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Looking at my list again, I had a couple of choices that even I consider questionable. Ouschan was a reach at 19, in my eyes, given the past 2 1/2 years. He did win the 8 ball title last year, but he is far from his peak. I was going to put Wiktor in his spot. Yet Zielinski just can’t get over...

Didn’t you hint at Maciol and Chua? I would have guessed Yapp and SVB.

I have mixed views on the shootout. I do find them exciting, and yes, both players get an even chance. Ultimately, I tend to favor whatever makes the game of pro pool more commercially successful. Such success is what will support the game and its players. As such, credit to Predator for...

I concur that games other than 9 and 10 ball should be taken into account when judging a player. But only, imo, if they have had success in rotation games too. Filler, of course, has that in spades. I really credit Filler for broadening his game to include everything. He's made a concerted...

As far as I know, the only top women's player who has a child is Han Yu. And she doesn't play or travel as much as some other top women. I wonder what will happen pool couples like the Fillers, or the Styers. Can couples who are both among the best in their sport live a normal family life and...

Souto is 24, Matchroom site shows. If I went with under 25, he would have been No. 2 or 3 on my list. There a few big talents in the 24-26 age range. Souto, Capito, Zielinski, Maciol. Still not sure about Krause.

Carlo Biado and Johann Chua are the best players in the world who have young kids. Shaw and Sky have kids, as you noted. Kazakis and Alcaide, too. Szewczyk has a young son. I am not aware of any other very active top 20 or so player with kids.

Flash in the pan in terms of winning a big WPA or WNT event, or getting to the finals of one. Raga has also had several quarterfinal and final 16 finishes in big events. Talent is there. Commitment, we'll see.

Nothing has happened. Raga is still a very good player. High 800-plus Fargo. He does not travel as much as other Pinoys, however. Still Raga has had some good runs in big tourneys here and there. He's also had some bad losses. My suspicion is those bad losses shook his confidence. He looked...

Yes, he was. Kazakis is still a great player, though. I had him at 21. He got married a few years ago and had kids, so hasn't played as much on the global circuit.

FargoRate is great, but how you actually play in big events has to be taken into account. Participation does in fact matter. At the moment, Neuhausen's Fargo lags his actual results. He is playing like a top 5 or top 10 player in the world, based on actual performance.

Agreed. Not saying Predator events aren't intense. They are. But they seem different compared to Matchroom. Last year's 10 ball WPA World Championship in Vietnam was the first Predator event I thought matched a Matchroom major in intensity and nerves. Keep in mind, I am viewing from a distance...

Hence my qualifier. There is pre-injury and post-injury Kaci, and they are two different players. He has never played outside Asia or the Middle East.

My last list. Who are the emerging young stars in the game? I am unaware of generational talent like Filler or Gorst coming up through the ranks. Clearly Moritz Neuhausen is the best under-23 player in the world. After that it’s a scramble. My Top 10 players under 23: Moritz Neuhausen (22)...

One assumes a new generation of talent is coming to the fore. Some of these names will drop out of the top 20 in the next five years. David Alcaide won’t be on the list. Yet as he has shown, players can still be among the world’s best, even in today’s game, into their late 40s if they stay...

I've watched almost every match he's played in the past year when it was available. What you saw is real. Every facet of his game is better than it was three years ago. He's is arguably even one of the top 5 players in the world with a jump cue, too. Yet in big moments, Hoang still makes...

I watched Filler's run, sjm, and it was very impressive. No disputing that. I still think the sets format favors Filler more than a race to 11, relative to other players. He's hard enough to beat in one set, never mind two or three. There is a bit more margin for error. Not so in a single race...

It's close, but you are probably right. Shaw finished third at the Philippines Open, 5th in the UK Open and 9-16 in the European Open, Scottish Open, US Open, Hanoi Open, and Predator's Jacksonville Open. He consistently got to the final 16 or final 32 in every big tournament he played...

You make a good case for Filler. I myself discount mixed or doubles events and one pocket too. Limited fields, for one thing, and I want to judge players on individual performance. I have a hard time taking Derby City as seriously as others, especially in recent years. Grueling event, but the...

If we went by Fargo, but only included recent regulars on the WPA or WNT tours, the rankings would look like this: Joshua Filler 861 Fedor Gorst 848 Ko Pin-Yi 847 Ko Ping-Chung 847 Shane Van Boening 847 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 845 Johann Chua 839 Aloysius Yapp 839 Carlo Biado 837 Jayson Shaw...