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Not feeling any empathy for Billy at all. He shouldn’t have been on the team last year and he hasn’t earned it this year either. No free 20k paydays like last year thanks to his buddy.
Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team
- Thread starter RickLafayette
- Start date
Matchroom has every right to institute a minimum attendance rule, but I think it should be more lenient given the cost of global travel and modest prize funds. You have to attend at least two majors and X number of ranking events.
Ultimately a player isn't going to get on the Mosconi or Reyes if they don't accumulate enough points anyway.
Still, the previous rules, and the current ones, could backfire. That's what happened last year.
SVB and Filler were omitted from the Reyes Cup in 2025, with an out-of-form Skyler Woodward taking Van Boening's place. Fiasco.
The rule in 2025 supposedly required participation in the final "major" before the Reyes - the Hanoi Open. Both SVB and Filler missed it for a competing Predator/WPA event in Asia.
In 2024, the rule seemed to be a player had to play in almost all, or all, majors.
The PLP and WPM, by the way, don't appear to factor into Mosconi qualification.
Going forward, WNT best be careful. There may be a case in which five U.S.-based players don't even meet current rules.
Ultimately a player isn't going to get on the Mosconi or Reyes if they don't accumulate enough points anyway.
Still, the previous rules, and the current ones, could backfire. That's what happened last year.
SVB and Filler were omitted from the Reyes Cup in 2025, with an out-of-form Skyler Woodward taking Van Boening's place. Fiasco.
The rule in 2025 supposedly required participation in the final "major" before the Reyes - the Hanoi Open. Both SVB and Filler missed it for a competing Predator/WPA event in Asia.
In 2024, the rule seemed to be a player had to play in almost all, or all, majors.
The PLP and WPM, by the way, don't appear to factor into Mosconi qualification.
Going forward, WNT best be careful. There may be a case in which five U.S.-based players don't even meet current rules.
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In the best-case scenario, the qualification criteria would be spelled out in a player contract. While early dissemination of the qualification criteria is, of course, preferred, I think having the players up to speed on the qualification criteria prior to the first WNT major is far more important than having the fans up to speed.
PS The PLP and WPM must not be factored into Mosconi or Reyes Cup qualification, because the WNT pros do not have equal access to these events. Counting these would bring additional politics. with which we can do without, into the qualification formula.
I'll write what I wrote on FB:
It’s your responsibility to know, you are a top pro and in position to be on the team every year. It’s the same as in the DCC. If a player WINS both the banks and one hole, but doesn’t enter the 9 ball, he’s ineligible for the Master Of The Table .
How can Yuma be a bad financial decision but Vietnam and Bali be a good one? That one doesn’t pass the sniff test.
MR is also not “forcing” anyone to play every (or a specific) event. Or penalizing for playing in a competing event. They are not banning pros from all of their events as the WPA was 2 years ago. They are instead saying “if you don’t show up to our big Open events, don’t expect to play on our year end invitational event”. That’s reasonable.
The WPA was saying “if you play in a single MR event, you can never play in ANY WPA event again”. 2 different worlds there.
It’s your responsibility to know, you are a top pro and in position to be on the team every year. It’s the same as in the DCC. If a player WINS both the banks and one hole, but doesn’t enter the 9 ball, he’s ineligible for the Master Of The Table .
How can Yuma be a bad financial decision but Vietnam and Bali be a good one? That one doesn’t pass the sniff test.
MR is also not “forcing” anyone to play every (or a specific) event. Or penalizing for playing in a competing event. They are not banning pros from all of their events as the WPA was 2 years ago. They are instead saying “if you don’t show up to our big Open events, don’t expect to play on our year end invitational event”. That’s reasonable.
The WPA was saying “if you play in a single MR event, you can never play in ANY WPA event again”. 2 different worlds there.
It's stupid IMO for a USA pro not to go to every single MR full production event, on home soil. MR has pumped millions into the game. Their production is like real TV, not a single camera steamer and a boring commentator. No one else is doing anything close. It's like spitting in their face to not go to a USA soil event.
