I wonder what age players like Skyler, and Bergman were when they hit a solid A level

gxman said:

Wu won 9b and 8b world titles at 16. How scary is that.

Click to expand...

I remember one year, back in the early 2000's (hearing about 2 16 year old kids playing in the finals of the World 9 Ball Championships). I did not believe it. I thought the guy must have been talking about the World Junior championships. That is amazing, that Wu (and the other kid playing against him in the finals?) got that strong (to world beater status) at such a young age.

hang-the-9 said:

Fedor Gorst from Russia, at 16 beat both Jayson Shaw at 1 pocket and Appleton in 10 ball in a single event. I think he actually won that tournament. Going by that, he was an A player at 14. The top players that you see cashing at major tournaments all the time were probably A players at 16 or younger. The good local players may have hit A at 18-20.

Click to expand...

That is awesome.

I think I had the talent at a very young age to become a very good player (I think I was playing on or very close to A level at around 17-18 years old, but just not the work ethic to do all of the boring drills, in order to possibly become a much stronger and more solid competitor). I was also very weak mentally, so that always hurt my game when ever playing a strong player (I would fold under pressure).

Players like Skyler and Bergman (and Hall, and many others) always had a very strong mental game I imagine, so that is a strong part of the reason they became Champions (at a high level).

I imagine that is how many of these players became so great. A lot of great natural talent (from a very early age), combined with good work ethic, and a strong desire to become the best they could possibly be.

terryhanna said:

Bergman has played at a very high level since he was very young.

His mom told me a story about getting called by the school principal when Justin was in 7th grade.

He got caught at school carrying $3.000 cash and they thought he had stolen it or was a drug dealer lol

She said she got a good laugh about it and told them the money was legit and that he had won it playing pool last night at the pool hall :smile:

Justin Bergman and Justin Hall were great childhood friends and both were killers at a very early age Justin's mom used to drop them off at the pool hall and after they had robbed everybody in the place and had pockets full of money she would go back and pick them up.

Check J Hall and Iceberg in this picture on the bottom row side by side

View attachment 470171

Click to expand...

Nice picture, and very cool story. Just curious, is the tallest one in front J. Hall? Which of them is Bergman (to his right or left side)? I assumed Bergman is on his right side. Cool pic.

PoolBum said:

Kuo Po-cheng was 27 when Wu beat him in the finals of the 2005 World 9-Ball Championship. Wu was 16. That's the same year I saw Bergman and Morra play in the finals of the BCA Jr. Nationals, when Bergman was 18 and Morra was 16. Morra is about three months older than Wu.

Click to expand...

Oh, okay. Some guy told me that it was 2 16 year olds in the finals, lol. I wonder who all Wu beat to get to the finals. I imagine it was a very strong field of players. So, he won the 8 ball Worlds too, the same year? That is amazing.

I always loved watching Morra play. It is so cool the way he walks around the table. I just love his style of playing. J. Hall and J. Bergman have very cool and unique styles of playing too.

cookie man said:

Unless i am mistaken Thorpe was drilling road players at SBE about 6 yrs ago. Puts him at around 15 yrs old

Click to expand...

That is cool. I bet he must have been the youngest player ever to win the Derby City One Pocket. I can't believe he beat Alex. He must have played really great.

Jlcomp45 said:

I'll never forget watching Berg put a 6 pack on a guy in the playoffs for GSBE league when he was around 11 or 12. It was insane how good he was at that age & size

Click to expand...

Wow, no kidding? A 6 pack at 11 or 12? Was it playing 8 ball or 9 ball? What size table? That is really impressive no matter what though.

I always wished I could have grown up in St. louis (where Bergman is from) in the 90's. There were so many great players in that area back in those days.

ribdoner said:

JB was a solid A by the age of 14

Tony Watson, when he was under 15, robbed Howard (the PERVE) Vickory in Charlotte, NC

Didn't know of SW when he was a pup

Click to expand...

I saw Bergman at a big tournament in Cape Girardeau MO when he looked to be maybe 12 or 13, and he was playing this guy they said was a AAA player. Bergman gave that player a really good match, and I think it was really close, but he lost. Bergman played strong, and he had a really impressive defensive game. I was really impressed. That guy he lost to says after the match "See you in the finals". Bergman looked really disappointed about the loss. I do not know, but I bet he made it to the finals. Anyways, I was really impressed with how good he played, at such a young age.