the China Open. That was the that was after I'd finished so high on the rankings in in the European tour. So I bought the flight, bought the hotel, paid the entry, blah blah blah. My mum came back from hospital and she got diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to her brain, which was making her go dizzy. But she never complained, she never moaned about it, she just got on with life, had chemo, she did everything she could to beat you, and obviously anybody who's ever gone through anything like that or knows anybody who's ever gone through that, things like that, it it just devastates you, and especially being so close to somebody like I was to my mum. Um, and then I was like, I don't want to go play in China, I don't want to leave you, please let me stay at home, I want to stay at home. And mum and dad sat me down and said, Listen, we've paid for you all our lives, like I mentioned earlier, to become the person you've become and the player you've become. We want you to go out there, I want you to forget that this is happening. I said, Well, how can I do that? You know, and I need to be here for you. No, no, you need to be in China, this is your job, this is what you do. Go to China and win it. And I went to China, I told Tony Drago, because I'm really close with Tony, and I told Tony Drago, I said, Look, this has happened with my mum. Uh he and again, you know Tony really well, Alice, and then he gave me he g he gave me one of his big famous cuddles where it's like a big bear grab, big big bear grabbing older. And um I broke down and um he said, just do it for your mum. I didn't practice, I didn't pick up the queue, didn't hit one ball, and I won the China open. And I just thought I just thought that is unbelievable because my mindset was I really don't care if I don't put a ball here. But obviously then when he started winning a few games, it's like, hang on a minute, this this could be good. I came home and literally within I think it was two or three weeks, my mother passed away. So that was maybe 16 years ago, two weeks ago, 16 years ago. So obviously that time of year it obviously puts you down a little bit and you have memories and you think about things and what might have been, and you know, would she have been a grandma, you know, things like that, she'd have loved to being a grandma, dad would loved to be a granddad, and things like that. So you kind of miss them things a little bit, do you know what I mean? The main thing is obviously I just try my best to make my mum and dad proud.

Mike Gonzalez 8:25

Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm and I'm sure she would she was and and would have been proud of what you've continued to do. You kind of came off that experience then, both the the the the the the win, perhaps for you a surprise win because of the lack of preparation in China and then then the and then losing your mom, you go into the Moscone Cup as a rookie in 2011, carrying that load, and you win four of six matches. You had a heck of an event.

Chris Melling 8:53

Yeah, and they made a big mistake. Johan made a big mistake because he put me first out against Shane Van Bonin when that was an extra game for each whoever player wanted to play. So Johan actually made the mistake because he was going to put Darren out there and he put me out there. So that wasn't my first game playing Shane von Bonin. Welcome to the Marconi Cup. Yeah, it was an unbelievable feeling. I actually beat him 6'5. And um what made it more special for me was the fact that my family and friends were there, so my dad was there with me as well, and my manager was there, a lot of my friends from from where I live. Um my dad's never been to America, he's never travelled basically out of Europe. So to have my dad there supporting me, um, all he did basically would go to the pub nearly every day and you know have cheap beers and cheap food and then come and watch me. But one one of the memories that I had about that Moscone in particular was um I think we one day one, I think it was 3-2, 4-1. Um I was walking through the MGM casino and Mike DeShain said something to me which was a little bit out of turn because Mike could be like that sometimes, he was a bit immature sometimes. And um one of my friends who was with me is was a bit of a nutter when he was younger, and um he didn't like what Mike had said. I just said, listen, just leave it. And he's like, No, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna break his nose. And I'm like, oh I don't I don't need this. And he would have done. And I'm like, Danny, there's cameras everywhere, you can't do this. You're gonna get arrested in America, you're gonna get you might get put inside. Just do not do this, just leave it. Let us let us play. And then Mike was like, I'll play you for 10, 15, 20,000 anytime you want. I says, I'll tell you what it is, Mike. I'll play for the winner and runner-up check for the Moscone Cup. How's that? And he's like, No, I want to play you individually. I says, Yeah, because you can't handle the pressure. That's the difference between me and you. I'm here for my team, you're here for you. So that that that was one of the memories, but me and me and Mike get on well, to be fair.

