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Tuesday 29 December 2015
FloridaBilliardsExpo.com Launched!
Wednesday 9 December 2015
Mosconi Cup: Americans Trail 9-6 Going into Final Day
By: Markus Noé
The third day of the Mosconi Cup began this morning at 11:00 am local time at the Tropicana Casino in Las Vegas. Despite trailing 6-4 in the overall score the Americans came into the day with some momentum. This was due to the climatic finish in the last match on day 2 as Shane VanBoening made an amazing carom on the 9 to keep the Americans hopes alive.
That being said, in the first match of the day the duo of Justin Bergman/Corey Deuel came out flat. Their counterpart Albin Ouschan/Niels Feijen came out roaring playing near flawless. Once again in this match Deuel did not look comfortable and made a few mistakes that you would not likely see him make under normal circumstances. In the end Europe won this match with ease 5-1.
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| Deuel celebrating a great roll |
In a bit of a surprise Marc Wilson sent Deuel out to play back to back matches despite his self admitted struggles. This was a bit unnerving however the "pool gods" appeared ready to give him some of the rolls he has been looking for all week. He was up against Nick van den Berg who has not registered a single point for the Europeans thus far. The match was filled with errors and miracle shots, it really was perhaps the most exciting match of the day. There was one particular shot were Deuel and van den Berg were exchanging safeties and Deuel had a tough jump shot to make on the 2 ball. He made good contact and inadvertently caromed the 9 ball cross corner winning the rack.
It was inevitable that this match would go double hill. Deuel was the first player to get a really good chance to finish the set and he made a bad shot on the 5 ball and missed. Somehow the nerves must have gotten to van den Berg as well because despite having four open balls left on the table he too missed giving Deuel one more chance which he took full advantage of winning 5-4.
At this point the Americans were only down 7-5 to the heavily favored European team. Once again it was time for another doubles match with Mike Dechaine and Skyler Woodward up against Karl Boyes and Albin Ouschan. The Americans looked to finally be in the drivers seat going up 2-0 but that was short lived. The Europeans played well and roared back to go up 4-2. In the final rack of the set the Americans were in control. Woodward was straight in on his shot and was forced to play a stop shot leaving position for the 9 ball in the side. Dechaine was fully expected to make this shot, however he grazed the point of the pocket and rattled the shot. Ouschan stepped up to the table and slammed the winning 9 ball in, giving his team the 8-5 overall lead.
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| Feijen golden break. |
Going into the last match of the session the Americans were down 9-5 and desperately needed a win. This would not be easy as Justin Bergman was up against Darren Appleton. Bergman began the match by breaking and running his first three breaks, however he was only ahead 3-2. After a few errors from Appleton, Bergman went on to win 5-2. He did so while displaying tons of heart and an unwillingness to play safe as he was trying everything he could see, his style is made for T.V.
Play resumes at 2:00 pm eastern time tomorrow and it will be the final day of the 2015 Mosconi Cup. The live stream can be found here http://www.pool.livesport.tv/. If you are unable to watch make sure to check the Cue Sport Nation Facebook page as we will have updates of each match. Can the Americans do the unthinkable and win 5 matches before the Europeans win 2?
15 Billiard Student-Athletes Proudly Represented U.S. in Shanghai at World Junior Championships
By Billiard Education Foundation
Photo Courtesy of Alison Chang
December 8, 2015 (Denver, CO): Last month, 15 American billiard student-athletes traveled to Shanghai, China not for cash, not for scholarships and not for a free vacation. They flew across the world with their families for an opportunity to represent our nation and earn a medal at the 24th Annual WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championships.
That’s right. Just like the Olympics. These talented young players trained and performed in a venue alongside their international peers for a chance to bring home a medal and trophy which proves they are the best junior player in the world.
The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) & Billiard Congress of America (BCA) through its membership with the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) have been qualifying these remarkable young athletes for the past two decades. It’s the only youth billiard event that is recognized all the way up to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). And if you’re an American, the only way to earn a spot at this prestigious event is by way of the BEF Junior National 9-Ball Championships.
