Player: Fedor Gorst
Event: 2024 World Pool Masters
Location: Hildesheim, Germany
Date: April 28, 2024



It happens every few years, but it's always a spectacle to see a world-class player on a world-class heater. Back in April, on his way to winning this event — spolier alert — a few weeks before winning the World Pool Championship, Fedor Gorst was clearly on one.

Always among the world's best, the young American by the way of Russia was otherworldly in German to start the 16-player single-elimination tournament. Ousting Mario He, 9-3, Gorst then trounced Albin Ouschan, 10-1, and outlasted Jayson Shaw, 11-7, to earn a spot in the final opposite Joshua Filler.

In the race-to-13 final, the two world-beaters showed just how little differentiates first place from second. With the score split, 12-12, and Gorst with the break in he case game, he broke the championship-deciding rack and ended up with the table shown in the diagram. With the 5 ball down. he obviously had an angle on the 1 ball into the side pocket. But with the 2 ball clustered with the 5, his position play wasn't exactly natural. The only real option for the 2 was the top right corner. Without much of an angle on the 1, Gorst needed to work to start his run.

Opposed to creating an angle by playing the pocket, Gorst drilled the 1 nearly center-pocket. His perfect mix of power and left English sent the cue ball into the long rail, opened the angle into the top rail, and then left the cue ball rolling into the left long rail and into perfect shape on the 2 into the only pocket available.

From there, the table unfolded like a Rand McNally road map. Gorst had no trouble clearing the final six balls to clinch the $40,000 top prize in dramatic fashion with a 13-12 victory.

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