2026 Predator Bali Aramith Mens Open

Lowell said:
It seems like Shane has been playing progressively worse since his impressive Florida Open win.

Maybe he needs some time away from all this touring
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He has traveled less this year than in the past, skipping the first two Matchroom majors in Europe, skipping the Predator PBS event in Austria. and also skipping the China Open. Not many of the most elite nine ballers have skipped so many majors in 2026.

His effort at WNT Florida was heartwarming, but for any player, skipping a lot of majors is not the way to maximize one's playing level in major competition. Any suggestion that stamina is a big issue does not hold up to scrutiny. Not only does he continue to embrace marathon-race matches, but he shone bright at the 2026 Derby City Classic, during which he played about 40 matches over the first nine days and won Master of the Table. Yes, he passed the greatest test of stamina in our sport with flying colors.

Jay Helfert has wisely taken note of how tough it is at the top of men's pool right now. While a select few seem to have a good year every year, we now live in a world in which winning three majors in a year is a monumental achievement in men's pro pool. To my knowledge, nobody has done it this year. Filler won the Las Vegas Open 10ball and the WNT UK Open, two undeniable majors, but I'm not quite willing to call the Derby City 9ball title a major.

Let's cut Shane some slack. It's awful tough at the top of men's pool right now. He'll be back in the winner's circle soon enough.
 
Lowell said:
It seems like Shane has been playing progressively worse since his impressive Florida Open win.

Maybe he needs some time away from all this touring
Click to expand...
I was thinking that as well.. the traveling maybe getting to him. He isn’t getting any younger.
 
AJ Manas was very impressive in his win over Mario He. He's now on to the loser qualification round where he will meet Eklent Kaci for a spot in Stage 2.
 
Crazy match between Eklent Kaci and AJ Manas.

Both were making incredible shots but also some kind of inexplicable errors. Eklent was able to finish it up in the end.
 
amoroto can play a little when he wants to win. performance rating 940 against hoang, 4-0 and 4-1. three BNR's. one miss maybe
 
skip100 said:
Shane is still playing great for someone at this point in his career.
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Shane is in his early 40's and still in his playing prime.

There's nothing unusual about playing world championship level pool in your early 40's. Countless 40+ players have won majors over the years. Among the most memorable are: a) Nick Varner was World 9ball champion at 41,b) Carlo Biado was World 9ball Champion at 42, c) Efren Reyes was World 9ball Champion at 45 and World 8ball Champion at 50, d) Francisco Bustamante was World 9ball champion at 46, d) Buddy Hall was US Open 9ball champion at 53, e) Mike Lebron was US Open 9ball Champion at 54. Let's add that Feijen has been at it for ten years longer than Shane and Souquet has been at it for twenty years longer than Shane, and both still play world class pool.

Let's not look at SVB as an old man. His staying power is, of course, admirable and count me among the many that believe he is playing the best pool of his life right now. I'm quite certain that he'll find his way to the winner's circle at a major soon enough.
 
sjm said:
Shane is in his early 40's and still in his playing prime.

There's nothing unusual about playing world championship level pool in your early 40's. Countless 40+ players have won majors over the years. Among the most memorable are: a) Nick Varner was World 9ball champion at 41,b) Carlo Biado was World 9ball Champion at 42, c) Efren Reyes was World 9ball Champion at 45 and World 8ball Champion at 50, d) Francisco Bustamante was World 9ball champion at 46, d) Buddy Hall was US Open 9ball champion at 53, e) Mike Lebron was US Open 9ball Champion at 54. Let's add that Feijen has been at it for ten years longer than Shane and Souquet has been at it for twenty years longer than Shane, and both still play world class pool.

Let's not look at SVB as an old man. His staying power is, of course, admirable and count me among the many that believe he is playing the best pool of his life right now. I'm quite certain that he'll find his way to the winner's circle at a major soon enough.
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Is it likely that a player's consistency will be the same in his early 40s as when he was younger? Probably not. But the highs can be just as high. He is hanging with the best of the next generation.
 
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bottom half is brutal. should be biado vs filler in QF, and wojciech vs FSR. but if kyle amoroto plays like he did in L32, wojciech will be in trouble.
 
skogstokig said:
bottom half is brutal. should be biado vs filler in QF, and wojciech vs FSR. but if kyle amoroto plays like he did in L32, wojciech will be in trouble.
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Don’t write off my boy Alex! Carlo is a favourite but Alex ain’t drawing dead - he won his last 32 match 4-0 4-0.
 
sjm said:
Shane is in his early 40's and still in his playing prime.

There's nothing unusual about playing world championship level pool in your early 40's. Countless 40+ players have won majors over the years. Among the most memorable are: a) Nick Varner was World 9ball champion at 41,b) Carlo Biado was World 9ball Champion at 42, c) Efren Reyes was World 9ball Champion at 45 and World 8ball Champion at 50, d) Francisco Bustamante was World 9ball champion at 46, d) Buddy Hall was US Open 9ball champion at 53, e) Mike Lebron was US Open 9ball Champion at 54. Let's add that Feijen has been at it for ten years longer than Shane and Souquet has been at it for twenty years longer than Shane, and both still play world class pool.

Let's not look at SVB as an old man. His staying power is, of course, admirable and count me among the many that believe he is playing the best pool of his life right now. I'm quite certain that he'll find his way to the winner's circle at a major soon enough.
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I think Niels is only 6 years older than Shane, but your point is still valid.

I do think Shane is not quite as consistent as he once was, although it’s also true that the general level of competition has increased since his earlier days.

Part of the issue with some older players is whether they can or will still put in the work off the table as much as they once did. This has been noted in snooker where the famed Class of 92 still are top 16 players but have admitted they don’t practice like they used to. They can still hit the high gear but not as often.

In Shane’s case, in his prime be probably hit more balls than any other pool player. I’m sure he still works hard but I’m not sure it’s quite as dedicated. Maybe I’m wrong.

Also, sometimes the game and the format don’t suit him. He’s always extremely frustrated when he can’t put together packages. The Predator rack, ref racking etc mean a lot of dry breaks. You can just see it getting to him - indeed in the match he lost he was up, was playing well and then seemed to get frustrated by the bad racks.
 
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