Oscar wasnt picked. He earned his spot. He put in the time and travel that others weren’t willing to do. It’s a slap in his face to say otherwise
I'd back Oscar to play anybody outside of 5 or 6 in the country. He's a stone cold machine, taught by his dad. He does not rattle. If given the chance to win the final set, he'd be capable.
We have 30 of 40 low level "pros" behind the top 5 or 6 and a handful of aging pros who don't really play. Then under 100 shortstop types who I'd never call pro speed.
It's no wonder why we don't have a dozen guys with high ratings, that are full time touring pros. It's because we don't have a tour with payouts that gives us the opportunity to produce these players. I know if the incentive was there for guys to play, we'd produce more top players, but the money isn't there.
Additionally big table pool in the US is dying. National leagues hurt the legit pool halls badly. Very hard to make enough off a room full of 9 footers paying rent in a big city. Put covid losses on top of it and you have the closures we've seen.
We've been in a major downward spiral for a couple decades. Honestly I don't see an upside. Real pool, played on 9 foot tables is too difficult to become accomplished at. People would rather throw axes, bean bags or spew cash out onto a poker table.