I'd love to see what his breaks looked like. All forceful? Any soft? Did they look controlled in terms of cueball and 2-ball trajectories?
Matchroom Major Event-European Open (8-13 Aug), Fulda, Winner $30K Prizefund $200K
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I posted a link of video showing his last rack against Niels here (not sure if you need FB to view it).
On the break shot Anton was so confident that the one would go in the side that he apologized to Niels (twice!) when the one ended up 'fluking' in the corner pocket, lol.
I see them as low as $412 that's not out of line. Unless it's a fake.
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Some go up to $3 million !
Five of the top 16 seeds survived the first class journey to the final 16
Seven of the top 16 by Fargo Rating made it to the final 16 even though some of them had to travel in steerage
Anton "Anthony" Raga is no surprise and not that much of a fresh one. He's always in action against the best in P.I. Also plays anyone from USA, Europe that is in action over there. Good to see him play in a tournament like this. Probably hasn't had chance to travel at will. Definitely not a talent restriction.
Watching Shane the last few tourneys, I think he's gotten EVEN BETTER with age! It may not stand out since the overall level of play has continued to climb, with more top-tier players, but his safe game is now truly elite. His kicking has slowly improved too. His break used to overshadow his other skills. It doesn't with Matchroom's setup.
He really has it rough.
He really has it rough.
I don't agree with this. His runout skills are still super-elite, top five in the world for sure. His tactical skills have always been below those in the highest tier. Watch the TAR match between SVB and Pagulayan and you'll see that Shane almost never wins a safety battle or tactical sequence.
One gets runout chances in 9ball in just a few ways: A) from the break, B) from superior execution of tactical shots, meaning defense, two-way shots, kicks, jumps. etc., and C) the chances that land in one's lap. Never elite in area B and, like everyone else, unable to control Area C, Shane always was more than able to compensate for it by having the best break in the world. If he'd been a great tactician like an Alex Pagulayan, Dennis Orcullo or even Justin Bergman, Shane would have been practically unbeatable and would have five or more World 9-ball titles. It is because he's not tactically elite that the toughening of the break rules took him off the top of the heap.
What has changed is that with his advantage largely eliminated in breaking the balls, he doesn't have the tactical skills to beat opponents to the shot as often as he needs to in order to win the toughest titles very often.
I don't think he plays any better than the SVB of 2014-16, but he's still a stone-cold killer capable of winning just about anything. Maybe this will be his week. It would be nice if it turned out that way for the living legend.
I don't think he WAS elite in those other categories in the past, maybe because he didn't have to be. The SVB I've been watching in more recent years, has improved in those areas significantly. How else would you explain his Fargo Rating NOT declining while the break rules have changed so significantly, if it's not his other skills compensating?
Shane is not going away. no player in the world wants to play him in a tournament.. i think the best of svb is still ahead for him. He loves the challenge of competition and matching up with anyone. Twenty years ago he beat cory and efren when they were on top of their games, never count him out.
Everyone's Fargo has risen, so that's not relevant. We're comparing the Shane of 2014-16 that was the favorite to win every event in which he entered to the Shane of today who is still elite but is only one of many to beat these days and is almost never the betting favorite with the bookmakers.
There's definitely truth in your observation that he didn't need those complementary skills back when he was at his best, as his break and run rate was the best in the world, but when he needed to heavily rely on them, he was far more beatable. He is still not a tactically elite player, and the fact that the tactical skills need to be used more often than in 2014-16 is a big part of why he has won just one major in the last seven years, while Filler has won four, and Ouschan, Kaci and Sanchez-Ruiz each have three.
SVB is in the conversation for best ever, but he's no longer the dominant player he once was. He's got nothing left to prove, but as you've noted, there are more good players today than in the past. His runout skills are still super-elite, but he'll have to catch up tactically if he hopes to start mass-producing major titles as he once did.
I get the sense that we both have limitless respect for Shane, but we don't agree on a few of the details. It's all good, for yours is a well-informed opinion, and I appreciate that you've shared it.
Yeah, I think Raga is the most intriguing player left. We all know he came within a rack of winning the China Open, so his pedigree is proven. He didn't show much form at the Derby City Classic this January, but he can write a great story this weekend at the European Open if he finds his best form.
The top four in the world by Fargo are still in the mix (Ruiz, Filler, SVB, Gorst), so Raga's task won't be easy. I have a hunch it will come down to Shane and Filler.
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all matches in L16 onwards will be streamed, 1 main tv table and 2 youtube stream tables. i think they picked fairly good/intriguing matches for the main table:
filler vs fortunski
tyler vs mario
of the other matches gorst vs yapp could be a good one. raga's and shane's matches look softer
filler vs fortunski
tyler vs mario
of the other matches gorst vs yapp could be a good one. raga's and shane's matches look softer
Nice to see the pretty pictures, but could you please provide a direct URL link to Table 1?First three of last 16 matches live. Good that they are showing all last 16 matches
View attachment 713328
filler wtf. never seen him fugg up like that. been solid otherwise
edit: won either way, 10-8
edit: won either way, 10-8
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gorst usually doesn't do the chris melling stuff if there are better options, but was that really the shot?
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I couldn't believe when i see him point to it... It was a very difficult shot for the middle pocket from there, but i believe it was possible to pot the ball directly.
The confidence he had to go for that kind of shot shows how strong he is, but it is not flawless.