pt109 said:

I have mixed feelings about the Django/Pearl match….there was a death in the family for Francisco….and his wife talked him into satying and playing.

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History is always clinical when it comes to sports and at times even cruel. Personal life events are never part of the footnotes. Sickness, death, divorce, depression… they all get erased from the record. All that remains is the stat line. Win or loss. Did you or did you not perform? You never know what goes on in a player’s life during their career. Sometimes the winning ebbs and flows not because of talent or effort, but because life ca hit harder than any game. The scoreboard doesn’t care and neither does history.

I am a huge Django fan. I’ve always loved his game!

Those glasses make him look like he could be the dean of Harvard law school.

Bob Jewett said:

In the video I made, I did get a 90-degree cut (with clean balls), but the OB only moved a diamond and a half.

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this set up also proved to be too difficult and i got nowhere

fastone371 said:

I thought there were a couple of posters here that were going to show us how to make this shot with video available?? I am still eagerly waiting. I don't think it can be made (with a standard cut shot) but I sure would like to be proven wrong.

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i did make it at high speed which sent the cue ball wild

i took video of trying to make the shot with inside but kept missing so badly i gave up and erased the evidence

pt109 said:

I have mixed feelings about the Django/Pearl match….there was a death in the family for Francisco….and his wife talked him into satying and playing.

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It was one of the greatest finals on record, with two superstars playing like superstars.

The ability of the Filipinos to compartmentalize personal tragedy was even more evident at the PBT Florida Flare Up event in what I believe was 1996, which I attended in Fort Lauderdale. Shortly before his first match, Efren Reyes learned that his father had died. Efren then proceeded to lose his opening round match to David Howard. After making arrangements to fly to his father's funeral a few nights later, Efren started to string some wins together and before you knew it, he found himself in the final against Archer. He absolutely crushed Archer in that final. Wow!

Just spoke to Martin at Superior Cues (really nice guy). I am going to order an assortment of wraps and see what looks best "in hand". Thanks for the input. I'll post a pic once the cue is finished.

AtLarge said:

Here's what I found regarding Earl's path to victory in his 3 WPA World 9-Ball titles.

1990 -- Bergheim, Germany. 32 players. Single elimination. Best 3 out of 5 races to 5.

1. Bengt Pedersen, score not given​

2. Ralf Souquet, 3-2 sets (2-5, 5-4, 3-5, 5-1, 5-1)​

3. Allen Hopkins, 3-1​

4. Nick Varner, 3-2 (5-2, 3-5, 5-0, 3-5, 5-2)​

5. Jeff Carter, 3-1 (2-5, 5-4, 5-0, 5-0)​

​

1991 -- Las Vegas. 64 players. Single elimination. Best 3 out of 5 races to 5 except for a single-set race to 9 in the semifinal and final.

1. Luo Suey, 3-0 (5-2, 5-1, 5-4)​

2. Takeshi Okumura, 3-0 (5-2, 5-3, 5-0)​

3. Howard Vickery, 3-0 (5-0, 5-0, 5-1)​

4. Ralf Souquet, 3-1 (5-2, 5-1, 4-5, 5-1)​

5. Takeshi Toda, 9-3​

6. Nick Varner, 9-7​

​

2002 -- Cardiff, Wales. 128 players. Round robin in 16 groups of 8, with the top 4 from each group progressing to a single-elimination Last 64.

Group stage -- opponents and scores not given​

Last 64 -- Gary Ponting, 9-5​

Last 32 -- Sin-Young Park, 9-6​

Last 16 -- Jeremy Jones, 11-8​

Quarterfinal -- Kunihiko Takahashi, 11-3​

Semifinal -- Takeshi Okumura, 11-5​

Final -- Francisco Bustamante, 17-15​

​

Sources: Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest

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I have mixed feelings about the Django/Pearl match….there was a death in the family for Francisco….and his wife talked him into staying and playing.

I hope that's all it is. I still haven't been able to reach him. I've heard that there's usually delays, but with no communication it is making me question if it will be completed.

Raph Cleary said:

If you count the U.K Open & European Open, although still in there early years, filler is already on 8, but only if these are included.

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These are definitely not on a par with the others. In my books, they are still all chasing Earl.

I suspect that both Josh and Fedor will catch Earl, but we shall see.