US Open 08/18-23

[jbart65]

The final day was not one of spectacular pool. Unbearably tense at times, and great viewing, but not spectacular. There were a lot of spectacular shots, to be sure, but none of the players were at their peak best. Only the winner, Aloysius Yapp, came close.

I blame, or credit, the pressure of the event for that. As Gorst said, they were all tired and under a strain. There were going to be misses.

In the end, mistakes were punished. The winners of all three matches made fewer errors in them, and capitalized the most on their opponents mistakes. It was as it should be.

Ko had the critical miss in game 2 on the 8 ball after a surprise Yapp miss. Turned out to be very costly and let Yapp build a 5-0 lead. Feeling the pressure to catch up, Ko then made took some uncharacteristic gambles later in the match that failed to pay off.

Chua erred on safeties a few times vs Gorst, giving Fedor an escape hatch and a chance to build an early lead. Totally befuddling to give Gorst a short and easy jump on one Chua pushout to win the rack. Later Chua had the critical miss on the 6 to the side and the misplayed position on the 4.

Gorst did not break well and Chua should have won, but he needs more discipline in his game.

In the finals, Gorst misplayed position a few times and had to rely on his jump stick too much. Yapp cleaned up and was nearly flawless in the first half of the match.

Gorst caught up, but his habit of falling behind left him little margin for error.

Even so, Yapp gave him an opening or two. But they weren’t easy and Fedor couldn’t make every shot. His habit of falling behind was bound to catch up with him, and it finally did.

Yapp was the deserved winner.

 

[Frosty]

I know bro I saw it in slowmo 10 times, he fouled and said nothing you can even see it in his face! I got the clip to post it but it wont let me post here, says problem in the upload!

look at yapp face and how he looked, he relief that nobody saw it, and referee was behind him and didn't see it, it was veryyyyyyyyyy subtle and quick.

It’s a shame this hangs over the victory. A similar situation occurred in the Final of the 1st US Open MR ran and Wu fouled the 7 ball in a similar manner bridging. In that situation, EXPERIENCED Ref Nigel Rees caught it and Filler took BIH and went on to win the Championship. MR’s Ref’s need to be better.

 

[straightline]

It’s a shame this hangs over the victory. A similar situation occurred in the Final of the 1st US Open MR ran and Wu fouled the 7 ball in a similar manner bridging. In that situation, EXPERIENCED Ref Nigel Rees caught it and Filler took BIH and went on to win the Championship. MR’s Ref’s need to be better.

Funny, per the youtubes, that didn't look like a foul at all.

 

[CanadianGuy]

The final day was not one of spectacular pool. Unbearably tense at times, and great viewing, but not spectacular. There were a lot of spectacular shots, to be sure, but none of the players were at their peak best. Only the winner, Aloysius Yapp, came close.

I blame, or credit, the pressure of the event for that. As Gorst said, they were all tired and under a strain. There were going to be misses.

In the end, mistakes were punished. The winners of all three matches made fewer errors in them, and capitalized the most on their opponents mistakes. It was as it should be.

Ko had the critical miss in game 2 on the 8 ball after a surprise Yapp miss. Turned out to be very costly and let Yapp build a 5-0 lead. Feeling the pressure to catch up, Ko then made took some uncharacteristic gambles later in the match that failed to pay off.

Chua erred on safeties a few times vs Gorst, giving Fedor an escape hatch and a chance to build an early lead. Totally befuddling to give Gorst a short and easy jump on one Chua pushout to win the rack. Later Chua had the critical miss on the 6 to the side and the misplayed position on the 4.

Gorst did not break well and Chua should have won, but he needs more discipline in his game.

In the finals, Gorst misplayed position a few times and had to rely on his jump stick too much. Yapp cleaned up and was nearly flawless in the first half of the match.

Gorst caught up, but his habit of falling behind left him little margin for error.

Even so, Yapp gave him an opening or two. But they weren’t easy and Fedor couldn’t make every shot. His habit of falling behind was bound to catch up with him, and it finally did.

Yapp was the deserved winner.

the finals of these big events are not really setup for 'spectacular'

fatigue at play, pressure, playing semis and finals on same day, etc.......

early on within these events you see the .99 TPA / perfect pool which is a good reason to watch the early rounds

 

[CanadianGuy]

the 'foul' in question shot really was set up by a poor shot on the 4, the 9 was almost screaming 'I'm in the way' and Yapp missed that warning

the shot on the 3 before that to get on the 4 was real nice

 

[Island Drive]

What caught my attention, break/time after every 3rd rack?

