The Ghost: A quick glance at Fedor Gorst’s Career

BY: DFT

Fedor Alekseyevich Gorst now at 24 years of age was born on May 31, 2000 in Moscow. He is a Russian-born American professional pool player. Fedor recently granted permanent residency in the United States and became an American citizen and represented Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup in London.

Fedor with nickname “The Ghost” is the 2019 Nine- Ball world champion. He also made it to the finals of the U.S. Nine-ball Championship in 2023.

In 2024, Fedor defeated Joshua Filler at the World Pool Masters in Hildesheim, Germany to won his first major Matchroom title.

To know more about him, here’s an excerpt from his biography which was published online at fedorgorst.com:

“I know the importance of determination and hard work, having put in countless hours at the pool table to sharpen my skills and become a champion. Part of this comes from my love of the game while the other half comes from sheer necessity. As a result, I have quickly risen to become one of the top players in the world – with a World Championship and an appearance in the Mosconi Cup already on my resume.

Born in Moscow, Russia in May of 2000 and raised in the city’s countryside, I first tried alpine skiing, soccer, taekwondo and canoeing as a young child but was drawn to the Russian Pyramid table – a form of billiards played on a six-by-12-foot table – in our family home.

My father invited a Russian Pyramid coach to the house to provide lessons when I was six years old and I was soon enrolled in the instructor’s billiard school. Although I enjoyed the game, I also struggled to find success due to having a small body and attempting to compete on such a large table. When I was 10 years old, another coach asked if I would like to switch to a different discipline called pool, the American game played on a nine-foot table. I was immediately hooked on the competitive side of the game and quickly began playing in amateur tournaments in Moscow as well as a couple of official junior events, winning my first junior competition at age 12 and becoming a Russian National team member just two years later.

After the sudden and unexpected death of my father when I was a teenager, I began treating pocket billiards not so much as a game but as a means to support my family, spending hours after school training each day. My first big win on the European scene was in 2015 when I won the pupil’s division in straight pool at the European Championship and the first major professional victory came when I earned first place honors at the EuroTour’s Treviso Open three years later. The pinnacle of my burgeoning career came in December of 2019 when I defeated Chinese Taipei’s Jun-Ling Chang to win my first World 9-Ball Championship at the age of 19, making me the second-youngest competitor in history to win the world title. Since this victory, I have snapped off back-to-back Arcadia Arizona Open championships, competed on the winning European Mosconi Cup team in 2020 and was named Master of the Table for my performance at the 2022 Derby City Classic, a 10-day competition which tests a player’s ability to compete at multiple disciplines such as 9-ball, 10-ball, one-pocket and bank pool.

Although I remain one of the hardest working players in the game, my career and the success I’ve achieved would not have been possible without my vast support system which includes family, very good friends and sponsors such as Mike and Vladimir Nikolaev in Russia as well as Jason and Alan Sword in the United States, my coaches, the Russian federation and sponsors such as Cuetec and Diamond Billiard Products”…

The following is the rundown of some of his multiple championships, top achievements and trophies in the game of pool:

WPA World Nine-ball Championship

In 2017, he won the junior title over Mongolia’s Temuujin Enkhbold in the championship match.
In 2019, he won the world champion title over Chang Jung-lin in the championship match in a 13-11 victory.

Euro Tour Series Winner

In 2018, at age 18, he won the Euro Tour Series at the Treviso Open, one of his first major titles.

European Pool Championship

In 2019, Fedor won the 9-ball competition over Joshua Filler in the championship match.
In 2021, he became champion of the 14.1 Straight Pool competition over Marc Bijsterbosch in the championship match and finished second place in the 8-ball competition.

Mosconi Cup

Team Europe won that year, making Fedor one of the youngest winner in the event’s history. Gorst was barely 20 when he competed at that time.

Derby City Classic

This includes six titles:

One Pocket in 2022
Bank Pool in 2022
Master of the Table in 2022
9-ball in 2023
Bank Pool in 2023
Overall winner Master of the Table in 2023

While there are many pool players from different parts of the world who can compete at a professional level, certainly “The Ghost” distanced himself from the pack. With his exceptional playing ability, without a doubt.. he is the next player to watch…