Tyrolean billiard pro

“Mad Max” has his sights set on the world championship jackpot

Tyrolean Maximilian Lechner is one of the best billiards players in the world.(Bild: Johanna Birbaumer)

Tyrolean Maximilian Lechner is one of the best billiards players in the world, flying the red-white-red flag high last year with bronze at the 8-Ball World Championships in Klagenfurt. In 2024, he still has to get to grips with the new cue. The high-paying World Championships in Saudi Arabia will be the highlight.

After a month in the USA, Lechner is currently on a visit home in Innsbruck. He put the cue aside for a few days. A lot of leisure activities with girlfriend Lisi were on the agenda. "Active recreation. We were never bored, we really enjoyed it," said the 33-year-old.

Training at home
Training is now back on the agenda. "Mad Max" has his own table in the Innsbruck Billiard Sport Arena so that he can prepare intensively for the upcoming tasks and gain more confidence in his new equipment.

US Open 2022 finalist
"The cue change was difficult from experience. It just takes a bit of time. I told myself that I had to give myself six months to blindly understand it. Unfortunately, I don't have the patience," grinned Lechner, whose greatest successes include reaching the final at the 2022 US Open and bronze at the 2023 World Championships at home.

1 million dollars in prize money
The big goal this year is the World Championships in June, which will take place in Saudi Arabia for the first time and is endowed with one million dollars. The winner will receive 250,000. "The plan would be to become world champion. But 127 others want that too," said Max, who is ranked 13th in the Matchroom Ranking, the more important world ranking list for professionals than the WPA.