CHRIS Melling enjoyed being back on his travels over the weekend, with the Keighley pool player competing in his first Euro Tour event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 9-ball event was held in Slovenia, but Melling admitted to the Keighley News last week that he might be a bit rusty, having played little of that format since the World Championships last June.

He got off to a good start, beating Swiss competitor Michael Schneider 9-4, but then he lost to one of Europe's brightest stars in Spain's David Alcaide, 9-7.

That put him into the losers' side of the draw, where he came up against home talent Maks Benko, who remarkably, is just 12 years old.

Benko produced some brilliant pool, with Melling full of praise for his performance, but the Keighley potter avoided any embarrassment against the pre-teen, winning 9-4.

After that followed an extraordinary set of results.

Melling came back from 5-3 down to beat Tomasz Kaplan 9-8, then he downed Luca Menn 9-8 too, almost blowing that match from 8-4 in front.

That put Melling into a shootout for the last-32 against old foe Alcaide, who had lost his previous match.

The Keighley man looked finished at 8-5 down, but roared back to win 9-8.

That put him into a last-32 clash with Estonian Denis Grabe, but Melling's luck finally ran out, as he lost a 7-3 advantage to be knocked out 9-8.

The tournament was eventually won by young Pole Wiktor Zielinski, who downed Germany's Joshua Filler 9-7 in a pulsating final.