Mike Gonzalez 10:50

Yeah, yeah. Well, before we get into just the the theater of the place and and what you remember about the noise and the excitement and the nerves, let's just talk about the captain and the approach that he used in managing that group of disparate personalities and getting you molded into a cohesive winning team.

Chris Melling 11:12

Yeah, well, anybody who knows Johan knows that he has an unbelievable record in the Moscone Cup as a captain for both teams, to be fair, and it was my first time, and it was weird because like we we we all went for food all the time together, we practiced together, we did it, we did everything apart from sleep with each other. Johan used to get us in a room the first day, and there was me, Darren, Ralph, Nick Vandenberg, and Niels Fire. And we were sat around this table, and he says, Right, he says, what we have to do here is get rid of the negative energy and the negative thoughts. So I want you to tell me how you think your year's gone, the positive things, and how you think your year's gone with the negative things. So obviously a few of the lads went and I went last. So obviously I told them that I'd had a really good year, I'd you know, I'd won the won the uh Portuguese Open, I'd done well in the events, I finished number one, thought my career had taken the next step, and then obviously got on about the negative things with my mother, with my friends, with the kid, with everything else, and I kind of held it together, to be honest, which I was struggling a little bit, and um I looked round and everybody's crying. Every single person that was in that room was crying, then that set me off. So I sigh crying, then we all give each other a big cuddle, and um I kind of struggled a little bit, but then as soon as I got in the arena on my own, I didn't have the team kind of pressure on me because I was there on my own. Obviously, you get the lads coming up to you and tapping you at the back and I fiving you and things like that, but it wasn't as extreme as it is now. Um you still got the I5, but there wasn't all the woo and all this carry on.

Mike Gonzalez 12:43

Yeah.

Chris Melling 12:43

So I just got on table and just concentrated on what my job was, and that was getting the point for Europe. And like I said, luckily I beat Shane first match at 6-5, and that put me on uh a good step and a good a good uh a good bit of confidence for myself.

Mike Gonzalez 12:59

Yeah. So so how much nerves were you feeling? None. Really?

Chris Melling 13:06

I never ever ever get nervous. Never I think I think you get butterflies, which I think is different to nervousness, and I think you need butterflies, so you need to be edgy. But I never I never shake, never. It doesn't matter if you put a gun against my head, I don't shake. Yeah, and I think that's just I think that's just I don't know, I might be a bit stupid, I don't know. But yeah, that just had to be yeah. I never I never shake, never, I never have done. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 13:31

Well, you were in enemy territory, that's a little different than playing at home in your first one. What was the atmosphere like that first time?

Chris Melling 13:39

Oh, it was amazing. Obviously, playing in the MGM in front of a big American crowd, obviously they had the most of the support. I I'd played in America at the um Rio before, where I'd I actually double-dipped Shane Van Bonin in the final, and then I'd won I won the BCA and the I think it was the Challenge of Champions and the Grand Masters. I won both of them that year. And then I'd like I said I'd won the Euro Tour, I'd won a couple of other events, and I just I had loads of confidence in America, and I've I think I've done really well in America. I've always I've always done alright over there, and I I love the place to be honest. Um I did have a thought of of going to live over there, and there was a a guy who was running a tournament called Ten Ball Run, and uh I was asked to go to go live over there, so I actually had a leaving party at home to go, and two days later it fell through. So all my mates came to my leaving party and I never went.

Allison Fisher 14:32

You went, I'm back.

Mike Gonzalez 14:35

So which of the American players, and of course, you mentioned Shane, but we also had Mike DeShane, Johnny Archer, Rodney Morris, Charlie Williams, Sean Putnam on that team. Which of those American players impressed you the most and why?

