Sorry if it's a little long, but I just wanted to make a post in remembrance of professional Japanese player Masao Tachibana, a mentor and good friend of mine. He tragically passed away recently from cancer, at the young age of 55.
He was always willing to teach and share his knowledge and was a great joy to be around. Known to Japanese players as the "Master of Spin", he had the longest, smoothest stroke you ever did see and could do amazing things on a pool table.
A couple of memories really stand out for me.
The first time I ever saw him play, I couldn't believe how soft he could shoot and still generate enough spin to get around the table. He just had the timing down perfectly, similar to way Efren does it. I remember one shot, just a routine follow shot, and he got so much follow that the cue ball and object ball came apart at contact and then moved forward at the same speed, and everyone in the room did a double take.
Also it didn't matter if it was a tournament or exhibition, he always tried to put on a show and entertain the gallery first and foremost. With his arsenal of amazing jumps and spins, he was the rare kind of player that could get non-pool players completely fixated on the table and I'm sure a lot of players got hooked on the game just from watching him play. I'll always remember the look on his opponents face when he was faced with a shot to nothing and jumped the cue ball into the object ball, making it jump over the point and right into the side pocket... always the showman!
Thank you, Tachibana-san, for everything. You will be sadly missed and I'm sure you're up there somewhere spinning 'em in and teaching them a thing or two. RIP my friend.
He was always willing to teach and share his knowledge and was a great joy to be around. Known to Japanese players as the "Master of Spin", he had the longest, smoothest stroke you ever did see and could do amazing things on a pool table.
A couple of memories really stand out for me.
The first time I ever saw him play, I couldn't believe how soft he could shoot and still generate enough spin to get around the table. He just had the timing down perfectly, similar to way Efren does it. I remember one shot, just a routine follow shot, and he got so much follow that the cue ball and object ball came apart at contact and then moved forward at the same speed, and everyone in the room did a double take.
Also it didn't matter if it was a tournament or exhibition, he always tried to put on a show and entertain the gallery first and foremost. With his arsenal of amazing jumps and spins, he was the rare kind of player that could get non-pool players completely fixated on the table and I'm sure a lot of players got hooked on the game just from watching him play. I'll always remember the look on his opponents face when he was faced with a shot to nothing and jumped the cue ball into the object ball, making it jump over the point and right into the side pocket... always the showman!
Thank you, Tachibana-san, for everything. You will be sadly missed and I'm sure you're up there somewhere spinning 'em in and teaching them a thing or two. RIP my friend.
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