Having said on the snooker thread that I'd get a rolling 'cue sports that aren't snooker' thread going for 2022, I thought I might as well start as I mean to go on and get the balls rolling, so speak. The Mosconi Cup (pool's answer to the Ryder Cup) is held in Alexandra Palace in December and we already know that US number 1 and greatest currently competitive* player Shane van Boening will be on the US team and that Austria's reigning world 9-ball champion Albin Ouschan will be on the European side. The other spots are yet to be announced. I'd expect Skyler Woodward and Billy Thorpe to be two of the States' other players, while the German Joshua Filler and the Albanian reigning world 10-ball champion Eklent Kaci have to be good shouts for European spots. Personally I think the organisers (Matchroom) should think about mandating that each team have at least one woman playing, but at present that might be seen as tipping the scales somewhat in favour of the Europeans, for whom England's Kelly Fisher, Russia's Kristina Tkach and Austria's Jasmin Ouschan (Albin's sister) would all be eligible. I can't name a top US woman at the moment.
Anyway, that's a couple of months away still. Right now, in the wake of the US Open 9-ball event won by the Philippines' Carlo Biado, the tour continues with a bunch of less presitigious events which this thread will aim to force me to keep more or less up to speed with. As the previous paragraph hints, most of the really big events of the year have already taken place: the world 9- and 10-ball and the US Open, as well as the World Cup of Pool and the World Pool Masters, have all finished. One good thing for newcomers though is that there's always stuff of a high standard to watch for free on YouTube. Right now I'm catching up on the final of the Michigan Open 10-ball tournament, which was played on Saturday. As I type beaten US Open finalist Aloysius Yapp is 2–0 up against Roberto Gomez in the final. And at this point it occurs to me that a rundown of the main games and one or two terms used might be useful, so it follows in the next post (because I've gone over the character limit while drafting this one!).
And while I've been typing all of the following post, on my TV Aloysius Yapp has won the Michigan Open 10-ball (as stated above he actually did this a couple of nights ago). His first title, and he's done right after losing the US Open 9-ball final and (if I remember rightly) reaching the semis or the final of the World 10-ball Championship a couple of weeks before that. Lovely stuff. As I've said, there is absolutely loads of good pool on YouTube all the time, so if you're interested let me know and I can either share links to channels or embed a few videos of classic matches/shot/player compilations for you.
*The asterisk is because while Efren Reyes has basically retired but for the odd exhibition, Earl Strickland is still playing professionally even though he doesn't bother the bookmakers' title odds these days. Van Boening, as I think I mentioned on the other thread, is often touted as a candidate for third greatest ever behind those two.
Anyway, that's a couple of months away still. Right now, in the wake of the US Open 9-ball event won by the Philippines' Carlo Biado, the tour continues with a bunch of less presitigious events which this thread will aim to force me to keep more or less up to speed with. As the previous paragraph hints, most of the really big events of the year have already taken place: the world 9- and 10-ball and the US Open, as well as the World Cup of Pool and the World Pool Masters, have all finished. One good thing for newcomers though is that there's always stuff of a high standard to watch for free on YouTube. Right now I'm catching up on the final of the Michigan Open 10-ball tournament, which was played on Saturday. As I type beaten US Open finalist Aloysius Yapp is 2–0 up against Roberto Gomez in the final. And at this point it occurs to me that a rundown of the main games and one or two terms used might be useful, so it follows in the next post (because I've gone over the character limit while drafting this one!).
And while I've been typing all of the following post, on my TV Aloysius Yapp has won the Michigan Open 10-ball (as stated above he actually did this a couple of nights ago). His first title, and he's done right after losing the US Open 9-ball final and (if I remember rightly) reaching the semis or the final of the World 10-ball Championship a couple of weeks before that. Lovely stuff. As I've said, there is absolutely loads of good pool on YouTube all the time, so if you're interested let me know and I can either share links to channels or embed a few videos of classic matches/shot/player compilations for you.
*The asterisk is because while Efren Reyes has basically retired but for the odd exhibition, Earl Strickland is still playing professionally even though he doesn't bother the bookmakers' title odds these days. Van Boening, as I think I mentioned on the other thread, is often touted as a candidate for third greatest ever behind those two.
Comment