Chris Melling 14:54

Well, I think I think the one who kind of surprises us is pretty obvious, which is Shane, because he doesn't play his A game at at the Moscone. And I listen, I've got lots of respect for Shane. I know a good Shane, he's he's he's the best American pool player by a country mile. Obviously, Fedor's now turned to uh being American, but for me he he was best by a country mile. But the one who did impress impress me, and I know obviously he was a great player back in his day and he still is a great player, was Rodney Morris. And because his technique is not something you would teach, it's it's very snatchy, but but it works for him and and his cue ball control and how good he is under pressure, it was like you were just watching somebody like just float around the room like it meant nothing. Um and I've watched him since and I've become friends with him, and you know, he just plays the game like he he doesn't care, which is I love watching players play like that. Dennis is very similar, Dennis Arch is a very similar player, but I don't like watching players who like you know take forever. That that's just the way the player, but I'd I'd say Shane was the one who surprised me because he didn't perform like I thought he would, but on the other hand, Rodney performed brilliant. But the year after, when we played in London, Johnny Archer won six out of six, but obviously he was on the losing team, so I got the MVP that year where really he should have got it.

Mike Gonzalez 16:19

Gotcha. Interesting.

Mark Wilson 16:23

I always get a kick out of watching Rodney Morris play because uh if he has a routine run out, he can't do it. But if he gets out of line and has to make three hard shots, he gets out every time. And in particular in 2016, Rodney, we were losing, and Rodney had to play Jason Shaw, who hadn't missed a ball for three months. And then knowing how Rodney has to scramble through racks, I'm thinking, I'm trying to keep up a brave face for our team, but oh god, I don't want to watch this bloodshed that's gonna happen here. And to Rodney's credit, he went out there and took that match down, and it was just unbelievable, but it was just a shot making festival for him, and it's uh he's a fun guy to watch, much like you said, Chris.

Chris Melling 17:10

Yeah, I I I love watching him plays. Um he's somebody I could literally sit down in a room and watch all day. Jason's the same, filler's the same, Shane is the same. Um, you know, but there are some players out there where there are they are great players, but I just couldn't sit there and watch them. I could watch them for maybe 30 minutes, and I'd just be like, you know, I've had enough of this. You know, I won't men I won't mention who they are.

Mike Gonzalez 17:36

Well, given that the the 2011 Moscone Cup happened when it did in your life, did the team dynamic and being able to have that camaraderie uh really make a big difference vis-a-vis just your normal individual tournament play at that time?

Chris Melling 17:54

Yeah, definitely, because as anybody knows who's played in a team, uh whether that be for your county, your your country, your state, there's a lot more pressure on you as a as a team player, because not only are you representing yourself, you're representing your friends, your family, your team, your supporters, your sponsors. So there's definitely more um pressure on you, let's say. But I've always been decent or let's say good in team events throughout my whole career. I think there was a there was a tournament once at Great Yarmouth when Darren was the captain, and Darren used to put me out first every single match, and I I broke and cleared 14 out of 14, which was like, you know, in a team event, and everybody's like, is this kid gonna miss? I was only young at the time, but yeah, I love playing in the team events to be honest.

Allison Fisher 18:41

So at your call in 2012, Europe retained the cup and you were named MVP after winning four or five matches. What's your clearest memory of that week?

Chris Melling 18:52

I think it has to be the kick shot against Brandon Schuff. Um I was I was I I played faultless the whole game, and then he put me in in a hook or a snooker, let's say, where I had to play off the right-hand side cushion and then um hit the ball with left-hand spin. But obviously, them tables they slid like mad off the cushions. Um so I had to adjust where I thought I needed to aim, and I pointed the ball, but as soon as I pointed the ball, I knew it was going to come off the top rail with spin, and I would land somewhere near dead straight. And then I'm on the ball, I'm thinking, whatever you do, don't miss now. You've made that. So that kind of put a bit of pressure on me thinking, well, I can't miss season. Lucky for me, I cleared up and I remember Darren jumping over the barrier, Nikos nearly nearly knocked me flying, Nick Vandenberg was jumping all over me and Neil's fire, and it was it was absolutely mental. There was screaming in the crowd, and obviously the ceiling at York Hall is very low, so it makes it even more special because it seems even busier and even louder. That that is one memory that I'll I'll never forget. And you know, having some friends that came down there, it was great to have them there, and on a on a different note, it it's pretty sad as well for me because one of the girls that actually came to watch me, she actually she died about three weeks ago um of a brain hemorrhage out of nowhere. Um she was totally fine, and then within an hour she was dead. Oh so yeah, so it was it was quite uh emotional when I actually went to um a funeral back in in England, a party, get together, let's say, a work, all her family, a sister, kids, things like that, because she'd only just moved to Spain to to make a better life with her with her husband and kids, and obviously then that happened. But she she was one of the people who came to the Moscone Cup in Vegas and in London and supported me the whole way, and we've we we've stayed friends ever since.

