Current Best 14.1 Players

MattPoland

MattPoland

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Kind of riffing on a “Pool is not Dead” topic.

If there was a 14.1 world championship today and all the top pros and 14.1 specialists came out to play.

Who do you think would take 1st through 5th?

Any reasoning on why?
 
The obvious answer is Hohmann, who is by far, the best straight pooler of this generation of players, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Dennis Orcullo were to win it. At the last 14.1 challenge at Derby City, Dennis ran a 260 on a 4 1/4" pocket table. Even though Filler won the high run prize in that event with a 285, Josh made his run on a 4 1/2" pocket table, and I'd argue that Dennis' run was the better of the two.

Certainly, several others would have to reckoned with, and Filler, Chinakhov, Feijen, and Schmidt are the most obvious contenders, but my sense of things is that it would come down to Hohmann or Orcullo. The gradually increasing pedigree of Orcullo over the years at 14.1 is undeniable.

My pick is Orcullo.
 
MattPoland said:
.... If there was a 14.1 world championship today and all the top pros and 14.1 specialists came out to play.

Who do you think would take 1st through 5th?

Any reasoning on why?
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I think you can get a reasonable idea by looking at the top five in the last five American 14.1 Championships, which were the strongest international fields in a 14.1 tournament. Maybe add a Chinese player but that's terra incognita for 14.1.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I think you can get a reasonable idea by looking at the top five in the last five American 14.1 Championships, which were the strongest international fields in a 14.1 tournament. Maybe add a Chinese player but that's terra incognita for 14.1.
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Using that approach I can see 2019 full results and top 2 for prior years.

Ruslan Chinahov
Alex Pagulayon
Eklenti Kaçi
Thorsten Hohmann
Konrad Juszczyszyn
Dennis Orcollo
Niels Feijen
Darren Appleton

Part of the question for me is also how well you’d think SVB, Filler, Shaw, Gorst, or some other top players (esp. Asian) might fare.
 
Its balls and a stick, man:)

I think the best 9/10 ball players would be in the top 5. Filler would be my pick to win it. He played a lot of straight pool in Europe.

Thorston might be top 5. But I think if ALL the killers entered, including all of the Asian killers, he would not be top 5.

IMO.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Its balls and a stick, man:)

I think the best 9/10 ball players would be in the top 5. Filler would be my pick to win it. He played a lot of straight pool in Europe.

Thorston might be top 5. But I think if ALL the killers entered, including all of the Asian killers, he would not be top 5.

IMO.
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That would be my prediction too. After watching Filler beat Chohan in 1P and knowing he does play straight pool too, I can’t help but think his talent would be a favorite to overcome the field in 14.1.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Its balls and a stick, man:)

I think the best 9/10 ball players would be in the top 5. Filler would be my pick to win it. He played a lot of straight pool in Europe.
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Obviously, Filler's chances can't be dismissed, as he shoots so straight. and he does have some experience in the discipline. That said, it's impossible to make the case that Filler is Europe's best 14.1 player. He has yet to reach the finals in the European 14.1 Championships. Contrastingly, Niels Feijen has won the gold in three of the last six European Straight Pool Championships. By the way, Niels is one of the few that has ever won a sanctioned WPA world championship in both nine ball and straight pool (the only others I can think of are Hohmann, Varner and Sigel).

In a match of any real length, I'm taking Feijen over Filler all day long.
 
sjm said:
... By the way, Niels is one of the few that has ever won a sanctioned WPA world championship in both nine ball and straight pool (the only others I can think of are Hohmann, Varner and Sigel).
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Stu, have there ever been any WPA-sanctioned world championships in 14.1 other than the 4 in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010? Those winners were Hohmann, Ortmann (twice), and Feijen. And all 3 of them are also WPA World 9-Ball Champions. I think the 14.1 world championships for Varner and Sigel were before the WPA-sanctioned events.
 
sjm said:
Obviously, Filler's chances can't be dismissed, as he shoots so straight. and he does have some experience in the discipline. That said, it's impossible to make the case that Filler is Europe's best 14.1 player. He has yet to reach the finals in the European 14.1 Championships. Contrastingly, Niels Feijen has won the gold in three of the last six European Straight Pool Championships. By the way, Niels is one of the few that has ever won a sanctioned WPA world championship in both nine ball and straight pool (the only others I can think of are Hohmann, Varner and Sigel).

In a match of any real length, I'm taking Feijen over Filler all day long.
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So taking European championship results into account these are some names you can’t ignore given their commitment to 14.1.

