FEDOR GORST WINS 2024 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIP FOLLOWING THRILLING FINAL GAME DECIDER IN JEDDAH

 United States marksmen prevailed in late night drama at the Green Halls - becoming two- time champion with 15-14 win against Albanian world #13 Eklent Kaci Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - 9 June 2024: Audiences enjoyed a thrilling World Pool Championship climax in Jeddah as Fedor Gorst produced a majestic performance to clinch the 2024 crown - overcoming Eklent Kaci 15-14 in one of the greatest finals of all time. Following five days of sensational matchplay featuring 128 of the world’s elite marksmen, the stage was set for a grandstand finish on Saturday with back-to-back semi-finals first up at the Green Halls. The afternoon session saw Albanian world #13 Kaci overcome Filipino Johann Chua 11-6 before the second seed and 2019 champion Gorst defeated Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk 11-8 to set-up a mouthwatering evening showdown for the most prestigious title in professional pool. With historic glory awaiting the winner, fans in attendance and millions more watching globally in over 90 countries witnessed true sporting excellence as Gorst sealed victory to become a two-time world champion. After receiving the winners’ trophy from Dr. Nasser Saab Al-Shammari, President of the Saudi Arabian Billiards & Snooker Federation (SABSF), an elated Gorst said: “It’s an unbelievable achievement and it’s been an unbelievable week. If someone had told me when I was 0-7 down in the last 64 that I was going to be the world champion, I’d have laughed. That was a really long way to come back from and I’ve had so many tough matches this week. I could have had big leads in many matches but I’ve had to really battle through just like tonight. This just makes the win even sweeter.” Representing the USA, Gorst was in fine form from the off in Saturday’s main event, racing into leads of 3-0, 5-1, and 6-2 thanks to some outstanding attacking play and precision cueing. However, Kaci - widely considered the player of the tournament heading into the final - began showing his class. The former world #1 and 2023 UK Open champion reignited his quest for a maiden world title - winning five of the next eight racks to trail 9-7. As their epic ‘Race to 15’ match entered the latter stages, the two players had engaged in a back- and-forth battle - sharing the spoils over the next eight racks to make it 13-11. But Kaci stormed back - taking the next three to lead for the first time 14-13 and move within one of victory. Gorst replied, leveling 14-14 to take it to a final game decider before he made a tremendous clearance to clinch the title. The win also sees Gorst rise to #1 in the World Nineball Tour rankings. Reflecting on the titanic encounter, he said: “It was a really, really tough match - and it’s a shame that one of us has to lose. It was so close. Eklent is an incredible player and one of the best on the Word Nineball Tour. He’s going to be competing at the very top for a long time. The crowd was also amazing out there - they were supporting both sides with no favorites and the atmosphere they created made it even more enjoyable.” The 2024 World Pool Championship was the first of 10 consecutive editions in the Kingdom as part of a decade-long partnership between SABSF, the Ministry of Sport, and WNT promoter Matchroom Multi-Sport. Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest-growing countries in world sport - a journey being propelled by Vision 2030, which seeks to increase weekly participation in sports, cultivate a sports economy, and elevate local athletes’ international competitiveness. Since its inception in 2015, Vision 2030 has inspired never-before-seen levels of engagement and participation across the Kingdom. Within this time, nationwide sports participation has risen by 300%, female weekly activity by 400%, and organized sports groups by 800%.