Allison Fisher 20:40

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

Chris Melling 20:42

Yeah.

Allison Fisher 20:42

So for for people listening, back to the York Hall, describe what the atmosphere's like in York Hall from the players' chair, as opposed to being in Vegas, you're the home team, you're on home turf. What's it like?

Chris Melling 20:56

Well, I think there's more pressure on you when you're in uh York Hall, simply because there's your home fans are there. It's probably tenfold compared to the away fans. Obviously, the screaming, the shouting, there's only one Chris Mellon living in a mill in Wonderland. It's just absolutely crazy because I'm sat there thinking, Well, I see this at darts, I see this at football. You don't see it in pool, it it just doesn't happen. Must go on is the only event where it happens like that. And I wish there were a lot more of them, to be fair, because the feeling that you get, it just makes it all worthwhile. It makes you feel special, it makes you feel important, and it I think it makes you feel recognised. And what I mean by that is you've done good in your career for people to watch you and want to want to watch you play, want to support you, want to sponsor you. And I think I think that feeling in a again in a team event, especially at your call, is something that I'll never see again unless I play in it again. Yeah. Is that a possibility? I hope so. I I felt I should have got picked a few years ago, maybe four or five years ago. I had an unbelievable season. Like I said, I won the Derby City, I won the World Pool Series, lost in the big China event, I lost in the final. I won the Dismal Swamp Classic, which doesn't sound like a a big event, but it was all the same players that was in the US Open. It was like a warm-up event before the US Open. So you had all your Brandon Shuffs, all your top players that were played in it. I ended up winning that. I think what was he called? He's one of the American pool players. I think he played in Moscow for America. Chris Reinhold or Chris Night. Yeah, he changed his name, didn't he?

Mike Gonzalez 22:32

Yeah.

Chris Melling 22:32

Changed his surname, yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes. So I played him in the final. Then they asked him if I could have a lift to the US Open. But yeah, he's um you know that was another event that I'd won and I'd I'd been consistent that year as well. And uh there was three people off rankings and two wild cards, and then I believe I believe Jason got picked. I think it was. And then I think oh I think Albin Altion got picked as well. And I just thought to myself, you know, I've I've never lost a singles match in the Moscone Cup. Um I think I've only ever lost once apart from deciders in the doubles. Um won both Moscone Cups, won the MVP, I'd done well all all season, and I just thought I were really hard done by not to get picked. Um but obviously that's that's up to the guys who who pick the team, and I just thought, you know what, you know, good luck to them, but you know, I I found it hard to watch to be honest.

Mark Wilson 23:32

In 2014, you went through Q school and earned a two-year professional snooker card. Why return at that stage of your career?

