Alex Lely (born 30 June 1973) is a Dutch former professional

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

player. Lely won the 1999 World Pool Masters after defeating

Efren Reyes Efren Manalang Reyes (born August 26, 1954) is a Filipino professional pool player. A winner of over 100 international titles, Reyes was the first player to win world championships in two different pool disciplines. Among his numerous title ...

7–5, and reached the final in 2000 but lost to Ralf Souquet 7–3. He is a two-time European champion having won the

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...

and

eight-ball Eight-ball (also spelled 8-ball or eightball, and sometimes called solids and stripes, spots and stripes, bigs and smalls, big ones and little ones, or rarely highs and lows) is a discipline of Pool (cue sports), pool played on a billiard tabl ...

at the 2005 European Pool Championships. Lely has competed for the European team at the Mosconi Cup on four occasions in 1999, 2005, 2008 and 2009. Lely would be a part of the successful team at the 2008 Mosconi Cup when acting as the teams non-playing captain. In 2020, he took over as the team captain of the European team from

Marcus Chamat Marcus Chamat (; born 6 May 1975) is a Swedish language, Swedish professional eight-ball and nine-ball Pocket billiards, pool player. He was Nickname, nicknamed "Napoleon" due to his personality and standing at tall. He is a two time European Po ...

. Lely is a multiple time champion of events on the

Euro Tour The Euro Tour is a series of professional pool events set around Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlanti ...

, first winning the 1999 German Open, before taking two more events in 2005 and 2006.

Career

Alex Lely at the World Pool Trickshot Masters 2007

Alex Lely was born 30 June 1973 in

the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, Netherlands. He plays pool right-handed. Lely turned professional in 1998, and the following year won his first major tournament, the

World Pool Masters The World Pool Masters is an annual international nine-ball tournament. Formerly, it was called the European Pool Masters (until 1995) until players from other parts of the globe were invited. History Throughout much of its history, the tournament ...

. He defeated

in the final 7–5. Lely also collected autographs from his opponents in the competition. The same season, Lely debuted for the European Mosconi Cup team in the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

event, thanks to his win at the Masters. Lely also won his first

event, defeating Francisco Bustamante in the final of the ''1999 German Open''. In 2000, Lely reached his first final at the European Pool Championships, losing to Oliver Ortmann in the straight pool event. In defence of his championship, Lely also made it to the final of the 2000 World Pool Masters. However, Lely would lose the final 3–7 to Ralf Souquet. Lely did not win any major titles for the next few seasons. He played in the 2001 World Games in both men's snooker and men's pool events, but lost in the last 16 in both events. In 2003, he once again reached the later stages at the World Pool Masters, this time finishing as a losing semifinalist to Hsia Hui-Kai 8–4. This was the furthest that Lely would progress in the competition, as he finished in the quarter-finals in both 2004 and 2005 and did not appear in the competition in 2007. Lely won two of the events at the 2005 European Pool Championships, winning the nine-ball tournament beating Ralf Souquet in the final 9–8, and the eight-ball event defeating

Tomasz Kapłan Tomasz Kapłan (born 14 January 1984) is a Polish professional Pool (cue sports), pool player. He won the 2011 European Pool Championships in the discipline of Straight pool. He has played on the Euro Tour since 2009, reaching the semi-finals on ...

. He played for the second time at the 2005 Mosconi Cup, with the team being defeated 11–6. Before the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, he retired from the professional circuit; citing not wanting as much pressure to perform and tournaments not suiting his style of play. He appeared again at the Mosconi Cup in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

as the non-playing captain, winning in the former. He made an appearance at the 2015 Derby City Classic, where he finished in fourth place. Lely returned to the World Pool Masters at the 2018 event, which celebrated the 25th staging of the event, and saw a field of previous winners. Lely lost to Alex Pagulayan in the first round 8–4. In 2020, Lely was announced as the new captain of the European team for the Mosconi Cup, taking over from

Titles & Achievements

* 2022 European One Pocket Tournament * 2005

European Pool Championship European Pool Championship (also called Dynamic European Championships) is a pool competition organized by the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF). The tournament is held annually since 1980. It should not be confused with the series of sma ...

9-Ball * 2005

Italian Open * 2005

8-Ball * 2002 Fujairah International 8-Ball Championship * 1999

* 1999

German Open * 1999

Netherlands Open

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lely, Alex 1973 births Dutch pool players Living people Sportspeople from The Hague