This year’s group of 15 players all displayed tremendous heart and sportsmanship, and will all be nominated for the upcoming Atlantic Challenge Cup event. 18-year-old Christopher Robinson and 15-year-old April Larson were the two highest U.S. finishers at 9th place just shy of the redraw.
On behalf of the BEF and each of these players, we proudly recognize and thank this year’s premier sponsors/supporters of the U.S. Junior Team:
Ultimate Team Gear (UltimateTeamGear.com), for outfitting the team with a jersey enviable by all other nations.
Allison Fisher, for her incredible efforts to raise over $1,500 in donations and continued support throughout the year.
Diamond Billiard Products, for offering a 9’ Diamond Pro-Am table to be drawn during the 2016 Junior Nationals and allowing the players to raise funds through ticket sales for this drawing.
Pechauer Custom Cue, for their long-time support of youth billiards and for donating their annually cue to be drawn which the players were able to sell tickets for.
Cyclop, for donating ball sets for each of the players to practice with.
There were of course many other contributors who have helped these budding young stars along the way and we are grateful for each of them. Congratulations again to the 15 players who proudly represented our nation at the 2015 World Junior Championships. It was an amazing journey and we can’t wait for next year!
1. Chris Robinson, age 17 (Ventura, CA)
2. Joshua Franklin, age 17 (Creve Coeur, IL)
3. Zachary Gurganus, age 18 (Marietta, GA)
4. Nickolas Kline, age 17 (Prescott Valley, AZ)
5. Jacob Watson, age 17 (Tyler TX)
6. April Larson, age 15 (Bloomington, MN)
7. Emily Herpel, age 15 (Freehold, NY)
8. Hannah Hohn, age 17 (Ethan SD)
9. Michelle Jiang, age 15 (Harvard, MA)
10. Hailey Fullerton, age 15 (Lake Park, MN)
11. Ashley Fullerton, age 14 (Lake Park, MN)
12. Nathan Childress, age 14 (N. Chesterfield, VA)
13. Kaiden Hunkins, age 13 (Waukesha, WI)
14. Lukas Fracasso-Verner, age 15 (Wallingford, CT)
15. Daniel Sardoncillo, age 14 (Puyallup, WA)
For more information on how to qualify for the 2016 World Junior Championships or more on how you can get involved, contact the BEF office at (303) 926-1039 or info@billiardeducation.org.
About the Billiard Education Foundation (BEF)
The BEF was formed in 1993 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity committed to promoting a lifelong love of pool and building the next generation of players through youth programs and academic scholarships. Visit billiardeducation.org or call (303) 926-1039 to learn more about junior billiard programs in your area.
Tuesday 8 December 2015
Mosconi Cup: America Narrowly Escapes Disaster in Final Match
By: Markus Noé
Marc Wilson team captain for the American side, showed his confidence in the "Young Guns", putting them out first. Woodward has looked the sharpest out of the lot for the Americans and Justin Bergman who is a top talent and plays with a lot of heart came out and did what they needed to do in this match. They won 5-3 and tied the overall score 3-3 while the chant of "MVP" for Woodward came from the crowd.
Next up was a singles match between Mike Dechaine who has not been sharp thus far and Albin Ouschan. This was a very intense match as Ouschan would describe in the post match interview. Overall it was played at a high level but Dechaine was a little unfortunate and had too many breaks without making a ball. In the end Ouschan went on to win 5-3 and Europe regained the lead 4-3 overall.
It was the next match where things got weird for the Americans as Corey Deuel/Shane VanBoening were up against Darren Appleton/Karl Boyes. The story line thus far really has not been Europe's domination which has been the case in the past, it has been missed opportunities by the Americans. That being said in the very first rack Corey Deuel who has also been struggling in this event, missed a 9 ball that realistically any average player would have buried. It cannot be said enough how much pressure is on these players but that being said Deuel just looks a bit lost in these pressure packed situations.
