World Championship vs US Open 2017: which was more difficult?

Cardigan Kid said:

Looking over the list of players and the many notable absentees from the world championships....

Shaw, Shane, orcollo, the entire U.S.Mosconi cup team, Bergman, Appleton, Grey, Nick VB, and many others missing from the list in Doha....

Was this the year that the US open had a higher level of difficulty than the world championships?

If we compare Fargo average, it looks like more of the top 100 played in the US open.

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The Open....deeper field.

Who really cares?

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Mike Page gave us a couple of good lists to help judge that, using the top 100 on FargoRate at the time:

US Open 9-Ball Championship: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=5999268&postcount=8
WPA World 9-Ball Championship: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=6037282&postcount=48

US Open -- 10 of the top 10, 18 of the top 20, 27 of the top 30, 33 of the top 40, 41 of the top 50 and 58 of the top 100.

World 9-Ball -- 7 of the top 10, 14 of the top 20, 20 of the top 30, 26 of the top 40, 32 of the top 50, and 49 of the top 100.

AtLarge said:

Mike Page gave us a couple of good lists to judge that, using the top 100 on FargoRate at the time:

US Open 9-Ball Championship: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=5999268&postcount=8
WPA World 9-Ball Championship: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=6037282&postcount=48

US Open -- 10 of the top 10, 18 of the top 20, 27 of the top 30, 33 of the top 40, 41 of the top 50 and 58 of the top 100.

World 9-Ball -- 7 of the top 10, 14 of the top 20, 20 of the top 30, 26 of the top 40, 32 of the top 50, and 49 of the top 100.

Click to expand...

Nice roundup. US Open clearly has the stronger field.

Cardigan Kid said:

Looking over the list of players and the many notable absentees from the world championships....

Shaw, Shane, orcollo, the entire U.S.Mosconi cup team, Bergman, Appleton, Grey, Nick VB, and many others missing from the list in Doha....

Was this the year that the US open had a higher level of difficulty than the world championships?

If we compare Fargo average, it looks like more of the top 100 played in the US open.

Click to expand...

Field wise you could say the US open ,, however the format of the WPA is harder

1

US Open. Better field and better format.

The field is deeper in the US Open, the prize money I think was better too. I also think that the double elimination throughout the entirety of the event makes it a tougher event. If a top player loses in the last 64 of the world championships, they are out and the rest of the field doesn't have to worry about them. If Shane, for example, loses early in the draw in the US Open, he is still there on the B side terrorizing players.

I also don't like the format of the world championships. The weird group stage is just weird. I don't know why they can't do either a proper round robin in the group stage or just do a double elimation 128 player draw. Since they changed the group stage format in 2005 or 2006 I feel like there are far more shock exits than before.

Cameron Smith said:

The field is deeper in the US Open, the prize money I think was better too. I also think that the double elimination throughout the entirety of the event makes it a tougher event. If a top player loses in the last 64 of the world championships, they are out and the rest of the field doesn't have to worry about them. If Shane, for example, loses early in the draw in the US Open, he is still there on the B side terrorizing players.

I also don't like the format of the world championships. The weird group stage is just weird. I don't know why they can't do either a proper round robin in the group stage or just do a double elimation 128 player draw. Since they changed the group stage format in 2005 or 2006 I feel like there are far more shock exits than before.

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why is it we reward players with a second chance on the "loser's side " I've never understood that ,, sorry WPA format is the harder of the 2


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Cameron Smith said:

The field is deeper in the US Open, the prize money I think was better too. I also think that the double elimination throughout the entirety of the event makes it a tougher event. If a top player loses in the last 64 of the world championships, they are out and the rest of the field doesn't have to worry about them. If Shane, for example, loses early in the draw in the US Open, he is still there on the B side terrorizing players.

I personally prefer the US Open....but it’s close

I also don't like the format of the world championships. The weird group stage is just weird. I don't know why they can't do either a proper round robin in the group stage or just do a double elimation 128 player draw. Since they changed the group stage format in 2005 or 2006 I feel like there are far more shock exits than before.

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I prefer the way the World 9-ball is run now....round robins are open to shenanigans....
......and it has happened.
...and I like all the qualifying opportunities.

one stroke said:

why is it we reward players with a second chance on the "loser's side " I've never understood that ,, sorry WPA format is the harder of the 2


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I have seen more than a few matches where the rolls where a huge factor. The second chance evens that out a bit. Assuming no shenanigans, round robins would be the best format to decide a winner, but as PT said, they do happen unfortunately. I still like them, which is why I enjoy the Make it happen events so much.

the US open prolly had a better field on top this yr, but world 9b is still the deeper tourney! just look who had to qualify......yukio f.e. a ex worldchamp, and dont forget the countless dead US money in the open! (and please dont come up with the dead midddle east money in world 9b, they arent by far as dead as in the open)

IMO this shows how bad pool is at the moment. (Or how bad the WPA is) Not sure which is more true.
Lots of quality players deciding to not play in the WC which should be the sports premier event.

GB Basher said:

IMO this shows how bad pool is at the moment. (Or how bad the WPA is) Not sure which is more true.

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You've nailed it! All these absences from this year's World Championship is IMO a clear and loud statement for how things are run by the WPA and Qatar. It's easy to shoot at this year's world championship!

I prefer the world championship group stage to round round robin. It's simply lose twice and you are out. There are two parts to it - getting through the early part and getting through at the deep end. I believe Ronnie Alcano won his 9 ball world championship after finishing 1-2 in the round robin and qualifying on racks W-L or something which is never satisfactory. He got it together though to go through the last 64 undefeated. Job done but tough on his opponents who also finished 1-2 and only lost out on racks. So if players have chances to lose in the early stages (to give slow starters time to find their groove) then the current system is much better as there are no dead rubbers and nobody qualifying on 1-2 ahead of someone on 2-1 in another group.

Double elimination is good because it again allows for a slow start, reduces the variance (in theory) by getting more of the better players to the final matches, and also allows for two players who are drawn together early to meet again in the final if they prove to be the best two players on the day(s). It is also fair to players who hit a winning run from the start because it gives then the same second chance opportunities as those who aren't playing well early. I prefer double elimination but if it's going to be single elimination plus qualifiers then the win twice system is better than round robin and it's horrible count back systems to break ties.