Chris Melling 23:42

Good question. I actually don't know why. What happened was I didn't even have a snooker queue, and one of my mates who I used to practice with, and I said, Do you want to get him a snooker? I said, Well, I ain't even got a queue. He said, Well, let's go get a queue, we'll go up to um Green Bay's in in Middlesbrough, get a queue, we'll have a practice, we'll see how it goes. So I had no intention of playing on the Q tour, and I practised with him for three days, and I made a 1-4-7 the third third day. I'd not played for eight years. That's amazing. Wow. And then I I was I was playing really good, and I'd never I never thought I'd I'd play like that. And I went to the Q school, and literally ten minutes before I played my first match, my tip fell off. So I put a brand new gospel truth. You screwed it back on. Yeah, yeah. I got and put a ball with one of them, and uh I put a brand I put a brand new tip on because they give you 15 minutes if your tip falls off. I put a brand new tip on, and I played, and I won 4-0, and then I came back and I got I you had to get to the semi-finals then to to earn your tour card. There was only two events, and it was the four semi-finals of each day, and um I got to the semi-final and qualified, which in turn got me on the main tour, and then I played Matthew Stevens' first match, and I beat him 6-5, and then that qualified me for the Wuxi Open in China, and I drew Zhao Zing Tong, and he beat me 6-1. I think he was he was 16, and I literally couldn't get to the table to play a shot. It was it was unbelievable how well he played. I put on my social media at the time, I actually tried to find it last year. I put it on my social media saying this kid will be world champion within 10 years, and it was 10 years from when I put it, he won the world championship. That's amazing. Wow, it's um unbelievable. Obviously, on the Q school, it would just you're playing first to four, so it's it's quick fire.

Mike Gonzalez 25:34

Yeah.

Chris Melling 25:34

And I did beat some very good players along the way who were now also on the main circuit. But I think sometimes you've got to look at it and think to yourself, am I good enough? Am I gonna earn a good living out of it? You know, I've I've got friends who are on that main tour that have been on for years and they're not earning a good living, you know. You'd be better off working as a you know, in a you know, an Asda or somewhere like a Walmart, you know, for what you have to go through with all the travelling, all the expenses, all the things you have to put into it to become one of the very best. So I think sometimes you've got to look at the mirror and just say, Am I really good enough? And I think that's what I did when when I got on that tour and I fell off. I just thought to myself, enough's enough now.

Mike Gonzalez 26:14

Yeah, yeah. So you mentioned earlier on, I don't remember the exact number, uh, lifetime maximum breaks, how many so far? Uh I've had 29 uh maximum breaks. 29. So what's the pool equivalent of a maximum break in your mind? What would you how would you compare it?

Chris Melling 26:30

I'd probably say running like a 10-pack, a pool, an eight, eight pack or a ten-pack. Yeah, that's that's pretty strong. I mean, when I was playing all the time, I was literally making eight to ten centuries every single day, and then some days obviously one four sevens. And I remember actually playing with I was practicing with Simon Bedford in Bradford, which is about nine miles away from where I live, and he was playing Jason Prince, so I couldn't get to the table. So I practiced with a guy called Wahid, and I made a 1-4-7 against him, the last frame that we played. And I drove home, and my mate run me up and said, 'Do you fancy a game in Keith of where we are now?' And I went on, and the first two frames I made one four-five, one four, seven. So I'd I'd basically gone back to back one four seven, one four-five, one four, seven. But it only wins you one game, do you know what I mean? Unless you do it on television, uh, in a in a world like say a world championships, where you used to get £147,000 for doing a £147. Where now I think you get something like it might be £10,000 or £15,000. I remember playing in the in the Welsh Open. I don't even remember when Ronnie O'Sullivan turned round and said, What's the price for a £1.47? after potting the first red. I was on the next table to him. I was playing Michael White at at the Welsh Open. And uh I've looked over, I just started laughing because I thought he's gonna get it, I know he's gonna get it here. Um and obviously he went for it and he didn't want to pop the black. He was pla I think he was playing Who was he playing? I think he was playing Mark King or somebody like that. And he obviously didn't want to pop the black on 140, but then Jan Verhas, who was refing, turned round and says, come on mate, just just pop the black, the crowd's watching. But yeah, I've had I've probably in my career probably made I actually got asked this about five years ago. How many censures have you ever made? It's probably about 10,000, something like that. And because obviously playing from nine, ten-year-old, well, obviously getting my first one when I was twelve, I would I started getting them a lot then. But when you're practicing eight to ten hours a day up to being twenty-one, you know, you're gonna get a lot. I did actually have a book where I was counting. Um funny story what it cracked me up. So I was in China and uh I've met Stephen Endry, who's one of the greatest of all time, obviously, I in my opinion, Ronnie's the best ever, and we was practicing uh Chinese eight ball, and we'd gone for food. And uh I said to him, I said, Can I ask you a serious question, Stephen? He said, Yeah, yeah. I said, How many maximums have you made? And his honest answer was I stopped counting at 500. That's what he said to me, and I was like, Oh my god, how how good is this guy compared to how good I thought I was? Yeah. You just you just see then that there's total different levels there.

