When it comes to pool, Markle's tricks a treat
Steve Markle, a West Chester University student, is competing in the world trick-shot championshpis in Las Vegas.
A LOT OF COLLEGE students chill out in the summer. Not Steve Markle.
Tomorrow, he flies to Las Vegas to compete in the world trick-shot pool championships.
Markle, 21, a criminal justice major at West Chester University who attended Archbishop Ryan High, is ranked ninth in the world.
"I started playing when I was 14," he said yesterday. "A friend of mine had a pool table and we would go over to his house and play for hours. Eventually we started getting pretty good. But then, he stopped playing, so my father [Bill] remodeled our basement and we got a cheap pool table. I've been involved in other things where I've lost interest pretty fast so my dad thought that after 3 months the table would be used for [folding] laundry. But after a year and a half I was still playing, so he bought a professional model."
Markle said he began making videos of trick shots he was working on. And, in September 2008, at age 16, he entered his first pro-am. After five events, he turned pro.
His favorite competitions are those set up like HORSE in basketball, where you make a shot that your opponent has to duplicate. Google "Steve Markle" and "pool" and you'll see some of his amazing, gravity-defying shots.
The event in Las Vegas has a different format.
"There's a book of 154 shots and you have to pick 40," he said. "The top scorers move up. By Sunday, there are eight finalists. My goal is to still be playing Sunday."
When not competing or in school, Markle keeps busy performing trick-shot shows. His favorite to date was when he went back to his old high school. "We set up a table on the logo in the middle of Ryan's gym, and the whole school turned out," he said.
His favorite shot?
"I put my dog, Koko, on the table, jump the cue ball over her and sink another ball in the corner pocket," he said. "It took a while to get her to stay still."