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U.S. OPEN 2026, Frisco, Texas, August 25-30
- By sjm
- Main Forum
- 1278 Replies
This is wonderful and I, too, have praised the wonderful five-week WNT pool fiesta, which brought out so many of the greatest players of the world. We all hope that there is more and more scheduling of this quality, for it serves the players well.Interesting FB comments from Duong Quoc Hoang:
ONE MONTH IN AMERICA. FIVE TOURNAMENTS.
Vice City Classic - 5th
Florida Open - 9th
Arizona Open - 17th
Phoenix Open - 17th
US Open - 33rd
Not the results I came here hoping for.
This month was a struggle for me, probably more mentally than physically.
There were days when I felt like I could play my best pool. And then there were days when I simply couldn’t find myself at the table. I tried to push harder, concentrate harder, fight harder… but sometimes, the harder I tried, the heavier everything became.
At some point, I could feel my mental health going downhill.
But when I looked around, I realized I wasn’t the only one.
Five tournaments in one month. Long matches, long days, flights, hotels, pressure, wins and losses. I saw many players exhausted too. Everyone was fighting their own battle, but everyone kept showing up, picking up their cue and trying again.
And I respect that.
There have been many discussions and different opinions surrounding tournaments and organizations during this period. As a player, however, I also want to acknowledge something: having this many tournaments available for us to compete in within one month does not happen by itself.
Behind every event are people working, organizing, investing, taking risks and trying to create opportunities for professional pool.
Things may not always be perfect. We may disagree. There will always be problems that need to be discussed and improved.
But this sport is still fighting to grow.
Promoters, organizations, sponsors, players, media and fans, everyone contributes something to that journey. I hope instead of spending too much energy fighting each other, we can find more ways to support each other, fix what needs to be fixed, and keep moving this game forward together.
As for me, I leave America without the result I wanted, but with many lessons I probably needed.
Thank you to everyone behind these five tournaments for giving us the opportunity to compete.
Hoang has my fullest respect for sharing these thoughts. He is right, for this does not happen by itself.
U.S. OPEN 2026, Frisco, Texas, August 25-30
- By jbart65
- Main Forum
- 1278 Replies
Interesting FB comments from Duong Quoc Hoang:
ONE MONTH IN AMERICA. FIVE TOURNAMENTS.
Vice City Classic - 5th
Florida Open - 9th
Arizona Open - 17th
Phoenix Open - 17th
US Open - 33rd
Not the results I came here hoping for.
This month was a struggle for me, probably more mentally than physically.
There were days when I felt like I could play my best pool. And then there were days when I simply couldn’t find myself at the table. I tried to push harder, concentrate harder, fight harder… but sometimes, the harder I tried, the heavier everything became.
At some point, I could feel my mental health going downhill.
But when I looked around, I realized I wasn’t the only one.
Five tournaments in one month. Long matches, long days, flights, hotels, pressure, wins and losses. I saw many players exhausted too. Everyone was fighting their own battle, but everyone kept showing up, picking up their cue and trying again.
And I respect that.
There have been many discussions and different opinions surrounding tournaments and organizations during this period. As a player, however, I also want to acknowledge something: having this many tournaments available for us to compete in within one month does not happen by itself.
Behind every event are people working, organizing, investing, taking risks and trying to create opportunities for professional pool.
Things may not always be perfect. We may disagree. There will always be problems that need to be discussed and improved.
But this sport is still fighting to grow.
Promoters, organizations, sponsors, players, media and fans, everyone contributes something to that journey. I hope instead of spending too much energy fighting each other, we can find more ways to support each other, fix what needs to be fixed, and keep moving this game forward together.
As for me, I leave America without the result I wanted, but with many lessons I probably needed.
Thank you to everyone behind these five tournaments for giving us the opportunity to compete.
Vice City Classic - 5th
Florida Open - 9th
Arizona Open - 17th
Phoenix Open - 17th
US Open - 33rd
Not the results I came here hoping for.
This month was a struggle for me, probably more mentally than physically.
There were days when I felt like I could play my best pool. And then there were days when I simply couldn’t find myself at the table. I tried to push harder, concentrate harder, fight harder… but sometimes, the harder I tried, the heavier everything became.
At some point, I could feel my mental health going downhill.
But when I looked around, I realized I wasn’t the only one.
Five tournaments in one month. Long matches, long days, flights, hotels, pressure, wins and losses. I saw many players exhausted too. Everyone was fighting their own battle, but everyone kept showing up, picking up their cue and trying again.
And I respect that.
There have been many discussions and different opinions surrounding tournaments and organizations during this period. As a player, however, I also want to acknowledge something: having this many tournaments available for us to compete in within one month does not happen by itself.
Behind every event are people working, organizing, investing, taking risks and trying to create opportunities for professional pool.
Things may not always be perfect. We may disagree. There will always be problems that need to be discussed and improved.
But this sport is still fighting to grow.
Promoters, organizations, sponsors, players, media and fans, everyone contributes something to that journey. I hope instead of spending too much energy fighting each other, we can find more ways to support each other, fix what needs to be fixed, and keep moving this game forward together.
As for me, I leave America without the result I wanted, but with many lessons I probably needed.
Thank you to everyone behind these five tournaments for giving us the opportunity to compete.
Phenolic Break Tips
- By Paul Bell
- Main Forum
- 19 Replies
As far as basing the danger of damaging pool balls by the balls’ hardness, an earlier post by AZer JSchellin99 and discussed by Dr Dave found the highest hardness score was 99 and only five cue tips scored that. Only one of the five had laminated leather — the Tiger Break cue tip. Mezz's Black Ingot was supposed to have been made of laminated leather, but it is resin & linen or a phenolic resin. Photos below of the five tips clearly show that the Tiger Break tip is the only leather tip (the five being Tiger Icebreaker, G10, Mezz Black Ingot, Wengler, and Tiger Break).
A Japanese vendor’s hardness scores had the Mezz Ingot at 101 instead of the AZer's 99. Only one tip scored higher at 103 ---the cue tip “Andy”. It is supposed to be made of resin and linen and likely would score using the AZer's hardness tester at about 101 --- seems to be a real difference and higher than the rest.
PoolDawg claims that a top scoring, non-leather tip, the fiberglass G10, does not harm pool balls and does not produce as much of a cracking sound as do phenolic tips.