i disagree here, there are many new developments and techniques
compare safety play in 1995 with today-
World Pool Championships 2025, July 21-26, Jeddah
- Thread starter Bob Jewett
- Start date
compare safety play in 1995 with today-
JJ: Biado isn't hitting the break hard, but his timing is so good, that is why you see such good spreads.
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JJ: Biado isn't hitting the break hard, but his timing is so good, that is why you see such good spreads.
he doesn't mean soft breaking. it's a cut break and few players hit it "hard" hard. shane and big kaci do, as JJ always mentions. it's a slightly thicker hit. they've won events with it so there's merit to both strategies.
What a tournament! I had a blast. I'm worn out, and I wasn't even there. I love Jeddah. That Green Hall venue was gorgeous, and the Saudis really put on the Ritz for our pool players. At first, the electronic beats-style music in the background with roaring elephant sounds was getting on my nerves, but I soon found myself tapping my foot to the beat. The deejay was a professional, and she knew when to turn it up and turn it down.
I had no problem with watching live on WNTTV-dot-com, though I did miss the first day due to work obligations. The stream was of high quality, as was the commentary by Jeremy Jones, Phil Yates, Mike McMullen, Scott Frost, and Karl Boyes. I learn so much listening to them, things I had not thought of before, and I enjoy learning more about the players. Like, Ameer Ali from Iraq, an 844 on the Fargo rating, who works with his brother back home in Iraq selling kitchen utensils. He stated he would much rather play pool professionally on an international scale, and it looks like he just might be able to fulfill his dream. He was stylin' wearing his Gucci shirt watching the finals.
Kaci brothers, Kledio and Eklent, both have strong breaks. I have to say I was rooting for Kledio. He maintained his composure throughout, even when the push call was not heard by Ben the Ref, resulting in a foul. I'll bet he'll make sure that doesn't happen again. Hopefully, Matchroom will reinforce this rule in the future that the players must hear a reply from the ref in order to make it legitimate. It reminds me of the time Shane Van Boening asked for an extension but it was not heard. Controversy erupted on that one. I have my personal opinion, and I'm on SVB's side on this one.
Seeing Kledio Kaci with one Predator logo patch and no pool jersey like the other competitors was sad. I hope after this event, making it to the semifinals, he'll get a couple more sponsors, to include a pool apparel company.
I loved the warm smiles from our Saudi hosts and special guests in the audience on the last day, but it was the Filipino contingent that rocked the venue. You could just feel the excitement, as they cheered and danced as their man, Carlo, was on his way to become the World Pool Champion, collecting 14 million-plus pesos ($250,000), the biggest payout in his pool-playing career.
Fedor Gorst was the consummate professional throughout this event. In his post-match interviews, he spoke eloquently and is a great ambassador for pool worldwide, win or lose. He's pocketing $100,000 for second place. Not too shabby, I say. He had moments of greatness in the finals, but his break just wasn't cooperating. After Gorst made a 2-9 combo, he caught up to Biado score-wise and must have had a glimmer of hope from here. He shut his eyes and gained his composure before he broke the next rack.
They flew Efren Reyes in for the big announcement: Team Asia v. Team ROW (Rest of the World) in Manila later this year. I love this Matchroom photo of him with his Mona Lisa smile looking out into the horizon.
Jay Helfert shared his thoughts yesterday: "In order to be the best, you have to beat the best." Of course, with my old eyes, I got it wrong the first time and typed "In order to be the best, you have to beat the BEAST." Thankfully, Jay caught it and sent me a private message so I could fix my faux pas.
Congratulations to Carlo Biado! He proved to the world he is the best.
I had no problem with watching live on WNTTV-dot-com, though I did miss the first day due to work obligations. The stream was of high quality, as was the commentary by Jeremy Jones, Phil Yates, Mike McMullen, Scott Frost, and Karl Boyes. I learn so much listening to them, things I had not thought of before, and I enjoy learning more about the players. Like, Ameer Ali from Iraq, an 844 on the Fargo rating, who works with his brother back home in Iraq selling kitchen utensils. He stated he would much rather play pool professionally on an international scale, and it looks like he just might be able to fulfill his dream. He was stylin' wearing his Gucci shirt watching the finals.
Kaci brothers, Kledio and Eklent, both have strong breaks. I have to say I was rooting for Kledio. He maintained his composure throughout, even when the push call was not heard by Ben the Ref, resulting in a foul. I'll bet he'll make sure that doesn't happen again. Hopefully, Matchroom will reinforce this rule in the future that the players must hear a reply from the ref in order to make it legitimate. It reminds me of the time Shane Van Boening asked for an extension but it was not heard. Controversy erupted on that one. I have my personal opinion, and I'm on SVB's side on this one.
Seeing Kledio Kaci with one Predator logo patch and no pool jersey like the other competitors was sad. I hope after this event, making it to the semifinals, he'll get a couple more sponsors, to include a pool apparel company.
I loved the warm smiles from our Saudi hosts and special guests in the audience on the last day, but it was the Filipino contingent that rocked the venue. You could just feel the excitement, as they cheered and danced as their man, Carlo, was on his way to become the World Pool Champion, collecting 14 million-plus pesos ($250,000), the biggest payout in his pool-playing career.
Fedor Gorst was the consummate professional throughout this event. In his post-match interviews, he spoke eloquently and is a great ambassador for pool worldwide, win or lose. He's pocketing $100,000 for second place. Not too shabby, I say. He had moments of greatness in the finals, but his break just wasn't cooperating. After Gorst made a 2-9 combo, he caught up to Biado score-wise and must have had a glimmer of hope from here. He shut his eyes and gained his composure before he broke the next rack.