MR is in the right here.
MR is in the right here.
Sucks for him but I'm kinda relieved he's ineligible because
1. I didn't want him on the team yet again (like Tyler, even though they're both playing "good" by their standards)
2. Makes the wildcard debate more fun since it's one less person to choose from.
I do believe he would've been selected as a wildcard if eligible though. He showed a lot of heart at the US Open. But like Tyler, I would have to see it at the Mosconi Cup to believe it.
Also, I can't believe a guy who's been on the team so many times, isn't up to date with the selection process...
1. I didn't want him on the team yet again (like Tyler, even though they're both playing "good" by their standards)
2. Makes the wildcard debate more fun since it's one less person to choose from.
I do believe he would've been selected as a wildcard if eligible though. He showed a lot of heart at the US Open. But like Tyler, I would have to see it at the Mosconi Cup to believe it.
Also, I can't believe a guy who's been on the team so many times, isn't up to date with the selection process...
That "absolute-pool" page is off their rocker. Over-exaggerate everything. Looking for hits. IDK who is behind them... if someone in the USA or maybe the Philippines?
Yes, you just sum-up the whole American players who constantly complaining about everything... there are solutions: play better and get more sponsors, or start doing lessons, or start selling affiliated products, do social medias, do raffles, open your own pool room or with a partner who knows "the business side"... stop doing alcohols and drugs if you are on any... start saving money...
I ready Billy's post and he did say something about "not checking emails" or something like that. It seems like he had the information but didn't look at it. Billy is doing the best thing for himself in having a job that pays the bills and using pool as a side gig. Others have found the solution to have pool as their main source of income. It takes a lot of work, but can be a reality.
As Molina Mike stated in one of his podcasts, it will be popcorn material if SVB, Fedor, Bergman and Sky don't go to the Philippines Open. All are not eligible if they do not play in that event. Is emily going to have the guts to cut them all out of the Mosconi Cup? I don't believe the USA would even be able to fill out a team in that case. Styer, Thorsten and Childress would be the only players eligible at that point.
Lukas out as well due to injuries! TERRIBLE!!
Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team - Absolute Pool
Billy Thorpe has criticised the Mosconi Cup qualifying rules after obliviously becoming ineligible for the USA teamabsolute-pool.com
Billy Thorpe has severely criticized the Mosconi Cup qualification rules after being told that he’s no longer eligible moments before a match at the recent US Open Championship.
Rules for earning a spot on the respective American and European teams state that players must not miss more than two events that are considered majors on the World Nine Ball Tour calendar.
Thorpe skipped both March’s European Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina and May’s UK Open due to financial reasons, and then didn’t enter last month’s Arizona Open, unaware that he would therefore become ineligible.
The two-time Mosconi Cup champion was informed of the ruling just before heading out to play eventual runner-up Robbie Capito in the US Open last 16, an unexpected conversation which came as a significant surprise to him.
“Right before I went out to play Robbie in the final 16, the Mosconi Cup somehow got brought up,” Thorpe said on social media. “That’s when I was told I’m not eligible to play because I missed too many ‘majors’.
“In my opinion, this is a terrible rule for our sport. Players shouldn’t be forced to attend events they can’t make or events that simply don’t make financial sense for them.
“At the end of the day, I’ll take responsibility for my part. I guess I needed to read my emails better and know the rules. If I had known missing Yuma would make me ineligible, I would’ve gone to Arizona even though, financially, it made absolutely zero sense for me.
“It was single elimination and three to four hours from the nearest airport. For me, that’s a terrible financial decision. But if I had known I needed to attend to remain eligible for the Mosconi Cup, I would’ve sucked it up and gone.
“I also heard through the grapevine that certain players were being ‘told’ or ‘warned’ that they needed to go to Yuma to qualify. I obviously wasn’t one of those players. I have no idea if that’s actually true and that’s simply what I heard, so I’m not accusing anybody of anything.
“At the end of the day, it was my responsibility to know the rules, and it is what it is. So when you see the rankings and don’t see Billy Thorpe anywhere across the board, there’s your answer as to why.
