Lot of disappointments: Ouschan, Filler and Ko the biggest, but Kaci, SVB, Chua also played below par.
I think of it more as, other players stepped up. The favorites felt the pressure, no doubt. Lots of players did, even those who won. Roda I’ve seen with the yips before. Great game he has when he doesn’t feel the nerves.
Casper was fun to watch. SVB really should have beaten him, but the Finn played with confidence and abandon. He figured, why not, and didn’t overthink things. His break has been working and he really smashes the ball.
I think Fedor — my favorite Russian who’s becoming more and more American — is the favorite at this point. But Chung is picking it up, Biado has been clutch and FSR has found his second gear.
Darkhorses? Raga is very clever and, I did not see this coming, Aranas is playing without nerves. He always gets nervous.
I don’t consider Duong a dark horse. He is an in be tweener. His game has gotten so much better since he became a regular on the WNT tour. If Fedor doesn’t win, I hope Duong does. He is a lifelong pool sufferer, if you know what that means.
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Dad said he never paid out that twenty in all the years he did exhibitions.
