Lifelong Jewett City resident Jamey Gray has added yet another trophy to his display case, which now boasts as many trophies and medals as there are pool sticks in his well-stocked cue racks.

In December, the 38-year-old Norwich Tech graduate finished first among the two dozen competitors gathered in Duluth , Georgia, for the 2008 Artistic Pool World Championship, which was sponsored by the Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association, a division of the World Pool-Billiard Association.

Sitting in the family room of his Jewett City home – a room that features trophies and a huge pool table – Gray said that he hopes this title, coupled with a good showing by him in his next tournament this March in Valley Forge, Penn., will earn him a coveted invitation to ESPN’s Trick Shot Magic Competition. Tom Rossman, the player Gray defeated in the finals in Duluth, won the ESPN showdown this past October, when the event was held in Las Vegas.

“I’ve been around pool all my life. We had [a pool table] in the basement when I was growing up, and I’ve been playing ever since I was old enough to see over the top of the table,” said Gray. He got serious about the sport in his late teens and began competing when he turned 21.

Since then, he’s gradually moved up the success ladder in his chosen sport. According to the organization’s Web site, www.wpa-pool .com, Gray was 11th in the World Rankings as of Jan. 4, 2009.

But he played like a number one seed during the tourney held at the Pool Room Sports Bar and Grill in Duluth, starting his march to the title in the quarter finals by beating sixth-ranked Bruce Barthelette , who, incidentally, had introduced Gray to the sport a couple decades ago.

Then Gray edged third-ranked Nick Nikolaidis in the semi-finals before toppling top dog Tom Rossman, presently ranked number one in the world.

Here’s how an observer on the scene in the Georgia bar described Gray’s titlewinning shot, a shot which his opponent had just made and which Gray had to match to gain the winning points: “The players traded the lead throughout the match until the final shot. Tom was behind and had to pick a shot that he could make with hopes that Jamey would not. Tom picked a difficult five-rail kick to pocket a ball that was placed a diamond out of the corner pocket.

“The ball split the pocket for nine points, giving Tom a slight lead of 116-110 . Jamey ‘The Sharpshooter’ Gray took a few moments to compose himself, checked his notes on the [best way to make this particular] shot and approached the table... He fired the cue ball five rails around the table and cut the 5 ball clean in the corner to win the world championship by the score of 119-116 .”

Gray took home $3,500 in cash, a couple of top-of-the-line pool cues and, of course, another prize for his trophy case.