Player of the Year, Men: Fedor Gorst
Inventing a new achievement in winning international-level titles is one way to put a stamp on a dominant year. Fedor Gorst strung together three wins — the World Pool Masters, the U.S. Open Pool Championship and the World Pool Championship — that’s now been tagged the Gorst Slam. Pocketing more than $500,000 in tournaments, nearly $200,000 more than runner-up Joshua Filler according to AZBilliards.com, Gorst was unquestionably the best in the world in 2024. Just 24 years old, the American-by-way-of-Russia is poised to be the man, or at least a man, to beat at any major event for the foreseeable future.
Player of the Year, Women: Kristina Tkach
For the first time in Billiards Digest’s history, POY awards are shared by one couple. Kristina Tkach, soon to be married to Gorst, turned in an impressively consistent performance for her 2024 season. Winning the $50,000 World 10-Ball Championship, she also knocked off a pair of WPBA titles (at the Iron City Invitational and Railyard Invitational). With $137,000 in tournament earnings, Tkach outpaced the field by more than $45,000. Weddings can be expensive–so here’s to hoping the Players of the Year socked away a few bucks for the nuptials.
Breakout Player of the Year, Men: Mickey Krause
The Dane entered 2024 as a strong up-and-coming player on the European scene. Sure, big things could’ve been expected, but maybe nothing to come as quickly as earning spots on Europe’s team for the Euro-Asian Reyes Cup and year-end Mosconi Cup. Krause, however, raised his game a level (or three!) throughout the year. The headline titles include the Mezz Bucharest Open and European Open. The 24-year-old is young, talented and confident, so the Dane appears set to be a mainstay on the international scene.
Breakout Player of the Year, Women: Margaret Fefilova Styer
Margaret Fefilova Styer showed promise in 2023, with a second-place finish at the WPBA Iron City Invitational and a third-place performance at the WPBA Masters. But the 27-year-old Belarusian broke through in 2024, winning the WPBA Olhausen Classic in Colorado. Backing up that title-winning turn, she performed with consistent excellence throughout the campaign, banking a handful of top-10 finishes in international events, including a pair of runner-up performances in WPBA events.
Comeback Player of the Year, Men: Mika Immonen
Finishing the year in 72nd place in tournament winnings shouldn’t raise eyebrows, yet alone earn a first look for a Comeback Player of the Year award. But it’s all about what you’re coming back from. Mika Immonen turned in an inspirational run to a runner-up finish at the Turning Stone Classic XXXIX over Labor Day weekend. Less than a year from a Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis, the Iceman caught a gear that had everyone in the room rooting for the Hall of Famer. Even though he came up short to Moritz Neuhausen, Immonen was in the arena showing he ain’t done yet.
Comeback Player of the Year: Monica Webb
Like Immonen’s run at Turning Stone, Monica Webb winning a WPBA event wasn’t a big deal 10 or 15 years ago. But while battling complications due to autoimmune issues and rheumatoid arthritis, among other health challenges for the past four years, Webb could barely find her way to a table. But at June’s WPBA Biker Week Showdown in New Hampshire, she teamed up with Jasmin Ouschan to knock off the scotch doubles event. Not a one-hit wonder, Webb cashed in at four other WPBA events, showing there’s plenty left if she’s feeling right.
Shot of the Year: Fedor Gorst, World Pool Masters
Who else would you expect to come with the best shot of the year? Fedor Gorst, in the case game of an incredibly competitive final at the 2024 World Pool Masters, faced a tricky shot after his break caught a little bit of luck as the 5 kissed the 8 on the way to the corner pocket. The view of the 1 ball wasn’t the issue — it clearly offered an angle into the side pocket. But with the 2 tied up with the 5, Gorst would have to be especially controlled in opening the table for a potential title-clinching clearance. Calling his extension, the American opted to play three rails for position on the 2 into the top right corner rather than force the cue ball two rails and into the cluster. With perfect speed and angle control, he dropped the cue ball in ideal position on the 3, letting him run out to take the title. Even Filler, knowing the shot all but ended his hopes of a title, respectfully tapped his leg in admiration.
The “Feeling Like a Million Bucks” Award: The World Pool Championship
For the first time in 18 years, pool held an event with a $1 million prize purse. In early 2024, Matchroom Pool agreed to a 10-year contract with the Ministry of Sport for Saudi Arabia and and the Saudi Arabian Billiards & Snooker Federation to host the World Pool Championship and Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in the Kingdom through 2033. The World Nineball Tour’s crown jewel, the WPC attracted a talent-stacked 128-player field, with POY Fedor Gorst taking home the $250,000 top prize while Eklent Kaci settled for $100,000 as runner-up.
The “Keeping Up with the Fishers” Award: Kelly Fisher
Just after the ball dropped in New York’s Times Square, Kelly Fisher received an unexpected email informing her that she was nominated for an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), an honor rewarding contributions to the United Kingdom.
Kelly’s recognition came two years after Allison Fisher received the honor.
“After Allison got her MBE, I admit that it gave me hope that maybe someday it might happen to me too. To think I’ve actually got letters after my name has me buzzing.”
