Cinderella Story Second Annual WPA-Sanctioned World Artistic Pool Championship Crowns a New Winner by Steve Lillis, World Artistic Pool Championship Director Charles Darling, from a small town of 15,000 in Missouri, has become an overnight sensation back home. He has received local TV and newspaper coverage along with overdue and well-deserved recognition. All Charles “Spitball Charlie” Darling did was upset perhaps the greatest trick shot artist of all time by one point, 188 to 187. Yes, Mr. Darling defeated the legendary Mike Massey in an old-fashioned Wild West shootout in Las Vegas on May 16-18, 2001 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino to become the 2001 Champion of the World in Artistic Pool. Massey won the crown in 2000 by crushing the field, which included champions from six different worldwide billiard federations. Darling started his Cinderella story by winning a spot in the North American Artistic Qualifier May 14-15, 2001, held at the Riviera Hotel & Casino just prior to the World Championship. Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman was the runaway winner of the event, but second place and a spot in the World Championship was up for grabs. What a dramatic moment it was in the Qualifier as Darling held a slim lead and Steve Geller took the table. Geller himself is a two-time BCA National Trick Shot Champion from 1979 to1980. Geller had to make a difficult 10-point massé to overtake Darling. The shot required that Geller send the cue ball up table past an object ball hanging in the side pocket and then reverse direction and come back down table and kick the object ball in the side. He made it and the standing-room-only crowd went wild. Darling had a chance to duplicate the shot (which by the way is the most difficult shot in the massé discipline) and, yes, he made it on the first attempt of a possible three. Geller was the first to leap out of his seat to congratulate Darling. The crowd was stunned and Darling moved on to the World Championship that would begin the next day against World Champion Massey and seven other World-Class competitors. “Dr. Cue”, who finished second to Mike Massey the year before, was thought to have a legitimate shot to upset Massey for the title. “Dr. Cue” is considered to be the primary founder and creator of Artistic Pool and has run amateur events for the past ten years with great success. He is a tremendously skilled competitor and crowd favorite. Massey and “Dr.Cue” both aspire to be in the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) Hall of Fame someday, as both have traveled and amazed crowds around the World for a combined half a century. In this second annual World Pool-Billiard Association-sanctioned World Artistic Pool Championship, the contestants had to execute a total of 40 shots, five from each of the eight disciplines. In the North American Qualifier, only the first four were used in each discipline for a total of 32 shots. Players must accumulate as many points as possible to win overall. Awards were also given for individual disciplines. The disciplines include trick and fancy, prop and novelty, follow, draw, stroke, bank/kick, and massé. Darling built up an early three or four shot lead, which translates into about 25-30 points. Shots ranged in degree of difficulty from 5 to12 points with 7 or 8 being an average shot. Players got three attempts at each shot. On the final night, in front of a capacity crowd, Massey reached down deep on every shot and closed the gap to within one point with one final shot left, worth 12 points. Darling was holding on for dear life as the champion and legendary trick shot artist Massey held the crowd spellbound with each attempt. Fans were literally breathless as the tension mounted with each final attempt by the master himself. Massey failed to execute but bowed out like a true champion. He immediately hugged Darling with a smile on his face and graciously accepted second place. Massey also made a final comment, “ I’ll see you again on ESPN in a challenge match.” Folks, we have a New WPA World Champion for 2001 in Artistic Pool and his name is no longer a secret, CHARLES DARLING. The World Artistic Pool Championship would like to thank the 27 sponsors who contributed money, products and service. Primary sponsors include: the Billiard Congress of America, that not only sanctioned and hosted the event, but also contributed significantly to the prize fund; Buckhorn Billiards, who supplied the wonderful Buckhorn pool tables; and Gospel Trick Shot Ministries, Inc., who supplied the staff to run the tournament. Watch for details of the upcoming BCA North American Qualifier in the Los Angeles Convention Center during the LA Expo October 25-28, 2001. This event will be a North American championship and qualifier for the upcoming 2002 WPA World Championship to be held in Europe, and it will feature World Champion Charles Darling defending his crown against the World’s greatest Artistic Pool players.