Guessing that might provide useful metrics for pool theorists and other academics.

The PLP field is not as strong as it could be due to the conflict with Predator/Vegas, but it might be the most solid field from top to bottom since I first started watching the PLP in 2022. Every other event had two or three players who did not belong.

Obviously, Yapp and Neuhausen have to be among the favorites due to their stellar form of play. FSR can never be counted out, either. He got to the finals last year and has won the event before.

Eklent Kaci is back, to my surprise, but I think he wants to prove something. He was not good at the last two PLPs he played in.

Labutis and Duong both had disappointing PLP performances last year. Both started out very slow before coming on. Still, Labutis got eliminated after the first stage to finish 11 of 16. Duong ended 10th. Both seem bent on doing better.

Atencio and Bergman are the players I most want to see. Atencio is knocking on the door of elite, and we all know Bergman's story.

Januarta is a young guy with tons of talent who reminds me of Yapp when he was younger, but young players tend to struggle in this event.

AJ Manas struggled last year. I expect to see better.

Bottom dwellers? The lowest Fargo players would appear to be the most likely, but some always surprise. This year Bergman, Hohmann and Morra have the lowest Fargos of the group.

Kris_b1104 said:

Just saw that Matchroom has now partnered with CPBA cloth, so they will no longer be using Simonis cloth for WNT tournaments.

Has anyone played on CPBA cloth? And if so, how does it compare to Simonis 860HR?

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I wonder if that also means Aramith is going away on MR produced events. (same company)

Thanks. Do you have a link to the bracket

Kris_b1104 said:

Wake me up when Bergman is about to play.

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He is playing now vs Souto. He'll play five times today.