Ultimate Pool Group
ULTIMATE POOL MASTERS ROUND-UP
THOMPSON’S TITLE TRIUMPHS Shane Thompson enjoyed the time of his life on a pool table and created history as he claimed back-to-back Ultimate Pool Professional Series event titles within the space of one memorable long-weekend.
E
vents 3 and 4 took place during the second stop on this year’s inaugural £144,000 Professional Series at the Players Pool and Snooker Lounge in front of the live television cameras. Across the three days in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Thompson won ten consecutive matches against some the world’s best 8-ball pool players on the 7 ft by 4 table, banking himself a cool £14,000 in prize money. One of the sport’s busiest and most consistent players in recent years, former World Masters finalist Thomp-
son has been knocking on the door of scooping a major crown. Indeed, he reached the final of Pro Event 2 in August but lost to inspired Australian Jake McCartney. His Pro Series Event 3 victory on the Saturday night represented the biggest accolade of his career to date, so to win another professional title with Event 4 less than 24 hours later means this is one of 8-ball pool’s most remarkable feats of all-time.
His campaign began with a 7-0 demolition of former two-time world junior champion Jordan Church in round one before showing different qualities as he negotiated Jimmy Croxton and Josh Kane both 7-5 in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively. The closest Thompson came to defeat was his epic semi-final meeting with Shaun Chipperfield. Former world champion Chipperfield raced into a commanding 4-0 lead which he later progressed to 6-4. With
Shane Thompson
52 | Billiards Buzz • October 2021
