After a life-changing automobile accident at 18, Hydred Goldberg faced a fundamental question: what would the rest of her life look like?

In Part 2 of her Legends of the Cue story, the future two-time WPA Parasport Heyball World Champion describes the decisions that gave her independence—and ultimately led her to the pool table.

Learning to drive became a major turning point. Soon afterward, Hydred moved by herself to San Diego, enrolled in college and eventually earned a degree in psychology while studying fine arts. Determined to discover what remained possible, she experimented with adaptive swimming, skiing, racing and even considered paragliding. But another activity eventually captured her imagination far more completely.

Pool.

Hydred takes us inside Palace Billiards in Vallejo, where the bright public room gave way to a more serious back room filled with action players, tight tables, smoke and an atmosphere that fascinated the self-described “good girl.” Later, College Billiards and On Cue Billiards became important parts of her San Diego pool education.

With virtually no blueprint for playing from a wheelchair, Hydred taught herself through experimentation. She discusses adapting her stroke, chair position, bridge use and equipment, including the elusive extra-long telescoping bridge wheelchair players still seek today.

The conversation also reaches Hydred’s other great creative life: special-effects makeup, including work around San Diego Comic-Con and doing makeup for stars of the WPBA—including Allison Fisher herself.

Hydred also explores her Filipino identity, her admiration for Efren Reyes, and why a future trip to the Philippines carries such personal meaning.

It is the story of an artist, a pool player and a woman gradually discovering where all those identities intersect.

Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text.

Support the show

Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:

Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1

Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come.

Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.

Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cu...

Two-time WPA Heyball Parasport World Champion Hydred Goldberg joins Legends of the Cue to begin an extraordinary life story that stretches from London and the Philippines to California—and eventually to the top of international wheelchair pool.

Hydred sits down with hosts Allison Fisher, Mark Wilson and Mike Gonzalez just months after surrendering the world title she had held since the inaugural WPA Parasport Heyball Championship in 2024. She reflects on the pressure of defending a world championship, her evolving rivalry and friendship with Switzerland’s Catherine Schneeberger, and the unexpected attention that followed becoming the first woman to win the title.

Then we go back to the beginning.

Born and raised in London to Filipino parents, Hydred recalls childhood at the “Orchard Bungalow,” growing up as the eldest in a large family, Filipino food, festivals and traditions, her early love of art and music, and moving to Northern California as a teenager. She also discusses what it meant to grow up feeling connected to three different places—England, America and the Philippines.

Everything changed on August 10, 1993, just days after Hydred’s 18th birthday. A catastrophic automobile accident left her paralyzed. Hydred recounts the crash, months of hospitalization and rehabilitation, receiving her first wheelchair, and the long emotional journey from denial toward accepting a radically different life.

She also contrasts her experience of acquired disability with that of fellow wheelchair pool champion Henrik Larsson, who has used a wheelchair since infancy.

This first chapter is not yet the story of a world champion. It is the story of the young woman who would eventually become one.

Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text.

Support the show

Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:

Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1

Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come.

Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.

Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cu...

Why do they call Chris Melling “The Magician”?

Part Four of our Legends of the Cue conversation provides the answer.

We begin with perhaps the most famous rack of Melling’s career: his extraordinary World Pool Series clearance against Mika Immonen. Chris takes us inside the combination-carom, the severe swerve shot and the unforgettable four-rail bank that helped turn the clearance into one of pool’s most widely viewed highlights. He explains what he saw, what he intended and why the shots that looked impossible to millions of viewers made sense to him.

But Chris Melling’s career is about far more than viral pool shots.

He recalls his remarkable comeback from 8–2 down against John Morra to win the 2018 Derby City Classic 9-Ball title after an exhausting stretch of nearly continuous play. From that high, Chris revisits perhaps the most painful defeat of his career: the Chinese Pool World Championship final, where a substantial lead disappeared amid a camera flash, changing break conditions and a dramatic late reversal.

Melling also reflects on his World Pool Series success, his love of straight pool and one-pocket, and his latest career resurgence on the Ultimate Pool circuit. Well into his forties, “The Magician” continued winning major events, including the Louisiana Open, Kansas City Open and Ultimate Pool Masters.

Chris explains how quickly he sees patterns, how instinct and calculation coexist in his game, and why natural talent means little without the thousands of hours required to develop it.

Then Allison Fisher puts him through Alli’s Rapid Rack, producing quick answers on his favorite game, greatest cue action, dream doubles partner, toughest opponent and the one shot he would most like to replay.

There’s even a terrific story involving Jimmy White and an unexpected dinner with Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.

Finally, Chris considers the lessons of his career and how he hopes to be remembered: a normal kid from a working-class town who lived his dream, became one of the best in the world and built a life playing pool.

A fitting conclusion to the extraordinary story of Chris “The Magician” Melling.

Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text.

Support the show

Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:

Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1

Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come.

Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.

Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cu...