He missed several more balls in the match and one 7 ball which he tried to cut so much he missed it and kicked it up table from behind. SVB did not play strong in this match either but that is the challenge in scotch doubles, to maintain your game when perhaps your teammate is not playing well. Deuel's final shot of this set really underlined the whole match for him as he finally pots a very difficult 7 ball then proceeds to scratch and leaves ball in hand with two balls left on the table. Europe won this match 5-2 but the score is deceiving because Darren Appleton who is usually a rock in these situations looked pedestrian today.
The rookie Sky Woodward was now in a tough position, with his team down 5-3 he really needed to come with it against Karl Boyes. As he has been doing the entire event Woodward came out strong winning the first rack and keeping a lead until 3-3. From there some incredible shot-making by Boyes and a few good rolls allowed him to win 5-3.
Now things were really getting desperate for the Americas being down 6-3 with one match left to play in the session. The general consensus was that the Americans needed to win this match otherwise their hopes in this race to 11 would be shattered. Shane VanBoening and Mike Dechaine who have been struggling were up against Darren Appleton and Nick van den Berg. Once again the Americans made errors early on and were down 2-0 but were able to tie the match at 2-2. It remained close for the rest of the match with the Europeans going up 4-3 however SVB and Dechaine were able to run out the rack to go 4-4.
In the final rack SVB was forced to play a very hard 2-9 carom with the cue ball being near the back rail and 2-9 from near center table. It was the only shot he had and it really was do or die for the match and the entire event. Finally SVB came through like we all know he can and buried this shot which I have dubbed "The shot that saved America." The crowd erupted with cheer when SVB made this shot and the entire team took a big sigh of relief. There is a video on our Facebook page which demonstrates the entire experience; I invite you all there to watch for yourself as I have never seen SVB or Dechaine celebrate like this. The Americans really need to get their best player going and this shot could have done exactly that.
As a Canadian I don't really have a stake in the outcome but being of German descendant I have cheered for Europe in the past. However with the domination that we have seen over the past several years as a pool fan I just want to see a competitive event. I will admit I do find myself rooting a bit more for the Americans but I have always favored the underdogs. Being the top professionals that they are I expect Deuel and Dechaine to put any bad memories of today behind them and for the Americans to come right at team Europe tomorrow. Play begins at 2:00 pm eastern, to watch the stream go to http://www.pool.livesport.tv/. Visit www.cuesportnation.com daily for a full recap of the day and if you would like to follow along while at work visit our Facebook page for updates of each match.
Monday 7 December 2015
Mosconi Cup: Europe Wins First Session 3-2
By: Markus Noé
At 11:00 am local time live from the Tropicana Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada the 2015 edition of the Mosconi Cup got underway. The Americans struggles in this event recently have been well documented and it was important for them to get off to a good start.
The First event in each Mosconi Cup is the five man team match. This is played similar to scotch doubles with the exception that the full roster from both teams are in play. On paper with the addition of Mike Dechaine and Skyler Woodward, this American team looks to be the strongest it has been in sometime. They did not disappoint coming out on top with a thrilling 5-4 win in the first match.
Scotch doubles was to be the second match of the day and this featured Mike Dechaine/Corey Deuel vs Nick van den Berg/Karl Boyes. The Americans came out firing on all cylinders carrying the momentum from their earlier win and gained a 4-2 lead. Boyes looked to be particularly uncomfortable in this match early on but came back with some solid shot making in the end to allow the Europeans a chance to steal the match. While only needing one more rack to secure the 2-0 lead overall the Americans had ball in hand with 4 balls left. It was an uncharacteristic miss on the 7 ball by Dechaine that killed all the momentum they built and allowed the Europeans to come all the way back to win 5-4.
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| Niels Feijen |
When the scoreline was 4-2 for Europe, Bergman looked to be on a bit of a charge after winning the last rack then once again the 7 ball gave him trouble. He needed to use topspin to roll up for the 8 on the top rail and unfortunately the ball skidded on him resulting in a devastating miss. To add insult to injury Bergman did not exactly give away the rack as the cue ball rested near the corner pocket and the 7 landed midway up the side rail. Feijen had already used his one extension for this rack and with time running out on the shot clock he bent down and fired at the cross side. He hit the horn of the side pocket and it went directly to the opposite corner pocket with the cue ball landing perfectly for the run out.
