Alex Pagulayan going to UK to try pro snooker

There have been numerous "pro pool player --> snooker" threads lately, and virtually all the same points are being rehashed in this thread.

Obviously, history is not on Alex's side. Not a single professional pool player has succeeded at it yet. Corey won the US Snooker Championship and then got obliterated by a field of no-names in his first step out of the gate. Others have tried and met the same fate.

Efren Reyes has played snooker before. Is there anyone who believes he wouldn't compete professionally in snooker and enjoy the increased payouts if he felt he could do it? Can anyone look at me with a straight face and say that Efren Reyes could have done it but was never "interested" in the millions of dollars?

If Alex could change history, you can bet a few other pros would suddenly reevaluate their "interest" in snooker ;) I highly doubt Alex can crack the professional circuit, but if he can, watch for a few others to give it a shot.

I'd love to watch Alex competing in professional snooker. I already love watching him play pool.

Of course, even if Alex fails miserably, there will be another thread on AZ stating that pro pool players could compete at snooker if they really wanted to :P

Go, Alex :)
 
I am continually surprised that on a forum that is, supposedly, made up of people that love this sport, there can be so much negativity towards those that have excelled in this sport.

Before anyone responds with the claptrap that they are only being realistic...blah, blah, blah..Ad nauseum, I would say don’t, it only lessens you more.

Could there be a better story line than a world champion, U.S. Open 9 ball champion etc. making a successful transition to Snooker and the attending publicity for our sport?

Alex has shown from a young age that he is a special talent. He has honed that talent through a lot of hard work and dedication to become a world class cueist. I welcome his decision to take on this additional challenge and wish him every success.

As a fan, I would love to see Alex, with his colorful and character rich personality, fuelled by his mental toughness and his drive to win, succeed to the point where I can watch the “Clash at the Crucible” between the Lion, Alex Pagulayan and the Rocket, Ronnie O’ Sullivan.
 
even if alex doesn't have success w snooker tourneys surely someone could market him in exhibitions w snooker pros or as a way to market up and coming players if not in the uk he would be great in china and i'm sure he would be well compensated
 
thewhiffer said:
I am continually surprised that on a forum that is, supposedly, made up of people that love this sport, there can be so much negativity towards those that have excelled in this sport.

Before anyone responds with the claptrap that they are only being realistic...blah, blah, blah..Ad nauseum, I would say don’t, it only lessens you more.

Could there be a better story line than a world champion, U.S. Open 9 ball champion etc. making a successful transition to Snooker and the attending publicity for our sport?

Alex has shown from a young age that he is a special talent. He has honed that talent through a lot of hard work and dedication to become a world class cueist. I welcome his decision to take on this additional challenge and wish him every success.

As a fan, I would love to see Alex, with his colorful and character rich personality, fuelled by his mental toughness and his drive to win, succeed to the point where I can watch the “Clash at the Crucible” between the Lion, Alex Pagulayan and the Rocket, Ronnie O’ Sullivan.
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Best post in the thread. Bravo! :clapping::clapping::clapping:
 
I don't think AlexP is going to be riding the hound or breaking into trucker's cabs for a place to sleep.

But he's got a dream and he's going to chase it.

The more power to him.

(I hope he wins everything in sight, and then says "well, that was fun but I enjoy pool more so I'm going back.")
 
I'll watch Alex when possible but I've noticed a lot of those European streams want to download something onto my computer before I can watch.

I'm not willing to do that.
 
30-40 per game or turn? Against who? On a real 12 foot snooker table with correct pockets and balls (Sorry my American friends a 10 Foot table with pool pockets is not a Snooker table). Everyone here who thinks that Alex won't or is not favored to make it believe that....now read carefully....it's too late in his age to attempt.

Now if Alex had gone down this road at 20 or preferably 16. Now you have most of us with a different opinion.