Would hate watching ANY final in ANY pro sport where the did this.
This format was not designed ''for the sport''.
Production$ and Vendor$.
It's design is to get the crowds $pending every 20 minutes.

Let em play, taking Seven....10 minute forced TV breaks not good for the game.

 

[skogstokig]

It’s a shame this hangs over the victory. A similar situation occurred in the Final of the 1st US Open MR ran and Wu fouled the 7 ball in a similar manner bridging. In that situation, EXPERIENCED Ref Nigel Rees caught it and Filler took BIH and went on to win the Championship. MR’s Ref’s need to be better.

everyone and their grandma wouldve caught that wu foul. this on the other hand, was a nanometer whiff that i doubt yapp felt at all in his (imo dead feeling) cf shaft. no shadow over aloysius in my book, or his victory

 

[Taxi]

the 'foul' in question shot really was set up by a poor shot on the 4, the 9 was almost screaming 'I'm in the way' and Yapp missed that warning

the shot on the 3 before that to get on the 4 was real nice

IMO Yapp's position shot from the 3 to the 4 may have been the greatest shot of the entire match, given the tiny window and the pressure of the situation. The speed control necessary to prevent being snookered was on the level of what Gorst did last year in the final game to get from the 1 to the 2. These are the sort of shots that non-pool players don't even notice, but players know right away just how tough they are. An inch or two either way and Yapp would've locked himself in jail.

 

[smoochie]

It’s a shame this hangs over the victory. A similar situation occurred in the Final of the 1st US Open MR ran and Wu fouled the 7 ball in a similar manner bridging. In that situation, EXPERIENCED Ref Nigel Rees caught it and Filler took BIH and went on to win the Championship. MR’s Ref’s need to be better.

I saw this one also. His bridge hand touched the 7 ball… I remember it particularly well and also remembering commenting about it too

 

[Island Drive]

It’s a shame this hangs over the victory. A similar situation occurred in the Final of the 1st US Open MR ran and Wu fouled the 7 ball in a similar manner bridging. In that situation, EXPERIENCED Ref Nigel Rees caught it and Filler took BIH and went on to win the Championship. MR’s Ref’s need to be better.

Not even close.... it's professional sports, chit happens and life moves on.
Shame? Hangs?
I do agree some refs are better than others.
Where did you get your knowledge about the MR refs need more training to get better?????????

 

[Frosty]

Not even close.... it's professional sports, chit happens and life moves on.
Shame? Hangs?
I do agree some refs are better than others.
Where did you get your knowledge about the MR refs need more training to get better?????????

Where do you get half the inane things you come up with? A foul is a foul and that’s the point of the Refs.

At the end of the day it’s done, but as the foul wasn’t called, no one will ever know how the match might have concluded considering the comeback Gorst was in the middle of making.

It seems from many comments, some don’t care, I.E. you with “chit happens”, others brushing it aside pointing to Yapps superior play, etc. Nothing from nothing but I wouldn’t want to win like that, or have the speculation of a missed call attached to the victory, but that’s me, everyone’s different.

 

[overlord]

Where do you get half the inane things you come up with? A foul is a foul and that’s the point of the Refs.

At the end of the day it’s done, but as the foul wasn’t called, no one will ever know how the much might have concluded considering the comeback Gorst was in the middle of making.

It seems from many comments, some don’t care, I.E. you with “chit happens, others brushing it aside pointing to Yapps superior play, etc. Nothing from nothing but I wouldn’t want to win like that, or have the speculation of a missed call attached to the victory, but that’s me, everyone’s different.

Someone on this thread said that Yapp exhibited a reaction to the alleged bad hit.

I reviewed the tape and saw nothing I could point to.

I watched the event as it was going down as was not aware of a foul.

They had a really fine closeup of the action.

 

[Island Drive]

Inane, just learning from your information.
Chit is the what the announcer said with out any frosting.... you gotta keep fading the ''short stick''.
When I heard Phil say that I laughed.
Each generation/person/processes the same moment in time/Different.
I get my inane half from John Belushi family, they moved to Wheaton.... next to our town.

 

[loggerhead12]

Someone on this thread said that Yapp exhibited a reaction to the alleged bad hit.

I reviewed the tape and saw nothing I could point to.

I watched the event as it was going down as was not aware of a foul.