The following scotch doubles match featured two Mosconi Cup rookies against one another, Sky Woodward and Albin Ouschan. Woodward played with Shane VanBoening while Ouschan played with Darren Appleton. The Americans got off to a flawless start going up 4-0 in this race to 5 alternate break format. The Europeans were able to win one rack but that was it, as it was tied a 2-2 after four matches. It should be noted that Woodward looked the most confident out of the American players today and was fantastic in his debut. At only 22 years old Woodward is the youngest player ever to make a Mosconi Cup team.
Darren Appleton vs Shane VanBoening was the final match of the day, with the winner providing their team the overnight lead. These two are no strangers to one another meeting up late in tournaments all the time, however Appleton has been dominate against the American # 1 in the Mosconi Cup over the years. I credit Europe's team captain Macus Chamat for a smart pick here knowing full well that American team captain Marc Wilson will send out SVB in the final match of the day and who better to counter that with than Appleton.
SVB made an incredible 1-9 bank combo in the first rack but was unlucky to scratch, leaving an open table. From there Appleton appeared to thrive while SVB appeared a bit rattled missing an 8 ball a few racks later. Europe went on to win 5-1 and lead 3-2 overall going into day 2. Play resumes tomorrow at 2:00 pm eastern, the stream can be found at http://www.pool.livesport.tv/
Check back at www.cuesportnation.com for daily updates.
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Wednesday 11 November 2015
Liu ShaSha Crowned World Champion
Liu ShaSha of China successfully defended her title and proved to the world that she is the best in women's pool by snatching the World 9-Ball Championship title for a third time. A tight tug-of-war would be expected between the defending champion and the current Euro Tour champion Jasmine Ouschan (Austria), but the final resulted with a rather surprising and preposterous score of 9-4.
In the playoff, Chieh-Yu Chou of Chinese Taipei took the 2nd runner-up place by beating Chihiro Kawahara 9-7.
When the battle reached the semi-finals, Liu was then the only player from China left in the field. If she goes out at that stage, record would be made for the first time ever that no Chinese players were in the final since the tournament had moved to China in 2009. Immense pressure then on Liu's shoulders.
Nervousness also came from other sources, such as being in the final again, the burden of defending the title, the desire to lift the trophy up for the third time, the possibility of winning the most world titles amongst team China players,... all these contributed to Liu's tension and it was shown on her face during the final match.
"All along I was playing from behind throughout the whole tournament. I did not perform well. The thought of defending the title had been haunting me. Too much nerves and pressure. My coach was trying to adjust my thoughts by asking me to focus on one ball at a time; but with him being on the bench not much could be changed anything while I was out there at the table..." said the champion after the match.
The night before the final, Liu was telling us about her desire to defend the title in Guilin. "70% of the performance will depend on psychological, if I could clear my mind then I could play well. Judging on the regular training, being in the top 4 is already satisfactory. The final tomorrow will be mere expectation. Whether win or lose I'll just play my game."
In the double-elimination stage, Liu beat Bai Ge and Han Fang to move into the next round. After that, she knocked out Akimi Kajitani of Japan (9-0), Wei Zih-Chian of Chinese Taipei (9-5), her Chinese colleague Gao Meng (9-2), and then the 3-times Amway Cup champion Chieh-Yu Chou in the semi to reach the final against Ouschan.
Having successfully defended her title, Shasha had already won the World Women 9-Ball Championship three times, passing Kim Ga-Young of Korea (2), and fell short with just one from the all time legend the "Duchess of Doom" Allison Fisher of England.
(Li XiaoLong / Samuel Lai / Allison Chang)
Friday 6 November 2015
Women's World 9 Ball Championship Update.
