JAM said:

Here's the top 10 Americans capable of Mosconi Cup pressure, in no particular order:

1. Shane Van Boening
2. Fedor Gorst
3. Skyler Woodward
4. Tyler Styer
5. Oscar Dominguez
6. Billy Thorpe
7. Shane Wolford
8. Chris Reinhold
9. Hunter Lombardo
10. Josh Roberts

And here’s where the U.S. list gets thin quickly. There are promising juniors and regional killers, but few currently have the seasoning under global lights.

For Europe, top 10 is almost too easy. In fact, Europe could field three full teams at Mosconi Cup level. Mosconi Cup contenders, in no particular order:

1. Joshua Filler
2. Francisco Sánchez Ruíz
3. David Alcaide
4. Jayson Shaw
5. Albin Ouschan
6. Niels Feijen
7. Mario He
8. Eklent Kaçi
9. Moritz Neuhausen
10. Max Lechner
11. Pijus Labutis

And worthy of mention are Kledio Kaci, Mickey Krause, Alex Kazakis, Denis Grabe, Sanjin Pehlivanović, Oliver Szolnoki, Aleksa Pecelj, Wiktor Zieliński, Konrad Juszczyszyn, Thorsten Hohmann, and Arseni Sevastyanov.

Asia has the deepest talent pool of all. This list is stacked and still incomplete.

1. Johann Chua​

2. Aloysius Yapp​

3. Ko Pin-Yi​

4. Ko Ping-Chung​

5. Ko Pin-Chung​

6. Lo Ho Sum​

7. Michael Baoanan​

8. Chang Jung-Lin​

9. James Aranas​

10. AJ Manus​

11. Carlo Biado​

12. Bernie​

13. Dennis Orcullo (when he can travel)​

14. Lee Van Corteza​

15. Anton Raga​

16. Jeffrey De Luna​

17. And about 20 more whose names I cannot remember​

Asia is the deepest, Europe is the most structured, and the U.S. has talent but not the depth. The U.S. has less junior structure, less national coaching culture, fewer competitive leagues feeding upwards, and less financial incentive to become a professional. The existing lot of U.S. pro-caliber players continues to shrink, not grow, especially when compared to Europe and Asia. Pull this thread up next November, and it will be the same song.

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bpeacock said:

My wife and I watched every shot of the 2023 MC and enjoyed it so much we went to see 2024 live in Florida. We even got VIP one day... As soon as it was over she said "let's go to London in 2025". So to answer your question, we love MC and have lost both times. She does not like watching any other pool events. I have been shooting on and off for 40 years and before 2023, I had never heard of the Mosconi Cup.

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Jimmy_Betmore said:

I'm going to agree with you here. Excluding some kind of insane geometry or construction technique, I'd say the shaft taper and tip are probably the two biggest factors in how a cue hits. But, like you, I've tried the same butt with different shafts and the same shaft with different butts. They all hit/play differently.

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