Ultimate Pool Group
SELBY & POTTS SURVIVE 6-REDS THRILLER IN PAIRS CUP
Reigning four-time world professional snooker champion Mark Selby teamed up with fourtime world 8-ball pool champion Gareth Potts to compete in Group 4 of the live televised Eative Ultimate Pool Pairs Cup.
W
orld snooker number one Selby – who claimed his fourth world crown at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England earlier this year – is no stranger to the pool table having won the
2006 WEPF World 8-Ball Pool Championship.
had paired up together in a competitive environment.
Selby and Potts have known each other for a long time and are family members, but this was the first time they
Labelled as ‘The Dream Team’ they lived up to expectations early on as they defeated the Isle of Man’s Tommy Miller & David Addinall and former world doubles championship finalists Jez Graham & Darren McVicar both 4-0 to top the table. However, going into the final match of the night and needing just a point to qualify, they were upset by dangerous duo Zak Shepherd & Andy Cragg, 3-1. This meant for the first time in Ultimate Pool history that a three-way 6-reds shootout was required to determine a winner. Graham & McVicar posted a solid time of 26.02 seconds up first, and when Shepherd & Cragg narrowly missed out on bettering it, only Selby & Potts could deny them. In front of a raucous live crowd and likely to have been the biggest live television audience that small table pool has ever received, the popular duo recorded a time of just over 24 seconds to secure a breathtaking victory.
Gareth Potts and Mark Selby
54 | Billiards Buzz • October 2021
Selby & Potts will return later in the unique £32,800 competition for the last 16 phase when they join previous group winners Shaun Chipperfield & Karl Sutton, Josh Kane & Jon McAllister and Brian Halcrow & John Sullivan.
