Sunderland businessman top of the pots after winning pool world title

Marc Farnsworth won the final of the 888poker IPA - International Professional Pool Association - World Pool Championships in Bradford, West Yorkshire, earlier this month.

It is the culmination of a dream for Marc, who organisers dubbed the pre-tournament favourite, after he began playing the sport as a boy.

He has entered into a number of tournaments in recent years and became British Professional Champion in 2015.

Marc, who lives in the Humbledon area of Sunderland, beat Welsh player Tom Cousins by four sets to three in the final of the tournament, which began with 64 entrants.

“I’m pretty over the moon to win,” said Marc, who turned 41 this week on Valentine’s Day.

“I’ve played the game since I was a lad because my mam and dad ran pubs such as The Coach and Horses in Annfield Plain and the White House in Sunderland.

“I’ve been ranked as number one in the IPA for the last four years, but this really is the pinnacle for me.”

Marc is the joint-owner of pool centre Sky Lounge, in the Columbia area of Washington, and regularly helps out younger players with improving their game.

“Hopefully me winning the title will lead onto other things, but I’m going to try and push the coaching that we do at Sky Lounge,” said Marc.

“We’ve been open here for about 18 months, but I’ve been busy with a lot of other things at times and over the next 12 months we’ll really have a go at coaching other people.”

Marc added that he has had goodwill messages from people around the world since winning the title, some of them friends who he hasn’t had contact with in decades.

“The tournament was shown live on Freesports so there were thousands watching there and 150 at the venue,” he said.

“There’s been a lot of exposure with it being streamed live.

“The last week or so has been incredible and I’ve had a great response through Facebook, people I haven’t spoken to in years getting in touch from all over the world to say well done.

“It’s hard to get your head around it.”