They flew Efren Reyes in for the big announcement: Team Asia v. Team ROW (Rest of the World) in Manila later this year. I love this Matchroom photo of him with his Mona Lisa smile looking out into the horizon.
Jay Helfert shared his thoughts yesterday: "In order to be the best, you have to beat the best." Of course, with my old eyes, I got it wrong the first time and typed "In order to be the best, you have to beat the BEAST." Thankfully, Jay caught it and sent me a private message so I could fix my faux pas.
Congratulations to Carlo Biado! He proved to the world he is the best.
i don't think ameer ali can go to the UK or US very easily. this is the same thing with soufi, he's had troubles travelling outside EU because he's only got residence permit in Germany, not citizenship. hossein vafei in snooker too, he's missed a good part of his career because of visa issues.
I know you’re having some fun with this….but if you’re going to anglicize his name, use Ted for Theodore. Fred is short for Frederick.
Especially with the current US immigration policies I would assume Ameer has no business entering the US.
How about Fed?
No thanks…..I’ve had dinner.
there's probably a good 10-15 countries that play pool he can't go. the WNT isn't like the IOC or FIFA, they have no clout like that. we're a fringe sport
Does he even want to?
up untill around 20 years ago, traveling to play in the USA was every player's dream, that's were all the big money was and the best players in tournaments and side action.
Today, you get a stronger arena in Asia, they don't need to travel to the USA. what are they gonna do in the US? Play Ultimate pool?
When I see "Fed," I think of Federal Government here in the States. Not one of my favorite entities. Yuck!
Pool being more global is a good thing.
Here, though, with Ameer Ali in particular, it's not like he's traveling around Asia to play. Yes he played in the Asian 10-Ball Championship last December. But that was held on the Arabian Peninsula. And yes he's played world 9-Ball in 2018, 2024 and 2025. But again only when they were on the Arabian Peninsula. Near as we can tell, he's not only not been to the America's, he's also not been to Europe, to Central Asia, to East Asia, to Southeast Asia, or to South Asia.
billiards_watch
Well-known member
You can make a killing here in the States. He can "nickel and dime" these tournaments and also play at the bigger sanctioned tournament. We have a ton of memorial tournaments with added money.
He can pull the Savannah Easton tour. By playing in a tournament every week or every other week during tournament season and make a killing.
Sort of like what SVB use to do.
The money will add up more than those tournaments he's currently playing in and he would be winning most if not all of the tournaments like what Shane use to do.
Great event. It was just another reminder how hard it is to prevail at the majors.
To win at the majors, you have to beat champion after champion, with some table switches to navigate while you are doing it. You must adapt to changing conditions and the varying strategies of the opponents you draw. If you have a hole in your game, one of those opponents will likely expose it.
In single elimination, Biado had to beat Melling, Zielinski, Ignacio, Ko Ping Chung, Regalario and then Gorst, a very tall order of which he proved capable.
Only a few have the pedigree to win titles at the very toughest events in rotation pool (World 9ball, World 10ball, US Open, China Open, All Japan). It's one reason why we remember the handful of Cinderellas (especially Tommy Kennedy and Darryl Peach) so vividly.
So, let's revise "to be the best, you must beat the best" to "to be the best, you must beat a full gathering of all the best." Not many have what it takes to be the last man standing in a large field that contains all the international stars of pool. That's why we cheer the few who are able.
Well played, Carlo Biado, our deserving World 9ball Champion.
To win at the majors, you have to beat champion after champion, with some table switches to navigate while you are doing it. You must adapt to changing conditions and the varying strategies of the opponents you draw. If you have a hole in your game, one of those opponents will likely expose it.
In single elimination, Biado had to beat Melling, Zielinski, Ignacio, Ko Ping Chung, Regalario and then Gorst, a very tall order of which he proved capable.
Only a few have the pedigree to win titles at the very toughest events in rotation pool (World 9ball, World 10ball, US Open, China Open, All Japan). It's one reason why we remember the handful of Cinderellas (especially Tommy Kennedy and Darryl Peach) so vividly.
So, let's revise "to be the best, you must beat the best" to "to be the best, you must beat a full gathering of all the best." Not many have what it takes to be the last man standing in a large field that contains all the international stars of pool. That's why we cheer the few who are able.
Well played, Carlo Biado, our deserving World 9ball Champion.
We don’t know if it’s by choice or by restriction.
I’m sure that he could travel to China for instance.
People have a life and family and a job and sometimes they can’t just leave it all and start touring. My guess is that he is picking his events that are more convenient for him.
One Heyball event in China will pay more than a successful year of grinding small events all over the USA.
Biado also had to beat Jan Van Lierop and Lee Van Corteza in the first round. I saw most of Biado’s matches. He was sharp the whole tourney against tough competition. His break was inconsistent early on, but he was dialed in pretty well vs. Chung, Regalario and Gorst. His best breaking may have been against Gorst.
Sometimes it’s the tough road a player has to travel that puts them in a position to win a major title. Gorst didn’t have quite as tough a road.
Still, it’s amazing what Biado had to do to beat Gorst. Biado broke extremely well. He only had one or two bad shots - I can only remember one. He was great at kicking and beat Gorst handily in safety play.
And yet, he barely held Fedor off. Very few players would have beaten a below-par Gorst on Saturday. Just shows how good he is.
Also shows how good Biado, at age 41,still is. After a tough 2023 in which he didn’t play much or well — when he looked like he was fading — he began to work out regularly and practiced more. It’s paid off tremendously. Only a player of his talent, savvy and mental toughness could have done what he did.
Nice post. Well said.
florida open 30 or 40k, us open 100k, international open 40k
he's been to china and played heyball. lost to melling in the last big one