I agree, I didn't see any reaction on Yapp's part.

But I definitely noticed the foul in real time. And on the replay. And in the super slo-mo blowup.

 

[Rocket354]

I'm amazed that people saw it in real time. Perhaps a TV thing? I was there in person and not a single person said a single word about a foul then or after.

It also looked to me like the nine rocked in some of these super-slo, super-close replays. Then I tried something else: I took my hand and covered the top half of the nine ball and watched the replay again. If it budged, it should still be apparent. But nothing. In fact as long as there is no shadow still dancing over the 9b there is no apparent movement of the 9b to me. But as soon as some of the shadow is visible, there is the slightest appearance of movement. Therefore, I conclude that most of what appears to be slight movement is most likely just a trick of the light/shadows. If I were a head ref, then even replay would be inconclusive to me and I would be forced to call no foul.

Let's not make this a bigger issue than it is. There is a nonzero chance that the smallest perceptible foul may have occurred. There is a much bigger chance that other non-called fouls occurred during this tournament, particularly on the outer tables. However, none of that detracts from the tournament, or from Yapp's amazing play and accomplishment.

Congratulations, Aloysius!

 

[jbart65]

Based on the totality of the event and the final, Yapp was a deserved winner. Maybe a foul occurred, maybe it didn’t.

Doesn’t matter now. It’s in the record book.

 

[skogstokig]

Agreed. The Matchroom setup was excellent. The crowd was great. The locale and history of the event make it bigger than the WPC, even though the players and announcers kept suggesting they were on par. The WPC pays a lot more, but the locales pale in comparison obviously.

The crowd and history of the event added unbearable pressure on the players. We saw that in the semis and especially the last few racks of the finals. Gorst and Yapp had a flurry of misses.

It wasn’t always great pool, but it was riveting.

The Florida and U.S. opens were both big successes. Sure seems the U.S. could support another Matchroom major. Not sure Hanoi is even better. Bigger crowds, sure, but the U.S is still the true home of modern pool.

100%

great atmosphere. great single elim overall.

my biggest worry is one not related to the production but to a player. wiktor had a big chance - another big chance - to break through. it was damn painful to see him lose to fedor. i'm always rooting for him but he's becoming the jack lisowski of pool.

Really has come into his own. He’s grown into a man, even if he still acts a little goofy off the table. Actually heard him tell the rest of the players in the world to beware of Asia. He’s always lacked some confidence. Not anymore.

100%

and what a revenge for the 2021 US open. for 2023 too, for that matter. in between there have been many moments of analysis paralysis, especially on side tables without shot clock, with him questioning himself. he has confidence now though, and will have going forward.

 

[dukblowz]

What caught my attention, break/time after every 3rd rack?

Would hate watching ANY final in ANY pro sport where the did this.
This format was not designed ''for the sport''.
Production$ and Vendor$.
It's design is to get the crowds $pending every 20 minutes.

Let em play, taking Seven....10 minute forced TV breaks not good for the game.

Yeah good point, I mean imagine watching ads during the Super Bowl... Oh wait...

 

[pt109]

I'm amazed that people saw it in real time. Perhaps a TV thing? I was there in person and not a single person said a single word about a foul then or after.

It also looked to me like the nine rocked in some of these super-slo, super-close replays. Then I tried something else: I took my hand and covered the top half of the nine ball and watched the replay again. If it budged, it should still be apparent. But nothing. In fact as long as there is no shadow still dancing over the 9b there is no apparent movement of the 9b to me. But as soon as some of the shadow is visible, there is the slightest appearance of movement. Therefore, I conclude that most of what appears to be slight movement is most likely just be a trick of the light/shadows. If I were a head ref, then even replay would be inconclusive to me and I would be forced to call no foul.

Let's not make this a bigger issue than it is. There is a nonzero chance that the smallest perceptible foul may have occurred. There is a much bigger chance that other non-called fouls occurred during this tournament, particularly on the outer tables. However, none of that detracts from the tournament, or from Yapp's amazing play and accomplishment.

Congratulations, Aloysius!

I watched it just once on the replay….I saw nothing. That’s what you see in real time…..good enough for me.
If we’re going to use modern technology to call shots, how many massé shots are going to stand up to that scrutiny?
If I was gambling, I’m gonna pay.

 

[jasonlaus]

Funny, per the youtubes, that didn't look like a foul at all.

A lot of blind people "watching the game"