What was the BOLO they were getting? S Frost mentioned it a couple times.
Phoenix Open - August 18-22
- Thread starter dtroup64
- Start date
I've seen a lot of Pecelj over the past few years, and truthfully, I thought he had peaked. I never thought as him as a really serious contender to win a stacked event, Fargo 800 or not.
What changed? His confidence and consistency.
His confidence soared the past few weeks. He broke through a barrier mentally that was holding him back. Some luck was involved, sure, especially in his win over Albert Januarta after being down 9-1. Then there was the comeback vs SVB. Whatever the case, the wins allowed him to top that final mental hurdle.
The loss to Grabe taught him something, too. Pecelj came back stronger despite the setback. In the past, that kind of loss would have affected him very negatively.
His overall game itself has also taken a leap. His break has been a huge weapon. His safety play and tactical game have become much better. And he is stroking the ball with supreme confidence.
One way you can tell when a player is so confident, he can stroke really, really hard on some shots and maintain accuracy. Pecelj did that. Reminded me a lot of SVB or Chua in dead stroke. Some of his best shots were rifled in a way you don't often see.
Has Pecelj really crossed into the elite? Top 10 or 20 worldwide? We'll see, but I never would have thought so before August arrived.
What changed? His confidence and consistency.
His confidence soared the past few weeks. He broke through a barrier mentally that was holding him back. Some luck was involved, sure, especially in his win over Albert Januarta after being down 9-1. Then there was the comeback vs SVB. Whatever the case, the wins allowed him to top that final mental hurdle.
The loss to Grabe taught him something, too. Pecelj came back stronger despite the setback. In the past, that kind of loss would have affected him very negatively.
His overall game itself has also taken a leap. His break has been a huge weapon. His safety play and tactical game have become much better. And he is stroking the ball with supreme confidence.
One way you can tell when a player is so confident, he can stroke really, really hard on some shots and maintain accuracy. Pecelj did that. Reminded me a lot of SVB or Chua in dead stroke. Some of his best shots were rifled in a way you don't often see.
Has Pecelj really crossed into the elite? Top 10 or 20 worldwide? We'll see, but I never would have thought so before August arrived.
Well played, Aleksa Pecelj, the king of Arizona. He really played some fine pool over the past couple of events. No, the Phoenix Open is not a major, but it had the kind of field one finds at a major, so the achievement is very impressive. His conquests this week included Filler and Yapp, so enough said.
The emergence of Aleksa is remarkable, and I am hard pressed to think of a player that came out of the woodwork like this in consecutive elite field events. Hope it's the beginning of a run of sustained excellence for the young Serbian, who entered August with only $8,000 in 2026 year-to-date earnings from prize money.
Is he in the Mosconi conversation for Team Europe? My sense of things is that it would take a Sunday appearance at the USA Open 9ball for him to have a good chance at selection, but who is to say?
The emergence of Aleksa is remarkable, and I am hard pressed to think of a player that came out of the woodwork like this in consecutive elite field events. Hope it's the beginning of a run of sustained excellence for the young Serbian, who entered August with only $8,000 in 2026 year-to-date earnings from prize money.
Is he in the Mosconi conversation for Team Europe? My sense of things is that it would take a Sunday appearance at the USA Open 9ball for him to have a good chance at selection, but who is to say?
Last edited:
When did this become an american/euro discussion???lol. I just love pool, I get tired of the American haters who just want to talk down on American players all the time. This is a Pecelj SVB discussion, and expectations have nothing to do with performance rating. You either perform better or don't. I'd say it's a pretty close matchup in these last several tournaments and with Pecelj's win last night and his defeat of Shane at Yuma he may have edged out Shane. It'll be exciting to follow them both in the US Open, If they could meet in the final, that would be even more exciting.
insidesp.in
New member
Aleksa's rating from 5 months ago
808 2026-03-08
807 2026-03-24
807 2026-03-26
807 2026-04-03
807 2026-04-10
807 2026-04-12
807 2026-04-13
808 2026-04-21
808 2026-04-22
it's so fluid these days. i would say no, but form-wise who wouldn't pick him over albin or jayson?
in the "top 20" in fargo you can cross out almost half. one is dead (RIP), three switched over to heyball/duya, three never travels anywhere and the two above mentioned play sub-800 speed
It’s actually not even about Shane or Aleksa, it about the attention given to one over the other by the pool community
My opinion is that Aleksa cannot yet be counted as among the elite.
At the Phoenix Open, his break was just about super-human and assured that he had more good looks at the table than his opponents, and his patterns were solid, if not super-elite. I would not say that, in the matches I watched, he was more than adequate in the moves game (defense, kicking, jumping, pushout and the use of two-way shots) so I'm not willing to call him a full-featured player quite yet.
Restricting my attention to the under-30 players, he certainly doesn't have the complete skill set of a Neuhausen or even a Labutis quite yet, but if he can add the missing pieces, he has a high ceiling. Wishing him well. He's a guy I'd like to see succeed.
Of course, if/when Aleksa kicks some butt in Frisco, I may be singing a new tune.
Last edited:
Oh if we're talking about the amount of attention they get, it's not even a question. Shane WILL get more attention. He's been at the top of the ladder for 20 years. Pecelj has been there for 2 tournaments. I thought we were just comparing their results for the last few tourneys...
Last edited:
Autocorrect?
Agreed.
He did jump very well. His safety play was much improved vs a year or two ago, but you are right. He is not elite in that area. His push outs were the weakest part of his game the past week.
Neuhausen is more complete, yes. I think Pecelj is a better shotmaker than Labutis, but Pijus is better in other facets of the game.
Got to wonder is Pecelj is having the same sort of breakthrough as FSR 4-5 years ago, but the Spaniard reached some incredible heights before coming back down to earth.
Great post. I agree with pretty much everything you wrote.
Over the past two years, Neuhausen and Labutis have pointed the way for emerging European pros, each producing two wins over super-elite fields. Labutis won the Derby City 10ball and the Hanoi Open and Neuhausen won the Peri Open and the European Open. Each of them played great pool at the 2025 Mosconi Cup, too. If Aleksa can learn to play the super-high-percentage pool that they do, his prospects are very bright. Personally, I think that Vogel is a bit further along in general conceptualization than Aleksa, but both will be very interesting to watch over the next couple of years.
Even before his breakthrough in 2022, FSR was a top ten ball pocketer in the world. I don't think Aleksa brings comparable offensive skills to the table, and I do not believe that this is the start of something really big. Still, you never know.
I do like Fedor as well and want to see him do well. But I’m sort of glad he didn’t progress, I know probably not all of it- but playing matches keeps you sharp and he hasn’t for a few weeks Maybe this will make him play in more of the tournaments now - especially those he could have reached easily but chose commercial reasons not to participate
Badpenguin
Well-known member
It will definitely make the US Open 9ball more exciting if SVB makes it to Sunday. Wish him well.