# Chris Melling (pool player)

Christopher Melling (born 27 January 1979) is an English professional pool and snooker player from Keighley, Bradford, West Yorkshire. He is a former world number 1 at World Rules British Eight-Ball. He won the WEPF World Eightball Championship twice, in 2001 and 2003. He was ranked #1 in 2003 by the World Eightball Pool Federation. Melling has also twice won the International Pool Masters (2001 and 2002) and the European Professional title (2002). He was the first player to win two International Tour events back to back. His entrance by walk-on music is from the song “Wannabe” by Spice Girls. Melling is also the only cue sports player to hold professional status in English 8 ball, American pool and snooker.

## Career

In 2001, Melling reached the last 16 of the 2001 WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, beating Steve Davis along the way.
Melling tours worldwide to pursue his 9-ball pool career. In October 2010 he won his first European 9-ball event, the Portugal Open. On 12 June 2011 Melling was crowned China Open champion and received $40,000. This was his first major 9-ball pool tournament victory.
In December 2011, Melling participated in the 18th annual Mosconi Cup, and won four of his six matches. A year later he won the Most Valuable Player Award in the 2012 Mosconi Cup.
In January 2013, he reached the final of the Chinese 8-Ball Masters, losing to Gareth Potts. He also lost to Potts in the final of the 2005 World Rules 8-Ball Championship. Also in 2013 he reached the quarter finals of the 2013 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, the World Masters, World Cup of Pool and finished 5th in the US Open 9-Ball Championship.
In May 2014, Melling entered the snooker 2014 Q School in an attempt to regain his professional status and defeated the likes of former professionals Daniel Wells and Chen Zhe 4–3 and 4–1 respectively, before winning his quarter-final match against Duane Jones 4–3 to earn a two-year tour card for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons. This saw him become the first person to have been a professional in 8-ball pool, 9-ball pool and snooker at the same time.
His first match as a professional saw him beat 2003 UK Championship winner Matthew Stevens 5–4 to qualify for the 2014 Wuxi Classic, but he lost 5–1 to Zhao Xintong in the first round. Melling also played in the first round of the International Championship by defeating Luca Brecel 6–5 and was knocked out 6–1 by Zhou Yuelong. His first victory at the venue stage of a ranking event came at the Welsh Open after he edged out Nigel Bond 4–3, before being whitewashed 4–0 by home favourite Michael White in the second round.
The 2015–16 season proved harder for Melling as he could only win four matches all year. He dropped off the tour at the end of the season and could not win enough matches at the 2016 Q School to win his place back.
In July 2024 Melling won the Ultimate Pool Masters.

## Snooker performance and rankings timeline

| Tournament | 2000/ 01 | 2001/ 02 | 2002/ 03 | 2003/ 04 | 2004/ 05 | 2006/ 07 | 2014/ 15 | 2015/ 16 |
| Ranking | | | | | | | | 79 |
| Ranking tournaments |||||||||
| Australian Goldfields Open | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | LQ | A |
| Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ |
| International Championship | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ |
| UK Championship | A | LQ | A | LQ | A | LQ | 1R | 1R |
| German Masters | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ |
| Welsh Open | A | LQ | A | LQ | A | LQ | 2R | 1R |
| World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | NR | DNQ |
| Players Tour Championship Finals | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ |
| China Open | A | LQ | Not Held | Not Held | A | LQ | LQ | LQ |
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ |
| Non-ranking tournaments |||||||||
| The Masters | A | A | A | LQ | A | A | A | A |
| Former ranking tournaments |||||||||
| Thailand Masters | A | LQ | NR | Not Held | Not Held | NR | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| Scottish Open | A | LQ | A | LQ | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held |
| British Open | A | LQ | A | LQ | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| Irish Masters | NR | NR | A | LQ | A | NR | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| Malta Cup | NR | LQ | A | LQ | A | LQ | Not Held | Not Held |
| Northern Ireland Trophy | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| Grand Prix | A | LQ | A | LQ | A | LQ | Not Held | Not Held |
| Wuxi Classic | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | 1R | NH |
| Indian Open | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | LQ | NH |
Performance table legend :
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not Held | NH / Not Held | NH / Not Held | NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. |
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | NR / Non-Ranking Event | NR / Non-Ranking Event | NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. |
| R / Ranking Event | R / Ranking Event | R / Ranking Event | R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. |
| MR / Minor-Ranking Event | MR / Minor-Ranking Event | MR / Minor-Ranking Event | MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. |
| PA / Pro-am Event | PA / Pro-am Event | PA / Pro-am Event | PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. |
* ↑ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
* 1 2 3 He was an amateur.
* 1 2 3 4 New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking
* ↑ The event was called the Players Championship (2003/2004)
* ↑ The event was also called the European Open (2001/2002–2003/2004)
* ↑ The event was also called the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
* ↑ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)

## Pool titles

* 2024 Ultimate Pool Kansas City Open 8-Ball
* 2024 Ultimate Pool Masters 8-Ball
* 2024 Ultimate Pool Louisiana Open 8-Ball
* 2021 Ultimate Pool Champion of Champions 8-Ball
* 2019 IPT Ultimate Pool Series Blackball
* 2018 Derby City Classic 9-Ball
* 2018 World Pool Series 8-Ball Classic
* 2017 Derby City Classic 14.1 Challenge
* 2012 Mosconi Cup (MVP)
* 2012 Mosconi Cup
* 2011 Mosconi Cup
* 2011 China Open 9-Ball Championship
* 2010 Euro Tour Portugal Open
* 2005 Snooker International Open Series
* 2003 WEPF World Eightball Championship
* 2002 Snooker Challenge Tour
* 2001 WEPF World Eightball Championship