Karol Slowerksi
Niels Feijen
Thorsten Hohmann
Ralf Souqet
Tomasz Kaplan
Albin Ouschan
Nick van den Berg
David Alcaide

And I’m sure a couple more
 
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AtLarge said:
Stu, have there ever been any WPA-sanctioned world championships in 14.1 other than the 4 in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010? Those winners were Hohmann, Ortmann (twice), and Feijen. And all 3 of them are also WPA World 9-Ball Champions. I think the 14.1 world championships for Varner and Sigel were before the WPA-sanctioned events.
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Well, this question is a bit tricky, but basically, it's yes.

World 14.1 Championships were BCA sanctioned and the BCA. in sanctioning them, was acting in the name of WPA as a member. For example, if I'm remembering correctly, all the PPPA World Championships (1976-1983 and also 1986) had BCA sanctioning. I'm not sure about the 1990 or 2000 events, as I think those were US Championships only. Before that, it gets a bit tricky, but the World 14.1 Champion always had BCA recognition, which legitimizes it as the BCA acts on behalf of the WPA as a member. As you noted, four of the first five Dragon 14.1 events were also sanctioned.

Ray Martin is a good example of a player who won world championships both before and after the formation of the PPPA in 1976. In his BCA Hall of Fame blurb, this is found: "Ray Martin was born in 1936, his world titles in straight pool in 1971, 1974 and 1978 make Ray Martin one of only seven players in this century to win three or more world 14.1 titles." Hence, the BCA clearly recognizes all three of Ray's World 14.1 Championships, taking note of them on their own BCA Hall of Fame website.

I wish that was the end of the topic, but one other consideration that has brought debate over the years is whether a Johnston City Straight Pool title constitutes a World Championship. I've never thought so, but more than a few say yes. The fields in the Johnston City straight pool events were about as tough as those found at the World 14.1 Championship.
 
MattPoland said:
So taking European championship results into account these are some names you can’t ignore given their commitment to 14.1.

Karol Slowerksi
Niels Feijen
Thorsten Hohmann
Ralf Souqet
Tomasz Kaplan
Albin Ouschan
Nick van den Berg
David Alcaide

And I’m sure a couple more
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Yes, highly capable 14.1 players every one of them. Safe to say I don't follow European Straight Pool as closely as you.
 
MattPoland said:
That would be my prediction too. After watching Filler beat Chohan in 1P and knowing he does play straight pool too, I can’t help but think his talent would be a favorite to overcome the field in 14.1.
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If Filler and Pia can run 200+ playing scotch doubles 14.1, I sure wouldn’t bet against him vs anyone! There is not a better shot maker in the game.
 
So few people even play it today it's really to bad. I was practicing one night in Raleigh 15 or so years ago and a local girl came up and asked what game it was. She had never heard of straight pool before. So she joined me for a couple hours and I gave her some 'free' lessons. It was all good and we had fun.

George Fels loved the game but would not play with anyone. He would come into Chris's and take a table and shoot straight pool all alone. I can't count he times I asked him to play and he politely declined every single time.. Never knew why but it was what it was. RIP George!

Back in the sixties when I was a teenager we would play for table time, at a penny a minute per player. I hated to lose that money I earned from my newspaper route paying for another guys time. That was how I learned to play straight pool..
 
MattPoland said:
So taking European championship results into account these are some names you can’t ignore given their commitment to 14.1.

Karol Slowerksi
Niels Feijen
Thorsten Hohmann
Ralf Souqet
Tomasz Kaplan
Albin Ouschan
Nick van den Berg
David Alcaide

And I’m sure a couple more
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Britain is part of Europe....so don’t count Darren Appleton out....he can win it...he’s got history’s highest tournament run
....snooker players know a great part of straight pool before they even play the first time.
 
sjm said:
Yes, highly capable 14.1 players every one of them. Safe to say I don't follow European Straight Pool as closely as you.
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No sir. You mentioned the European Championships so I just looked up the winners/runners-up for the most recent few years. I can’t say I follow it at all. But I can say this thread has taught me how to seek out a pulse.
 
pt109 said:
Britain is part of Europe....so don’t count Darren Appleton out....he can win it...he’s got history’s highest tournament run
....snooker players know a great part of straight pool before they even play the first time.
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I hate to knock Darren because he reached a level of play that was impenetrable for a while there. And I absolutely admired it. I just feel like he slipped a gear in the past 3 or 4 years and it’s not entirely looking like it’s coming back. But I assume in 14.1, like in 1P, you can rely on knowledge to compensate for no longer playing at prime levels. So you have a good point.
 
sjm said:
Well, this question is a bit tricky, but basically, it's yes.

World 14.1 Championships were BCA sanctioned and the BCA. in sanctioning them, was acting in the name of WPA as a member. ...
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But the WPA didn't exist until 1987, and North America (BCA) didn't join it until 1990. Their first world event was in 1990 (9-Ball), with Earl winning.
 
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