The “Anything You Can Do” Award: Kristina Tkach
OK, winning Billiards Digest’s Player of the Year award is tough to beat, but there’s something to be said about parity in partnerships. After Kristina Tkach’s partner, Fedor Gorst, knocked off the World Pool Championship in June, she took home her own world title by winning November’s WPA World 10-Ball Championship.
The “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” Award: Barry Hearn
In pool, winning your bet doesn’t always mean winning the match. When Matchroom Multisport President Barry Hearn threw himself into the draw of the 2024 U.S. Open, the bet with his son, Eddie, was simple: Win one rack. The 76-year-old buried a 9 ball in his abbreviated appearance as a competitor — dropping his first match, 9-1, to Poland’s Konrad Juszczyszyn, and his second, 8-0, to Barry Hetherington. But that one rack was worth it.
The “You Think Politics Wouldn’t Show Up in 2024?” Award: Joshua Filler
With the ongoing cold-but-warming war between the World Pool-Billiard Association and Matchroom Multisport’s World Nineball Tour, political considerations were sure to make headlines at some point in the year. That happened when 2023 BD Player of the Year Joshua Filler, after earning automatic bids to Matchroom’s Reyes and Mosconi Cups, skipped the WNT’s Hanoi Open in favor of WPA competitions. Matchroom “withdrew” Filler from both competitions, highlighting the difficult decisions players face in navigating the current environment.
The “Not Another 48 Hours” Award: Florian “Venom” Kohler
When trick-shot champion Florian Kohler, better known as “Venom” to pool fans and YouTube spectators, tried for the Guinness Book of World Records title of most trick shots completed in 48 hours, he ended up with a crooked back, blistered fingers, and mental fatigue that few can imagine. But all along, he had nobody to blame but himself — since he petitioned the famous world-record keeper into allowing him to give it a try. After two full days and nights at the table, Kohler ended up with 1,816 completed trick shots, establishing a new world record. Along the way, he pocketed about 5,000 balls in executing 1,816 of 2,445 shots (as he was allowed three attempts per shot before needing to move to the next).
The “Most Masterful Master of the Table” Award: Joshua Filler
The Derby City Classic’s competition for Master of the Table (and its $20,000 prize) is one of the most entertaining races to sweat in real time. Calculating the points and hypotheticals depending on late-round action in different disciplines is more art than science. But in 2024, Joshua Filler saved everyone the drama. In the most dominant performance in the DCC’s history, the German won the banks and 9-ball divisions while finishing third in one-pocket. He also won the Bigfoot event that doesn’t count for Master of the Table, making him the first player to ever win three of the four contests in a single year. With Derby’s long hours and grueling format, Filler definitely made the most of his hard work.
The “Don’t Forget About Me” Award: Ultimate Pool 8-Ball
With Matchroom Multisport hitching its wagon to 9-ball – and providing its plentiful resources to support the rotation discipline – it’d be natural to wonder if 8-ball was the game of yesteryear. Well, the U.K.-based Ultimate Pool Group thinks there’s room for the English version of 8-ball. The fledgling organization put together an impressive 2024 tour, headlined by wins on American soil from Mosconi Cup veterans Chris Melling and Darren Appleton. The folks behind Ultimate Pool have more in mind than the pro game, as they aim to conquer the U.S. through amateur leagues, boasting representation in 21 states by the end of 2024.
BCA Expo, Super Billiards Expo Bounce Back
The BCA Expo has had a rough run of it lately… or longer than lately. Since the Great Recession, the industry trade show has faced rough waters that included a defection of major exhibitors in recent years that attended a different show. But in 2024, a newly united industry came together at the Las Vegas Convention Center in what was the strongest trade show in half a decade. Positioned within the larger Amusement Expo International, the billiards event attracted motivated buyers and spread good vibes to exhibitors. Maybe there is strength in unity.
Similarly, Allen Hopkins’ Super Billiards Expo had a bounceback year after two tough post-COVID-19 shows in 2022 and 2023. (The 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to complications related to the pandemic.) Exhibitor participation was up and player representation was as strong as it had been before 2020.
Matchroom, WNT Call WPA’s Bluff on Sanctioning
The rift between Matchroom Pool’s World Nineball Tour and the World Pool-Billiard Association simmered throughout 2024. The two parties tussled over sanctioning, player bans, and tournament dates throughout the year, with the conflict coming to a head in December 2024 when Matchroom Legal Counsel & Director Jai Singh accused the WPA of abusing its authority in regard to player bans following the WNT Hanoi Open.
Continental Competition Debuts in Pool’s Spiritual Capital
It’s been decades since Asia claimed its spot as an international powerhouse in pool, largely in the wake of Efren Reyes’s crash landing on the American scene in the 1980s. The launch of a Mosconi Cup-style competition between Europe (the dominant power over the U.S. in the annual transatlantic tilt) and Asia may have been long overdue. But the wait for the inaugural Reyes Cup was worth it, as Team Asia dominated the Europeans, 11-6, in a thrilling team event in Manila, Philippines. Aloysius Yapp, the sturdy Singaporean star, earned MVP honors alongside teammates Johann Chua, Ko Pin Yi, Duong Quoc Hoang, and Carlo Biado. While the Americans look to rebuild, the Reyes Cup provides another exciting avenue for pool’s global tripartite to face off in team competition.