Nick

Lucky_Lew66 said:
So all you Naysayers seem to think that the snooker greats have some God given ability that the rest of the world doesnt have. How did they get good at the game,they played it for years,worked on their fundamentals,learned from playing better players,had coaches. WTH you dont think that these great pool players can convert to snooker. I agree with JAM about champions man,they find a way to excel at whatever they do,and i believe they can be top tier if they want it bad enough. I am a good "B" player in pool,but i have played on tight snooker tables in the past when i played and scored 30 to 40 points everytime at the table,and i didnt even play that much. I think the top pool players can learn to score big runs once they play for a while,especially with a 15 cherry rack,so what else is there. The Europeans dont have superhuman eyesight,or nerves or brains or mechanics,so whats makes one think they cant compete. If they havent in the past its only because they havent truely wanted to,probably because they knew they could come back here and win at any time,so they gave up. I think if Alex puts his mind to it, all those top snooker players better watch their asses,because he will be taking chunks out of them and spoiling their tea parties...;)
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there is a big difference between regulation tables and tables he is playing on right now and where he won Canadian's

those pockets are buckets and tables are slow

I doubt he will be successful in England and will go far. I have seen snooker matches and how they play, totally different level
 
thewhiffer said:
Could there be a better story line than a world champion, U.S. Open 9 ball champion etc. making a successful transition to Snooker and the attending publicity for our sport?
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No, and I'm sure the storytellers at Disney will be all over it as soon as it happens. :rolleyes:

Well, we're 6 pages and 80+ posts into this thread and I still cannot tell if this is an April fools or not. :confused:
 
J.W. said:
I'm shocked at the amount of interest and the replies already going on this thread. i felt I had to chime in.

I played professional snooker for 17 years and did break into the top 20 in the world rankings in the early 80's. The game has changed drastically since my time there and I saw that first hand as I commentated on snooker for 7 years from 90-97. I witnessed the domination of Hendry and the coming out parties for the likes of Ronnie, John Higgins, and Mark Williams to name a few. The one thing that Alex has, that a couple of you have touched on, is his mental toughness. That is massive in professional snooker because it can make you feel like you have just gone ten rounds with Tyson after every match you play. What Alex has had to fade in professional pool, in my opinion, is much tougher than anything he will fade in snooker. From a mental standpoint. I have seen more goofy things happen in one pool tournament than I ever saw in ten seasons of playing professional snooker, and that is a fact. And the top pool players fade this every event. In pool against the best players in the world you can get beat without ever making a mistake. You can't say that in snooker.
Now from a fundamental standpoint, thats a different story. But thats what Alex will need to work and improve on. But everyone that knows the lion will tell you one thing with absolute certainty, he loves a challenge. Well thats exactly what this is to him, a challenge. I told him yesterday that he is going to be up against hungry and talented young players from all over the world. His reply - perfect!

This Q school will all boil down to experience for him and if he fails this year, only a guy angry at his money would bet against him next year. And knowing Alex as well as I do, he may be the first one entered next year if he doesn't make it this year.
He is mid thirties now, but a young mid thirties and I for one couldn't be more behind his quest.
Cue sports needs people like him in it be it snooker or pool and all of this will only make him a better player all around and more determined than ever to succeed.

And as one poster eluded to, he is back playing a sport that God gave him the talent to play and we all benefit from that. If its got pockets and involves a cue, he's at home.

Jim Wych
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I'm surprised at your comments regarding mental toughness. I'd rate snooker as being the most pressurised environment of any sport, and the ability to handle pressure is what separates the bog boys from a million others. There are no hiding places in snooker.

Those already tiny pockets will shrink to infinity when the heat is on. No pool stroke can cope with that.
 
JAM said:
There sure are a bunch of Negative Nellies on this thread. :(
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Serious question... How many years of pro snooker existing with millions of dangling dollars, combined with zero unsuccessful attempts by pool champions must pass... before we can stop calling it being "negative" and agree it's "realistic" even, dare I say, "really really obvious"?

Nobody can say for certain that it is impossible. We can certainly agree that, to date, there have been zero successful attempts. That is a fact. And it has been many years.

After a certain point, the onus is on someone to be prove otherwise. Prove that it is possible. Even if Alex got kinda close to cracking the pro circuit, it would be huge.

