Fedor Gorst nominated for Mosconi CUP Team USA!

westcoast said:
Corey Deuel hardly plays pro tournaments any more. I think he may be arguing on principal rather than solely self-interest.

I think he and guys like Archer and Morris could probably still play pretty well but there isn't much financial reason for them to compete because even if they were in top form they likely wouldn't advance much further than the 3rd or 4th round of a major tournament, but they could still probably play about as well as Styer, Thorpe, Dominguez, and Reinhold.
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Ehhh.. I think either one has zero chance of getting Raga down 8-1... Under any conditions. Thorpe has a few fundamental issues to work out, but he is close to world class speed if he does iron them out. Age has caught up with both Deuel and Archer.
 
ShortBusRuss said:
Correction: They spent time and money "chasing 4th/5th place", because they don't, and likely never did, play well enough to guarantee 1st/2nd/3rd. SVB and Skylar had 1st/2nd locked up LONNNNNGG before Fedor got picked, and literally no other American "pro" ever had a chance at taking those spots. The argument can be made that Billy Thorpe was always gonna be #3, because realistically, no other active American player has a real chance to beat him consistently, outside of SVB/Skylar. "Points" be damned. MAYBE Styer? But only because Billy needs some help from Mark Wilson or similar on his stroke mechanics/timing, to allow him to play his top speed more consistently. Styer seems to be able to "play his speed" more consistently than Billy. But Billy's top speed is higher, in general.

That's the brutal truth of it when it comes to American "pros". It's a bunch of second tier players fighting to barely squeak in to the Mosconi Cup to get a payday. And none of the players in that group have a prayer at getting more than 3/4 rounds through a killer tournament field, so you don't expect them to do much better against a killer Euro field in the Mosconi Cup.

I don't like it, you don't like it, but there it is. And Deuel's whining on Facebook about it is ridiculous, because he had less chance than most at grabbing one of those two spots. He wouldn't like playing Tyler Styer right now, and that's an absolute guarantee, no matter what breaking tricks he utilized. Personally, I think these days it might be a tossup between him and Reinhold. So, before Gorst, it would have likely been SVB, Woodward, Thorpe, and Styer, with #5 up for grabs. With the U.S. scraping the bottom of the barrel for that last spot, with whomever getting picked being a MAJOR wildcard as to how they would hold up.

So, all those people biatching about Fedor's pick shortchanging those folks "who spent time and money chasing points"? My take on it is, if your lack of ability means you were only ever chasing the #4/#5 spot anyways, and now you only have a chance at the #5 spot? Big Wooooooo! Most of them are older players looking for one last taste of the pie, and there are more young, hungry players out there wanting to prove themselves, and are in a portion of their lives where they have no real commitments, and can practice 12 hours a day preparing for their shot.
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Agree to disagree.
 
westcoast said:
If he went back to Russia, wouldn't he be vulnerable to being enlisted and have to fight in the atrocious war that Putin is waging against Ukraine? He is definitely prime fighting age
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Yes, he’s likely to be conscripted into the army.
 
rexus31 said:
I've got no issue with Fedor joining team USA except for the timing of it. It's a slap in the face to the players that have invested time and money chasing points all year. Someone is having the rug pulled out from underneath them 2 months before the event. Matchroom should have waited to announce Fedor's eligibility in January for the 2024 Cup. Either that, or he could have been the Captain's Pick this yea
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There is no active American citizen with a FargoRate over 800 (the current standard for being world class) that will be left off the team.

Ignoring Fargo and using Matchroom rankings we now have SVB, Gorst and Woodward holding up a respective 2nd, 4th, and 13th - and then a huge gap down to 42/47/48th place for Wolford/Thorpe/Styer.

It’ll be one of those 3 left off - and I’m not sure you can feel too bad about finishing in 40-something place and being left out of a 10 person field. Individual European countries (e.g. Poland) can fill an entire field without using someone in 40-something place.
 
marek said:
Not sure if you really know what it looks like in Russia beyond rich cities like Moscow or St.Petersburg going by your comment..:rolleyes:
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Same could be said for every country in the world other than a handful of islands and city states, but even then ...

