10/06/2026
The Billiard Sports Network had the pleasure of hosting the 2026 WPA - Artistic Pool World Championship and the Inaugural 2026 Freestyle World Artistic Pool Championship at our home BlueGrass Billiards this past weekend. 22 of the best artistic players from all over the world came to play in this event, We had competitors from Japan, Australia, Wales, South Africa, France, Hungary, Argentina as well as many states represented. It was truly an honor to be able to produce a World Championship broadcast as well as being a part of history broadcasting the inaugural event. We respect all forms of pool but we have a new found respect for the passion these players have in honing their craft. We would like to thank the WPA, Steve Markle (player/promoter) and sponsors for putting the trust in BSN.
The Results.
The Artistic Division saw an epic matchup between BSN's own Steve Markle - Professional Pool Player in an epic battle with Florian 'Venom' Kohler. Steve was attempting to thwart Florian's quest for a 3peat, The match started off with a back and forth volley, but after a while Florian started to pull away and eventually Steve could not hold off the Venom of Florian's onslaught. This win gives Florian 3 in a row and Steve a career high 2nd place finish in a World Championship event. BSN is proud of Steve and his future is very bright! We would also like to congratulate our Cuetec teammate Florian on his win..
1st Place Champion: Florian 'Venom' Kohler
2nd Place: Steve Markle - Professional Pool Player
3rd Place: Abram Diaz
4th Place: Jamie Moody
And in the Inaugural Freestyle Artistic Division.
World #1 Tim "The Dragon" Chin challenged Florian in the hot seat match. Florian came out victorious to get to the finals forcing Tim to a 3rd place match. In the 4th place match "Cue Coach" Wayne Parker defeated Brian Pauley landing Brian in a career high 4th place finish pushing Wayne into a 3rd place match against Tim. The Dragon breathed furious fire into his match eliminating "The Cue Coach" in 3rd place. forcing the rematch in the finals against Florian. In the finals match Florian dug deep into his arsenal to use his strengths against Tim to become the 1st ever Freestyle Artistic World Champion!
1st Place Champion: Florian "Venom" Kohler
2nd Place: Tim "The Dragon" Chen
3rd Place: "Cue Coach" Wayne Parker
4th Place: "Superman" Brian Pauley