By: Erik Hjorleifson
The Women's World Championships is underway in Gulin, China. The event features 64 of the Worlds top Women vying for a piece of the $170 000 prize which boasts a $42 000 first prize and a $20 000 second prize which must be noted is higher than what is on offer a the Men's World Championships.
In recent years the Asian women have emerged as the number 1 contenders for Women's international titles. The Front runners of those Asian of those Asian countries include China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan and a good number of those players are under 25. Alongside the perennial Asian threats Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher, Jasmine Ouschan,Monica Webb and Brittany Bryant head up the hopes for the western side. Surprisingly Karen Corr is absent this year for reasons unknown.
This years championships follows the typical WPA format in recent years with players drawn into double knockout groups of 8 with 4 advancing to the single knockout final 32 stage. The group stages were played on the 4th and 5th and here are some notable results.
Undefeated Players
Pan Xiaoting
Chen Siming
Jasmine Ouschan
Rubilen Amit
Chieh You Chou
Liu Sha Sha
Han Yu
Fu Xiao Fang
Allison Fisher
Ga Young Kim
Notable players failing to advance to the single knockout stages
Kelly Fisher
Jenninfer Baretta
Emily Duddy
Brittany Bryant
Shin Mei Liu
Monica Webb
The first round of the single knockout stages was also completed yesterday and here are some notable scores
Chezka Centeno (young filipino up and comer) 9 Zhou do Do 6
Chieh Yeh Chou 9 Kamila Khodejeva (2014 World Junior Champion) 7
Han Yu 9 Yuan Chun Lin (2014 Amway Cup champion) 1
Gao Meng (15 year old Chinese prodigy 9 Jiang Teng 7
This brings us down to the final 16 and every match will be tough from here, there is a free streaming link at http://alison-chang.com/the-womens-9-ball-world-championship-2015-is-set-to-kick-off-in-a-brand-new-battlefield/#more-14544 and the stream is fairly good quality. All the draws and results can be seen at http://alison-chang.com/ special thanks to Alison Chang for up to date coverage on this event
Patrick Chang Wins Steinway Classic
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| From left to right, 2015 U.S Open Champion Cheng Yu Hsuan, Hsu Kai Lun, Steinway winner Patrick Chang, Runner up Ko Pin Chung, Markus Noé, 2015 World 9 &10 Ball Champion Ko Pin Yi and Chang Jung Lin. Photo taken by Mandy Wu. |
Tuesday November 2nd saw the remaining 8 players return to find out who would be the 4th Annual Steinway Classic Champion. Jayson Shaw vs Ko Pin Chung squared off in the winners side final four match. By the time I got to the pool room this match was just being completed and Shaw was explaining to a few spectators his loss to Chung who apparently played flawless. In the other winners side match in this bracket Warren Kiamco was up against Patrick Chang. This was a thrilling match with it going all the way down to the wire at 8-8 race to 9. Unfortunately for Kiamco he scratched off his final break allowing Chang to run out for the win.
While waiting for the winners side final to begin against Patrick Chang and Ko Pin Chung, Darren Appleton eliminated Kiamco and Shaw did the same to Nick Van den Berg 9-5 and 9-6. The fourth place match between Shaw and Appleton did not last long as Shaw hit his gear and won 9-4 in what seemed like less then 30 minutes.
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| Chung vs Shaw |
The three time reigning Turning Stone Classic Champion seemed perplexed after this. His body language began to change and when he did finally have a chance at the table he made uncharacteristic errors. It was almost as in his head he felt as if this hill was too much to climb.In the end he made a little bit of a comeback but lost 9-6.
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| Patrick Chang |
Overall my first experience at Steinway Billiards was fantastic. Keeping in mind I traveled 7 hours from my hometown of Cornwall, Ontario population of 46,000, seeing what I call "big city pool action" was thrilling. Immediately upon walking through the doors Sunday afternoon I was taken over by how many spectators came to watch and bet the matches. The entire 3 days of my trip I felt comfortable in this atmosphere as everyone was very accommodating. There was literally people from all over the world at this event and we were all there for the same purpose to either play in this tournament or appreciate the world class talent that was in front of us.