Mike Gonzalez 29:06

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you you sort of uh transitioned out of the professional tour on the Snookerside 15, 16 season. But let's talk about some of these American pool wins that you alluded to. And in 2017, you win the Derby City Classic Straight Pool Challenge against a field filled with world champions. So what is it about straight pool that fits your mind and cueing action?

Chris Melling 29:33

Well, I'd only ever played it twice before, which was a I think one of them was a European championship, and one of them was like in a one-day event in England. Um so I've not really played a great deal of it. Obviously, it's different to what we play in England. And again, I liter I picked that queue up that day that I arrived at the Derby City. That was from Predator. They had they actually brought the queue to me that day, so I just practiced a little bit. But the the straight pool was where you could earn some decent money when you wasn't playing the other events downstairs. And you know, the guys ran a great tournament there to be fair, and um I actually broke the record that stood for quite some number of years. I broke it the second day I was there, I think I I ran 278, I think it was, or something like that. But then the day after filler beat it, so the record has stood for about seven, eight years. I broke it and filler broke it the day after me. So it didn't last very long.

Mike Gonzalez 30:26

That's that's incredible. I mean, for and Mark, you can you can relate to this. I mean, you played straight pool most of your young life, that was the game in America. To run 278 having only played a couple of times, hard to fathom.

Mark Wilson 30:40

Yeah, very much. You'd have to have firepower supreme because you're not gonna know the the tactical pattern played to that's conducive to running balls. One year they had five by tens, who I don't know if Chris was there that year or not, but Stuart Pettman, another snooker pro, came and he was the only guy to uh run over a hundred balls on a five by ten, which is quite a bit harder. And uh but his break shots were the most unorthodox looking things, but he just has firepower supreme power up and manufacture at an angle that doesn't even really work, but he just made it work and then just shot his way through the racks. Chris, do you know Stuart?

Chris Melling 31:20

I do, yeah. I know Stuart, yeah, he lives in uh Thailand now.

Mark Wilson 31:24

Yeah, what a character he is.

Chris Melling 31:26

Yeah, I've played him a couple of times. I'll probably see him in I'm going over in November. Uh they've got the Bangkok open there, so uh I entered it a couple of days ago, so I'm I'm gonna be playing over there in November. Um going over to see my sponsors that obviously live over there, which are Jay Flowers and Q Armour, so uh probably spend a little bit of time with them as well, going through the equipment and cases and see what else I can get off them.

Mike Gonzalez 31:50

Chris, would you would you like to have played more street pool?

Chris Melling 31:54

Yeah, I love the game. Um do you know what game I really love? And I didn't think I'd like it, one pocket. And funny story at the derby, I I finished I think it was third or fourth at the derby in the one pocket. I have absolutely no idea tactically what I'm doing. I know the basics, I know, I know, but I know how to break balls and break a stack to leave myself on other balls, like like Snooker, really. Um so I I actually played I've I finished fourth and had just beat Alex Pagalyan and Justin Bergman back to back. Wow. And then I got the bye um because I hadn't had one, and then I played Gomez, Roberto Gomez, it was two-all, and I was 4-2 up on balls, and he fouled. So I had ball in hand behind the line, and it's the most craziest thing I've ever done on a pool table. I lined a shot up to pop my ball in his pocket and play a position for a ball in my pocket, and obviously I played it, and then he's cleared up, and I'm like, oh my god, what have I just done? I can't believe I've just done that. But he's it was like the biggest brain fart I've ever had.

Allison Fisher 33:08

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