“In my opinion, it’s one of the dumbest rules I’ve seen in pool. We shouldn’t be forced to attend any event in our careers. Period. End of story. It’s already hard enough to make a living playing this game.
“With that being said, I have zero chance of being on the Mosconi Cup team this year because I’m not eligible, and that’s all good. I’ll still be rooting for Team USA to win no matter what.”
Lukas Fracasso-Verner will be impacted by the same ruling after missing the US Open, the Florida Open and the Arizona Open due to a car accident, despite a potential injury or health clause in the contract being unknown.
World number seven Johann Chua and Chinese Taipei Open runner-up Ronel Nalaunan, meanwhile, was ruled out of Reyes Cup contention as the potential highest-ranked Filipino player after missing numerous major events.
SVB and Fedor are playing in the Reyes Cup, so they will definitely play.
Surprised Bergman is flying.
He must have been guaranteed a wild card spot.
Yeah, really heartbreaking. He is a good friend, and I caught up with him at length this past weekend at Turning Stone. He is still recovering physically and still has quite a bit of pain with which to deal. The good news is he is taking all steps needed to return to full physical health as soon as he can. Turning Stone was something of a test for him and, as far as I am concerned, a fifth-place finish which included a win over Jayson Shaw was very encouraging. He's a fine young man and a fine player and let's hope we see him on the 2027 edition of Team USA at the Mosconi.
1. Matchroom isn’t great at being transparent with the fan base so they deserve all heat they get from the fan base including being accused of moving the goalposts all the time.
2. Billy is a big boy. Shame on him for not keeping up on the eligibility criteria.
3. This I don’t hear much about. Meucci looks pretty stupid here if you ask me. You’re the primary cue sponsor for a Mosconi-candidate player. A guy that’s been on the team six times and won it twice. We can debate if he should be on the team again but he’s at least a horse in their stable that’s in that conversation.
What is their advertising budget for if not to get his ass to every major tour event playing with their cue, making a stream table, staying in the grease, hopefully improving, thanking his sponsor in interviews after a win, talking about how he trusts his equipment, and even making social posts about his matches.
When he says he’s worried about the expenses of getting to an event, to me it makes them look cheap. I get not everyone gets the SVB or Fedor package. But when you have a Mosconi contender, is it really crazy to expect a sponsor to play a major role in at least enabling a player to get to the events? It’s all a hustle, how is “showing up” and “staying eligible” not the bare minimum of strings attached? Unless they don’t offer a package that even enables that. In which case, they look like a sorry sponsor to me.
2. Billy is a big boy. Shame on him for not keeping up on the eligibility criteria.
3. This I don’t hear much about. Meucci looks pretty stupid here if you ask me. You’re the primary cue sponsor for a Mosconi-candidate player. A guy that’s been on the team six times and won it twice. We can debate if he should be on the team again but he’s at least a horse in their stable that’s in that conversation.
What is their advertising budget for if not to get his ass to every major tour event playing with their cue, making a stream table, staying in the grease, hopefully improving, thanking his sponsor in interviews after a win, talking about how he trusts his equipment, and even making social posts about his matches.
When he says he’s worried about the expenses of getting to an event, to me it makes them look cheap. I get not everyone gets the SVB or Fedor package. But when you have a Mosconi contender, is it really crazy to expect a sponsor to play a major role in at least enabling a player to get to the events? It’s all a hustle, how is “showing up” and “staying eligible” not the bare minimum of strings attached? Unless they don’t offer a package that even enables that. In which case, they look like a sorry sponsor to me.
you should call their customer service
I don't know how their sponsorship works now, but back in the day, the player got a certain number of cues that he could sell. Or at least that is what I was told by more than one of their sponsored players.
I know some international players get government support/federation support and not everyone gets Filler/Fedor/SVB treatment. But Billy is a six time US team member and two time winner. When he says he can’t afford to even attend the domestic events, it’s not a good look. They don’t sponsor those players to “not play”
