Past vs present. Your dream matchups.

[BlueRaider]

You can put me on the list of those that feel that had Wu remained a full-time pro player, he might have become the best rotation pool player of all time.

Still, I'm not convinced that he ever showed the form to compete with prime Filler, Gorst, or SVB. Still, even as a part time player at age 30, he was an absolute monster, as he showed at the 2019 US Open 9ball, in which he lost the final to Filler.

To me, Wu, as great a talent that has ever graced the pro pool scene, will always be in the "what might have been" category. I'll never be convinced that we saw Wu reach his potential, and yes, I know all the reasons he was unable to compete full-time.

Yeah, I think Wu being sidelined from international competition for so long was honestly a great loss to pool. He would have been neck-and-neck with SVB for dominance through the early- and mid-2010s, IMO. Before the emergence of Filler and Gorst, he was the only person who challenged SVB for No. 1 in the Fargo Ratings for a few years, and his two World Championships at age 16 may never be matched.

What's also interesting about him is that timeline-wise, he bridges the gap between two eras of pro pool more than anyone else in the current era. He emerged in 2005, two years before SVB (despite being 6 years younger!).

If you look at his competition at the 2005 World 9 Ball, it was a completely different world of pool back then. Earl was only three years removed from winning it, Ronnie Alcano would win it the next year, and Daryl Peach the year after. Busty was still 5 years away from winning it.

Pool was still very much ruled by guys who dominated in the 90s in 2005. You could say the same about SVB winning the U.S. Open in 2007, of course, but Wu's got him beat by two years, and those guys from the 90s were ever closer to their primes in 2005.

Also, Wu finishing second to Filler at the 2019 U.S. Open is crazy because it was 14 years after his World 9 Ball title...and he had just turned 30 years old.

 

[sjm]

Yeah, I think Wu being sidelined from international competition for so long was honestly a great loss to pool. He would have been neck-and-neck with SVB for dominance through the early- and mid-2010s, IMO. Before the emergence of Filler and Gorst, he was the only person who challenged SVB for No. 1 in the Fargo Ratings for a few years, and his two World Championships at age 16 may never be matched.

What's also interesting about him is that timeline-wise, he bridges the gap between two eras of pro pool more than anyone else in the current era. He emerged in 2005, two years before SVB (despite being 6 years younger!).

If you look at his competition at the 2005 World 9 Ball, it was a completely different world of pool back then. Earl was only three years removed from winning it, Ronnie Alcano would win it the next year, and Daryl Peach the year after. Busty was still 5 years away from winning it.

Pool was still very much ruled by guys who dominated in the 90s in 2005. You could say the same about SVB winning the U.S. Open in 2007, of course, but Wu's got him beat by two years, and those guys from the 90s were ever closer to their primes in 2005.

Also, Wu finishing second to Filler at the 2019 U.S. Open is crazy because it was 14 years after his World 9 Ball title...and he had just turned 30 years old.

Great post that offers a lot of perspective on Wu's remarkable story!

 

[skogstokig]

he's 35, so there's still hope

 

[Jaden]

Willie Mosconi vs Jayson Shaw. Straight pool. Best of 15 games over 2 days. Played with 1940s tables and equipment.

I'm afraid that probably wouldn't be much of a contest. Being someone who came into pool when most tables were slow nap cloth and transitioning to the faster worsted wool cloth, they were two completely different games requiring way more stroke on the old stuff.

It was kind of funny, when the IPT had come around a good friend of mine stated he saw Mike Sigel playing on the faster simonis with newer balls and stated that he looked like the Mike of old. He didn't understand why he was pushing for the slow nap cloth for the IPT stuff.

That just goes to show you how much easier it is to transition to playing on the newer stuff versus the older stuff. Mike obviously thought that he would have an advantage playing on the nap cloth even though he could play better on the worsted wool.

Jaden

 

[Jaden]

Me personally, I'd like to see a prime fully dedicated Louis Ulrich playing on the world stage today.

Jaden