The best billiard players of all time

 

Everyone who loves cue sports enough should know a little about the greatest pool players of all time. Making a complete list is almost impossible, but there are few players who really deserve to be mentioned. In this article we will talk about three of those that have been recorded in the annals of the game of billiards.

Earl Strickland is probably the ยอดนักเตะตำนาน of the modern era.

His specialty is the nine ball and he's probably the best in this category. In fact, he is the only player in history to have won the US Open Nine-Ball Championship five times. Additionally, he is the three-time winner of the Nine Ball World Championship. His victories earned him the BCA Hall of Fame in 2006.

Strickland is famous for his behavior. He was frequently the protagonist of clashes with opponents, authorities and even fans! During a match against Steve Davis for the World Group Championship, Strickland ended up using rude and rude language towards referee Michaela Tabb and the crowd. Strickland started the game in a very bad mood as, according to him, the event "revolved around Davis." The continuous boo from the crowd provoked him even more and provoked the unfair reaction from him.

Similar events also prevailed during the Mosconi Cup in 2006 and 2007.

Another legendary player is Willie Mosconi. Willie was born in 1913 and died in 1993. He was one of the best known and most famous American players of professional pool games (pocket billiards). He protected his World Straight Pool Championship title for 15 years from 1941 to 1957. This is a feat that no one else has accomplished in the history of the game of billiards and it led to the nickname "Mr. Pocket Billiards".

Today, the legend of Willie Mosconi lives on. This is mainly because, among other things, he was known for striving to pioneer and employing many tricks on a regular basis.

He also managed to set many records while helping to spread the pool as a popular recreational activity around the world, primarily in the United States of America. For example, he holds the record for pocketing 526 consecutive balls without missing a beat.

During his life, he wrote a book titled "Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards" and was given a role as Paul Newman's billiards instructor in "The Hustler," a film that contributed greatly to the popularity of the game in America. .

Ralph Greenleaf, born in 1899 and died in 1950, is a professional billiard and carom player from the United States who is the twenty-time winner of the pocket billiards world championship.

In 1966, along with Willie Hoppe and Charles Peterson, Ralph Greenleaf gained international fame and recognition. He won his first world title in 1919 and continued the streak until 1937.

In his personal life, it was known that he suffered from alcohol addiction and was married to actress Amelia Ruth Parker.

After his death, the New York Times published an obituary that read: "What Babe Ruth did for baseball, Dempsey did for wrestling, Tilden did for tennis ... Greenleaf did for pool. pocket". This should be enough to understand why Ralph Greenleaf will remain a true legend of the sport forever.