The best pool players of all time
All those who love to play benchmark sports should know a bit about the best 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 pool.
Earl Strickland is probably the greatest champion of the modern era.
His specialty is nine ball and he is probably the best of all time in this category. In fact, he is the only player in history to have been a five-time winner of the US Open Nine-Ball Championship. Also, he is the three-time winner of the World Nine-Ball Championship. His victories allowed him to be inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 2006.
Strickland is famous for his behavior. He was frequently the subject of clashes with opponents, authorities and even fans! During a match against Steve Davis for the World Pool Championship, Strickland ended up using impolite and foul language towards referee Michaela Tabb and the crowd. Strickland started the match in a very bad mood as, according to him, the event “revolved around Davis”. The continued booing from the crowd further provoked him 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 led to the nickname “Mr. Pocket Billiards”.
Today, the legend of Willie Mosconi lives on. This is mainly because, among other things, he was well known for striving to be a pioneer and employing many tricks on a regular basis.
He also managed to set many records while helping to spread billiards as a popular recreational activity throughout the world, primarily in the United States of America. For example, he holds the record for pocketing 526 consecutive balls without missing.
During his lifetime, he wrote a book called “Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards” and landed an acting role as Paul Newman’s billiards instructor in “The Hustler,” a movie that greatly contributed to the game’s popularity in America.
Ralph Greenleaf, born in 1899 and died in 1950, is a professional carom billiards and billiards player from the United States who is the twenty-time winner of the world championship in pocket billiards.
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 on-and-off streak until 1937.
In his personal life, he was known to suffer from alcohol addiction and to be married to actress Amelia Ruth Parker.
After his death, the New York Times published an obituary stating, “What Babe Ruth did for baseball, Dempsey did for fighting, Tilden did for tennis… Greenleaf did for billiards.” This should be enough to understand why Ralph Greenleaf will remain a true legend of the sport forever.