For those that have never been to this event it is really hard to imagine that so many players ranked in the top 50 in the world were all in one pool hall. During the day we all watched as champion after champion played one another in the tournament and at night those who did not fair so well would be looking for "challenge matches" to recoup expenses and even make a little money.
I had the pleasure of watching John Morra play two challenge matches while I was at Steinway. The first was against Jorge Rodriguez. Morra who is currently ranked 8th in the world had to give the wild 8 to the Gotham City house pro. For those not familiar with this it means that if Rodriguez makes the 8 ball he wins the rack. To be honest I remember thinking to myself I did not really like the game. I have never seen Rodriguez play live until this week but have seen him play a lot on various streams over the past few years. I have seen him play at a very high level and I was a bit concerned. These concerns were to me were validated when Morra went down 4-0 early however in a blink of an eye it was 12-7 Morra and then he went on to win 21-14.
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| Morra vs Gomez |
I would like to thank William Finnegan and Tony Robles for hosting a great event and giving me everything I needed to cover this for Cue Sport Nation. They are both very professional and ran a smooth and classy event. Also I would like to thank my sponsor David Touhey of Touhey Management located in Ottawa, Ontario for helping me get to Steinway. He is one of the single biggest supporters of pool I have ever met. My partner Erik Hjorleifson and myself would like to be on the road more often to bring you, the "Nation" more results and the overall experience of life on the road for the top players in the world.
From the response on our Facebook page and website during the U.S Open, Turning Stone and the Steinway Classic it is apparent there is a need for this type of coverage. However we cannot do it on our own. Therefore we invite you to go to http://cuesportnation.com/ to donate. If you are interested in becoming a cash sponsor or product sponsor I can be contacted at markus.noe@live.com. I would like to thank everyone for their continued support.
Like our Facebook Page to become apart of the "Nation!" Here you can keep up to date on what is going on throughout the cue sport world.
Top 3 Payouts
Patrick Chang $7500
Ko Pin Chung $5000
Jayson Shaw $3000
Monday 2 November 2015
Steinway Classic has Begun!
By: Markus Noé
Day one of the Steinway Classic kicked off with an 8 hour drive for myself and road partner/C.S.N sponsor David Touhey. As I write this brief update it is 1:15 am and I have been on the go since 5:00 a.m. yesterday. En route we got slightly sidetracked just before Lake Placid which is about an hour away from where we began in Cornwall, Ontario. Somehow lost in our excitement on the way to Queens, New York to watch some world class pool we forgot to fill up on gas.
We ended up running out of gas about 3 miles outside the nearest gas station. While making the trek in the pouring rain we watched helplessly as about 30 cars passed on this country road until finally a very nice couple from Michigan pulled over and offered us a ride. When we got over this embarrassing aggravation we made fairly good time the rest of the way. We reached Steinway Billiards and immediately immersed ourselves in the most action packed pool hall either one of us has ever walked into.
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| Hsu Kai-Lin |
This match was close with these two playing at an extremely high level. However at 5-5 Pagulayan who had a bit of a disappointing U.S Open, appeared to have regained his form stringing some racks together quickly and winning 9-5. This was a winners side match so Lun was done, yet I believe he won his next match and is still currently in the tournament. With nearly 100 world beaters in one pool room it is a bit difficult to keep up with more than 2-3 matches at a time.
Daryl Peach and Ralf Souquet also played a very entertaining match. This match like the previous one was played on the streamed table so some of you might have enjoyed this one along with me. Souquet was dominate in the start and took advantage of some errors from Peach. When the score was 8-5 for Souquet, Peach mounted a charge which came up just short as he went on to lose.
Souquet then went on to play Jayson Shaw on the third round of the winners side. In this match Shaw exacted some revenge on Souquet who beat him out in the 5/6 position at the U.S Open just a few days ago 11-10. Shaw was back to an exciting run and gun style while making everything, he easily won 9-2.