Anyway my comment wasn't based on Moscow or St Petersburg despite one of them being the place that Fedor might live now if he chose to play professional pool out of Russia.
 
marek said:
Not sure if you really know
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I'm not going to into a "worst places I've been" fest but there are far worse places. I know that doesn't help anyone who lives in a challenging place but it's true. I'm not the one to challenge here, maybe consider challenging (but maybe don't bother) those who call countries outside their radar sh1tholes.
 
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Justaneng said:
Wolford/Thorpe/Styer.

It’ll be one of those 3 left off - and I’m not sure you can feel too bad about finishing in 40-something place and being left out of a 10 person field. Individual European countries (e.g. Poland) can fill an entire field without using someone in 40-something place.
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I think Billy watches from home this year. I believe Tyler beats Billy all day.
 
Yes yes, I know, every one knows. USA does not have 5 <800 guys, to throw in the ring. So what, they can still win, they are just not the favorites.
 
easy-e said:
I was going from his post. SVB, Sky, Fedor, and then 2 out of 3 for Wolford, Tyler, Billy. I sit Billy. I also think we may see Oscar instead of Wolford...
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gotcha. if it's a coin flip between oscar and wolford, maybe go with experience
 
Justaneng said:
There is no active American citizen with a FargoRate over 800 (the current standard for being world class) that will be left off the team.

Ignoring Fargo and using Matchroom rankings we now have SVB, Gorst and Woodward holding up a respective 2nd, 4th, and 13th - and then a huge gap down to 42/47/48th place for Wolford/Thorpe/Styer.

It’ll be one of those 3 left off - and I’m not sure you can feel too bad about finishing in 40-something place and being left out of a 10 person field. Individual European countries (e.g. Poland) can fill an entire field without using someone in 40-something place.
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Yep. Hell, Poland could make up one helluva squad on their own. Those cats can play.
 
easy-e said:
I agree. I think Oscar is rock solid. I'd like to see Wolford get some experience at some point. USA's problem is we have too many players to choose from! :ROFLMAO:
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I've been saying Oscar for months now.
Oscar and Shane have had results this year that put them in the running.
I would pick Oscar because he seems more consistent.
 
JolietJames said:
I've been saying Oscar for months now.
Oscar and Shane have had results this year that put them in the running.
I would pick Oscar because he seems more consistent.
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I’m partial to Styer here. He’s the one player who’s also married to a high level professional, so he’s the one player who won’t be subject to a spouse/significant other saying “Are you really playing pool again tonight? You promised you’d watch The Notebook with me!” - in theory Styer can get much more time at the practice table and against damn good competition.
 
Justaneng said:
I’m partial to Styer here. He’s the one player who’s also married to a high level professional, so he’s the one player who won’t be subject to a spouse/significant other saying “Are you really playing pool again tonight? You promised you’d watch The Notebook with me!” - in theory Styer can get much more time at the practice table and against damn good competition.
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I'm talking about the 5th spot.
Styer in the 4th spot is a no-brainer.
1. Fedor
2. Shane
3. Skyler
4. Tyler
5. ??? (I say Oscar)
 
Justaneng said:
I’m partial to Styer here. He’s the one player who’s also married to a high level professional, so he’s the one player who won’t be subject to a spouse/significant other saying “Are you really playing pool again tonight? You promised you’d watch The Notebook with me!” - in theory Styer can get much more time at the practice table and against damn good competition.
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Oscar is a solid pick. But Steyer’s break in short race doubles is not a bad thing to have
 
Hunter Lombardo a controversial pick is always the fifth.
 
marek said:
Not sure if you really know what it looks like in Russia beyond rich cities like Moscow or St.Petersburg going by your comment..:rolleyes:
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Have you been to Detroit, Chicago, st Louis, Philly, etc. Our cities are the shitholes, everywhere else is nice.
 
Ideally it would be Fedor, Shane, Dechaine, Bergman and Sky, next Oscar, Tyler, then Billy( love Billy's attitude though).

Maybe we get those 2 who don't play or travel anymore off the bench for next year when it's played in the USA
 
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