5 Americans have signed to Matchroom so far? SVB, Woodward, Styer, Wolford, and Gorst? What about Americans that didn't play in last year's Mosconi Cup? Are they being offered contracts?
Jayson Shaw First Contracted Pro on WNT
- Thread starter JAM
- Start date
Here are the top 15 US players. Dechaine and Bergman are "don't shows". That leaves 8 others to watch for.
- Fedor Gorst USA 844
- Shane Van Boening USA 836
- Skyler Woodward USA 811
- Mike Dechaine USA 803
- Justin Bergman USA 798
- Josh Roberts USA 781
- Jonathan Pinegar USA 780
- Oscar Dominguez USA 780
- Tony Chohan USA 777
- Corey Deuel USA 777
- Tyler Styer USA 777
- Anthony Meglino USA 774
- Earl Strickland USA 771
- Billy Thorpe USA 767
- Shane Wolford USA 766
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Billy has signed as well.
I can’t fathom what would dissolve it.
Would love to see all of them. I have been told that Hennessee makes a great living playing bar table tourneys around the southeast. I wonder if he would give it up for a shot to play with those killers every tourney.
Oscar just revealed on the Doggin' It podcast that he has signed and will be playing in every WNT event.
Lack of members
Turning Stone, the Taipei Open and the Derby City 9-ball are Matchroom ranking events. All three of these are in January.
I agree with this. I think predator events will continue, and they will not deny entry to anyone, regardless of what xyz federation requests.
At this rate, it’s hard to see how Predator can deny entry to the people signed up for WNT and still have an event with a snowballs chance of being watched.
They do not comply means Predator will not be sold in that country.
Expect a fight from government sponsors.
Are you saying lack of members like “lack of players” or “lack of federations”? Because I don’t see them having a lack of federations. They are comprised of those federations. And if you mean lack of players, they might not have the top commercially viable players but they could still operate their Olympic-affiliated structure with juniors, amateurs, and semi-pros. The only thing they’re losing here is the spotlight. The Olympic structure is self perpetuating in a bureaucratic capacity.
And I wonder if it even matters to the WPA (and its financial backers) if the top players don’t participate in WPA events? What difference would it make to the IOC or Qatar if the WPA world champion is Josh Filler or John Doe?
I think I want Matchroom to be successful but I don't want them to get all the credit for pool's hopeful resurgence. Pool has steadily been on the uptick for several years now. I'm not entirely sure what's been driving it, but I'm fairly certain social media has played a significant role. Amateur tournaments fill up every weekend. Pool rooms across the country, at least the well run ones, have been busy. Journeyman and even top US pros have been able to pad their annual earnings by playing decent events nearly every weekend of the year. Matchroom has jumped in right at the precise moment. They are now riding this wave.
I do have some apprehension though. I'm skeptical that this tour will be all that profitable for the players, especially the US ones. I guess they have the carrot of the Mosconi Cup, but they also now have to travel more internationally to qualify. Cashing in these MR events is going to be a monumental achievement. Barry Hearn likes having stars. Having stars means the top dogs have to get paid. See where I'm going?
Hopefully a rising tide lifts all boats but we shall see. I am enjoying the first part of this show though.
I do have some apprehension though. I'm skeptical that this tour will be all that profitable for the players, especially the US ones. I guess they have the carrot of the Mosconi Cup, but they also now have to travel more internationally to qualify. Cashing in these MR events is going to be a monumental achievement. Barry Hearn likes having stars. Having stars means the top dogs have to get paid. See where I'm going?
Hopefully a rising tide lifts all boats but we shall see. I am enjoying the first part of this show though.
Because nobody is watching if a Max Eberle speed player is top dog
They really don't have to travel because all they're competing against for MC is other Americans who don't travel. I was surprised none of them showed up at Turningstone.
No Shane, Sky, Tyler, Wolford, Billy, etc.
We had Gorst, and Donny Mills as regulars then Johnny Archer, and Rodney Morris.
Not much of a turnout to grab some points for MC. If Mills started playing all the time, I wouldn't be upset about him making the team
I think Qatar would care because there’s likely people throwing money at it out of pride of seeing the best show up.
Outside that, IOC wouldn’t care. EPBF can operate with their tour and championships even if it’s low level talent. It might sting a little but it’s not a deal breaker. Same with national federations and the events and talent they generate.
I don't know for fact but I don't think Turningstone was a MR ranking event. All those events get a bunch of traveling pros. The MR event had about the same field it usually gets: Mostly the Joss participants plus a few scattered pros.
I checked the summary article about Shaw winning on the AZB homepage, and it did not mention MR once. On MR's site, they don't list the Turnigstone in their ranking events schedule.
I checked the summary article about Shaw winning on the AZB homepage, and it did not mention MR once. On MR's site, they don't list the Turnigstone in their ranking events schedule.