SEVENTEEN-year-old Toby Clack has won the World Eightball Pool Federation under-18 World Championship.<\/p>\n
Within a tournament of 40 people in Morocco, the former St Patrick\u2019s College student came out on top.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played five matches,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to win them all, and I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the final, I played a fellow Aussie, Joshua Hands from Queensland, so it was good to share the stage with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game we played was high-quality. Being able to showcase the talent we have in Australia in the juniors and now moving into open events is fantastic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll juniors in the Australian team are fantastic for that; we put together an amazing side.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clack started playing pool at age 11, following in the footsteps of his dad, professional player, Paull Clack, who also competed at the World Championships in Morocco, and made the top 16 of the open singles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve learnt everything I know from my dad, who has represented Australia many, many times,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a family thing, really, and ever since then, I\u2019ve wanted to improve my game, and winning a world title is obviously the highest I can get in the sport, so that was the dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clack won the under-15 Australian national title in 2019, and said he enjoys the sport for its uniqueness, challenges, and opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s a lot of pressure out there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very multifaceted game, there\u2019s so many sides to it, and you\u2019re always making choices out on the table, like \u2018should I try and finish the match now or wait until I get another chance?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike soccer or footy, you have the time to think, so the mental side of the game is challenging, and getting a hand on that is key to success. But the best pool players make the game look simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can travel all over the world with it. Obviously Morocco is not a place many people get to go to, so getting to go there and explore the culture, food, and people, but also to play the sport that I love, has been a pretty awesome thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEVENTEEN-year-old Toby Clack has won the World Eightball Pool Federation under-18 World Championship. Within a tournament of 40 people in Morocco, the former St Patrick\u2019s College student came out on top. \u201cI played five matches,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to win them all, and I did. \u201cIn the final, I played a fellow Aussie, Joshua […]<\/p>\n