Personally, I would be ecstatic if he could do it, and would watch every match I could get my hands on. Let's just say if I was Alex's backer and had to decide whether or not to invest in this effort, despite the potential big payday it's not a worthwhile gamble IMHO. And that's nothing against Alex, who is awesome in more ways than one.
 
Nick B said:
30-40 per game or turn? Against who? On a real 12 foot snooker table with correct pockets and balls (Sorry my American friends a 10 Foot table with pool pockets is not a Snooker table). Everyone here who thinks that Alex won't or is not favored to make it believe that....now read carefully....it's too late in his age to attempt.

Now if Alex had gone down this road at 20 or preferably 16. Now you have most of us with a different opinion.

Nick
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30-40 is nothing. Barton, with THAT stroke, is a regular 50 breaker - or so he says...
 
JAM said:
There sure are a bunch of Negative Nellies on this thread. :(
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There are also a bunch of people cheering for Alex...so it aint all bad.

Anybody remember when Efren started playing one-pocket?
Billy I said he was going to be a really good player when he learned the game.
...two years later, they were trying to learn how Efren played it.

Alex is a world class one-pocket and straight pool player.....
...he's got somethings he needs to learn about snooker at a high level...
....but he's bringing somethings that they never heard of, also.

I wish he was in his early twenties, but I feel he has a 5 year window to
make his mark.

C,MON ALEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
hahaha....

shinobi said:
Serious question... How many years of pro snooker existing with millions of dangling dollars, combined with zero unsuccessful attempts by pool champions must pass... before we can stop calling it being "negative" and agree it's "realistic" even, dare I say, "really really obvious"?

Nobody can say for certain that it is impossible. We can certainly agree that, to date, there have been zero successful attempts. That is a fact. And it has been many years.

After a certain point, the onus is on someone to be prove otherwise. Prove that it is possible. Even if Alex got kinda close to cracking the pro circuit, it would be huge.

Personally, I would be ecstatic if he could do it, and would watch every match I could get my hands on. Let's just say if I was Alex's backer and had to decide whether or not to invest in this effort, despite the potential big payday it's not a worthwhile gamble IMHO. And that's nothing against Alex, who is awesome in more ways than one.
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All of the two attempts????? HAHAHA I can't stop laughing....

JAden
 
Jaden said:
All of the two attempts????? HAHAHA I can't stop laughing....

JAden
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There have been more than two attempts.

If you think for the last twenty years, no other pool pro has tried getting into snooker for the massively larger pots, then I guess "HAHAHA I can't stop laughing" either. And I'd suggest a reality check.
 
shinobi said:
Serious question... How many years of pro snooker existing with millions of dangling dollars, combined with zero unsuccessful attempts by pool champions must pass... before we can stop calling it being "negative" and agree it's "realistic" even, dare I say, "really really obvious"?

Nobody can say for certain that it is impossible. We can certainly agree that, to date, there have been zero successful attempts. That is a fact. And it has been many years.

After a certain point, the onus is on someone to be prove otherwise. Prove that it is possible. Even if Alex got kinda close to cracking the pro circuit, it would be huge.

Personally, I would be ecstatic if he could do it, and would watch every match I could get my hands on. Let's just say if I was Alex's backer and had to decide whether or not to invest in this effort, despite the potential big payday it's not a worthwhile gamble IMHO. And that's nothing against Alex, who is awesome in more ways than one.
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I would say the best Alex could hope for would be to qualify for the tour. He is odds against doing that, despite the line up looking pretty weak. Will be interesting to see how Melling does...

Should he qualify for the pro tour, Alex has NO chance of EVER making an impact. No pool player does. You can forget about it if you are not a regular century maker by the time you are about 12.

Snooker is an entirely different ball game. High time people around here recognised this. Obviously, some can't/don't play, and are only here to sell things or for their own ego and vanity, so it's understandable they have no clue about cue sports, but for there to be serious players who don't understand the difference between pool and snooker is hugely embarrassing.
 
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