World Pool Championships 2025, July 21-26, Jeddah

sjm said:
LOL, two golds and one silver at the World 9ball, a US Open 9ball title and a Japan Open 10ball title. Carlo is a lock for induction and probably was a week ago.
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Well I don’t think silvers matter too much so that’s two WC titles and one US Open in my books. I am not undermining his capabilites and instead leaning towards your insight here that he’s already booked, but to make sure it would help to grab a couple of more.
Edit: I didn’t remember he won 10-ball WC in 2024 so he is now triple world champion. Booked for HoF for sure.
 
mjantti said:
Carlo needs at least a couple of major titles more to have a chance for HOF. Fedor is most certainly on his way there but not for another 10+ years until he’s 40. By then he should have a bunch of titles already to qualify with flying colours.
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I think in significant titles Carlo just surpassed Busty. And Busty is already in.
 
mjantti said:
Well I don’t think silvers matter too much so that’s two WC titles and one US Open in my books.
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Agreed that they don't matter much in GOAT discussions, but for BCA hall of fame worthiness, I feel that silvers and bronzes do matter.

As far as the "major" majors (World 9ball, World 10ball, China Open, US Open, All Japan), have to wonder whether Strickland's count of eight (3 World 9ball, 5 US Open) will ever be exceeded, but Josh and Fedor are young and still have a shot at it.
 
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Fedor is a great player, GOAT level, but he needs to really speed it up a bit.

His matches will put you to sleep sometimes. Especially when he's the favorite and he has a comfortable lead. It's like hurry up and beat him already.
 
sjm said:
Agreed that they don't matter much in GOAT discussions, but for BCA hall of fame worthiness, I feel that silvers and bronzes do matter.

As far as the "major" majors (World 9ball, China Open, US Open, All Japan), have to wonder whether Strickland's count of eight (3 World 9ball, 5 US Open) will ever be exceeded, but Josh and Fedor are young and still have a shot at it.
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If Josh and Fedor retire tomorrow they’ll both get in.
 
sjm said:
It's all over and there's no question that the better man won. All the credit to Carlo Biado, now a holder of two WPA Sanctioned World Championships.

This match was decided by the safety battles, which went heavily in Biado's favor.
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Very heavily. Gorst was subpar in the semis too. Kept underhitting balls or making less optimal choices. Sometimes his jumping ability is a curse. He has to do a better job of recognizing when.
 
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sjm said:
Gotta love Gorst and everything about his game, but 2025 has been a year in which he hasn't been able to get to the finish line. After a great Derby City Classic in January in which he won the one pocket, the bank pool and the Master of the Table, he remains without a title in either 9ball or 10ball this year.

Love Fedor's form right now and feel like he might well prevail at one of the two majors in August, the Florida Open and the US Open 9ball. Wishing him the best. What a player!
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Gorst missed the UK Open and PLP because of back problems he flew to Russia to address. He missed the Euro Open due to scheduling conflict and was in China for that big trade show.

He’ll get plenty of chances coming up, but as today showed, it’s tough to win a major WNT title.
 
Now I have pool withdrawal! Going to have to watch taped WPC matches of players I am less familiar with.

As for Phil Yates and how he pronounces Gorst, I am fine as long as he gets Fedor right!
 
sjm said:
As far as the "major" majors (World 9ball, China Open, US Open, All Japan), have to wonder whether Strickland's count of eight (3 World 9ball, 5 US Open) will ever be exceeded, but Josh and Fedor are young and still have a shot at it.
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Comparing old Worlds and contemporary Worlds is another story but I respect the titles. I have to add that this year’s 9-ball WC was filled with so many good players and the field was super tough I would have to give extra credit to Carlo for winning it and also to Fedor for back-to-back finals. I feel that these two are at the top of the food chain at the moment in addition to Filler.
 
jbart65 said:
Gorst missed the UK Open and PLP because of back problems he flew to Russia to address. He missed the Euro Open due to scheduling conflict and was in China for that big trade show.

He’ll get plenty of chances coming up, but as today showed, it’s tough to win a major WNT title.
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Was right in the mix at the Derby City 9ball, the Super Billiards Expo 9ball, the Dubai event and, of course, the World 9ball, but he came up short on all four occasions. Fedor hasn't closed the deal in the biggest spots this year. Agreed that he'll pick up something big sooner rather than later, but by his standards, he has not had a good year in rotation games.
 
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