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| John Morra |
Come back daily to Cue Sport Nation for updates on the Steinway Classic. We will be posting articles as well as updates throughout the day on our Facebook page in the form of pictures and video. If you don't have to work this week I highly recommend going to http://www.steinwaybilliards.com/ to purchase the live stream hosted by Upstate Al. I would like to thank Tony Robles for helping me secure everything I need to cover this great event as well as one of Cue Sport Nation's biggest supporters, David Touhey of Touhey Management.
Saturday 31 October 2015
Cheng Yu Hsuan Becomes First Chinese-Taipei U.S Open Winner
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| Cheng Yu Hsuan |
By: Markus Noé
Friday October 30th was the final day of the 40th U.S. Open Championship. The four remaining players going into the final day were Cheng Yu Hsuan, Karl Boyes, Ralf Souquet and Liu Hai-Tao. The first match of the day was the winners side final between Cheng Yu Hsuan vs Karl Boyes. Hsuan breezed through this match as if he had no pressure and not a care in the world winning 11-4.
If I were to look back at the entire week of matches, all the players from Chinese-Taipei were very focused and composed. The type of composure they exhibited was the kind only a player being properly trained and supported can have. As we have come to find out recently the Chinese-Taipei government actively supports their players by way of salary, training facility and expenses for tournaments. In my opinion this directly effects performance and it showed this week.
In North America there is no lack of talent but there is a major lack of support. Currently I believe I can count on a single hand the amount of North American players who are financially set in terms of not needing "backers" for tournament entries and travel expenses. This is a form of support, however backers take a percentage of the winnings to cover their expenses and at times profit from it.
With prize pools being so small, for a backed player even winning the U.S Open this year means they might get to take home $20,000. How far does that go when considering in one year these players travel to China, Philippines, Europe and Qatar. Therefore players from Europe and Asia where governments put in money to properly train and support them, have a big edge on North American players who try to grind out a living every weekend. I believe that is what we saw take place here this week and I think outside of a very select few North American players they will find it very difficult to keep up in the coming years.
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After Boyes lost in the winners side final he waited for the 4th place match to play out. This was between the resurgent Ralf Souquet and Liu Hai-Tao. Souquet had his best performance in a major championship in easily two years during this U.S Open. In the end he came up a little bit short losing 11-6 to finish 4th but should give him a confidence boost going forward.
The way that Hai-Tao was playing, I liked his chances to beat Boyes and earn himself a spot in the final. He got off to a great start and kept the pressure on right up till 9-4. Then in a flurry which featured 4 break and runs and some stellar safety play the Englishmen went on to win 11-9. Unfortunately for Boyes the final against Hsuan played out virtually in the same manner as their previous match. Boyes was unable to get a break going and was down early 9-3 and brought the score to 9-6 before a dry break. From here Hsuan basically broke and ran out the set winning 13-9 and became the first ever player from Chinese-Taipei to win the U.S Open 9 Ball Championship.
This was the first major title final for Hsuan and it was almost eerie how cool, calm and collected he was. This U.S Open more than any other tournament in recent memory showed me that the world class standard is constantly rising. Between Ko-Pin Yi who won the World 9 Ball and 10 Ball titles this year and Hsuan, they own all the major pool titles this year outside the World Pool Masters. Also I should not forget to mention that it was Chinese-Taipei who won the World Cup of Pool scotch doubles title this year. To me the "proof is in the pudding" that in order to compete, North Americans need to have government backed training facilities and money in reserve for travelling expenses, otherwise I feel as a continent we will be left behind.
Congratulations to Chen Yu Hsuan on winning his first of what looks like will be a series of major international titles. I have made last minute plans to attend the Steinway Classic which begins tomorrow in Astoria, New York. Steinway Billiards is a world renowned pool hall that is also the home room for one of my favorite players Earl Strickland. The latest edition of the players list was over 100, many of who just played the U.S Open. This will be my first time seeing the likes of the Ko brothers live and more. I will have video, pictures and article updates throughout the tournament, you can keep updated on the Cue Sport Nation Facebook page.
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