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August 14 and 15, 2026. Kannai, Yokohama.
Introducing the players to watch at SANSIAS presents Yokohama 14-1 Summit.
When the weekend comes, he runs.
From home to POOL LABO: 6 km each way.
Twelve kilometers there and back.
He runs so that he can play.
We asked him to sum up 14.1, straight pool, in a single word.
“This is billiards.”
That alone, I felt, told me a little of what he has been looking at for fifteen years.
He only plays on weekends.
And yet,
2017 Kansai 14.1 champion. Runner-up in 2018 and 2019. Best amateur at the 2026 All Japan 14.1.
His natural gift for logic is what makes his game so repeatable.
Asked what matters most in practice, he gave the same answer.
“Repeatability.”
I asked why he takes 14.1 so seriously.
“Because it’s the most fun there is, by a mile.”
I asked about his strength.
“Love of 14.1.”
No ornament.
That is simply how he speaks.
High run: 109. Goal: over 100 every month.
“I’ve only gone over 100 twice, though.”
He adds it with his eyes on a place he has not yet reached.
The match he remembers was against Hayase, a pro, at the 2026 All Japan 14.1.
The last match of the first day.
At the All Japan, he had lost three in a row before it.
That match weighed more than any count of three straight losses.
I asked how he felt going into this Summit.
“This time I’m putting everything into running the event, so I’m sorry to say I won’t be playing.”
Still, he is on standby as an alternate.
The qualifying rounds are round-robins: four groups of eight.
If even one player is missing, it lets down everyone else who has been looking forward to it.
Not because he wants to play.
He stays ready for the sake of his friends.
The man who set this event in motion is waiting quietly, away from the table.
The one who loves 14.1 more than anyone is also the one who puts his friends first.
And a word for anyone who wants to take up 14.1.
“Come join the POOL LABO 14.1 Club. We meet on the third Sunday of every month. Nobody’s turned away for not being good.”
When a man who runs twelve kilometers every weekend to get to the table says it is fine not to be good, I believe he means it.
Masato Fujita
Affiliation: POOL LABO | Class: Amateur
Major results: 2017 Kansai 14.1 champion / runner-up 2018, 2019 / last 16, 2022 All Japan 14.1 / best amateur, 2026 All Japan 14.1
Years playing 14.1: 15 | High run: 109
POOL LABO 14.1 Club | Third Sunday of every month
👉 Yokohama 14-1 Summit 2026: event details
👉 Player stats