All hail Ruslan.....

sjm

sjm

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Shuddy said:
I know this is going to be an inflammatory comment, but this is the first time I’ve watched an event played on a 9foot pool table and experienced similar feelings of awe and respect as compared to watching impressive performances on a snooker table. While I regularly experience feelings of “that’s why they’re pros and I’m not” while watching snooker, I rarely have that feeling watching pool. I think it’s just an inevitable result of the size of the table and the nature of the game. Snooker lends itself more readily to impressive feats.

SJM, with regards to impressive performances, didn’t Ruslan make two 125 and outs, a 150 and out, a 141, and then 99 and 76 in the finals? Did they actually collect all the stats for this event? I obviously didn’t see all the round robin matches, just those streamed.

And I absolutely agree with you regarding the manner in which he played. It wasn’t the numbers that impressed me, it was the ease and fluidity with which he made those numbers.
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I don't find it inflammatory at all. Snooker is a truly beautiful game and as cueists, the top snooker players are more skilled than the top pool players. That is why there have been snooker players who've made the transition and succeeded at pool (Allison Fisher, Karen Corr, Kelly Fisher, Mark Gray and Marlon Manalo are among many example), but few pool players who've made the transition and succeeded at snooker.

I didn't see any of the round robin matches as I see them as practically a waste of time for the contenders, virtually all of whom reach the knockout stage. In the knockout stage, I didn't see all of Ruslan's matches, just the last two, and although he seemingly never missed a ball, his play was less elegant on a technical level in the semifinal than in the final, but yes, but any absolute standard his play from beginning to end was exceptional.

I think it's wonderful that this match delivered those feelings of awe which you normally only experience watching snooker. Ruslan's play in the final is something I sense we'll both remember for a long time.
 
sjm

sjm

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skogstokig said:
one big difference imo is that all those were on olhausen, gabriels or brunswick tables while this was on diamond tables.
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That's an excellent point. The equipment was the kind that separates the men from the boys, and that's as it should be.
 
ShootingArts

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
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Reminded me

Sometimes there is magic in the air. Perhaps we will see a lot more of it from Ruslan, perhaps this was a fluke. Regardless, his finals two runs were amazing. We see someone on autopilot for a rack sometimes, he seemed on autopilot for entire runs. One continuous action, smooth as silk!

Hu
 
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garczar

AzB Silver Member
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ShootingArts said:
Sometimes there is magic in the air. Perhaps we will see a lot more of it from Ruslan, perhaps this was a fluke. Regardless, his finals two runs were amazing. We see someone on autopilot for a rack sometimes, he seemed on autopilot for entire runs. One continuous action, smooth as silk!

Hu
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Nothing this guy does is "flukish". Plays every game, including that crazy Pyramid, at a world-class level.
 
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skogstokig

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ShootingArts said:
Sometimes there is magic in the air. Perhaps we will see a lot more of it from Ruslan, perhaps this was a fluke. Regardless, his finals two runs were amazing. We see someone on autopilot for a rack sometimes, he seemed on autopilot for entire runs. One continuous action, smooth as silk!

Hu
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agreed, i hope this will make him step up a notch. he hasn't looked this confident since he won the WPS 2017 8-ball, which was also a brilliant in-the-zone showing:

https://youtu.be/39CO4U-vWbs
 
sjm

sjm

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skogstokig said:
agreed, i hope this will make him step up a notch. he hasn't looked this confident since he won the WPS 2017 8-ball, which was also a brilliant in-the-zone showing:

https://youtu.be/39CO4U-vWbs
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There's more to this than confidence. Ruslan is unquestionably one of the ten straightest shooters in the world, but he is not a top ten nine/ten ball player because he needs to break the balls a little better, he needs to play better defense and he needs to step up his kicking game. The sky is the limit for Ruslan, but only time will tell whether he adds the missing pieces to his already impressive arsenal of skills and knowledge.
 
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RichSchultz

AzB Silver Member
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sjm said:
There's more to this than confidence. Ruslan is unquestionably one of the ten straightest shooters in the world, but he is not a top ten nine/ten ball player because he needs to break the balls a little better, he needs to play better defense and he needs to step up his kicking game. The sky is the limit for Ruslan, but only time will tell whether he adds the missing pieces to his already impressive arsenal of skills and knowledge.
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what makes one a “straight shooter” and how do we compare players for this?
 
S

sparkle84

AzB Silver Member
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Shuddy said:
I know this is going to be an inflammatory comment, but this is the first time I’ve watched an event played on a 9foot pool table and experienced similar feelings of awe and respect as compared to watching impressive performances on a snooker table. While I regularly experience feelings of “that’s why they’re pros and I’m not” while watching snooker, I rarely have that feeling watching pool. I think it’s just an inevitable result of the size of the table and the nature of the game. Snooker lends itself more readily to impressive feats.

SJM, with regards to impressive performances, didn’t Ruslan make two 125 and outs, a 150 and out, a 141, and then 99 and 76 in the finals? Did they actually collect all the stats for this event? I obviously didn’t see all the round robin matches, just those streamed.

And I absolutely agree with you regarding the manner in which he played. It wasn’t the numbers that impressed me, it was the ease and fluidity with which he made those numbers.
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Yes, those were his runs and he was dominant throughout the event. I saw all but 2 of his matches and his play was exceptional. I wouldn't call it elegant. Best was the 150 in the quarterfinals. Not because of the number but more because of the correctness in taking the balls off the table.
I still consider Feijen the best straight pool player in the world but Chinahov is right on his heels.
 
JazzyJeff87

JazzyJeff87

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Shuddy said:
I know this is going to be an inflammatory comment, but this is the first time I’ve watched an event played on a 9foot pool table and experienced similar feelings of awe and respect as compared to watching impressive performances on a snooker table. While I regularly experience feelings of “that’s why they’re pros and I’m not” while watching snooker, I rarely have that feeling watching pool. I think it’s just an inevitable result of the size of the table and the nature of the game. Snooker lends itself more readily to impressive feats.

SJM, with regards to impressive performances, didn’t Ruslan make two 125 and outs, a 150 and out, a 141, and then 99 and 76 in the finals? Did they actually collect all the stats for this event? I obviously didn’t see all the round robin matches, just those streamed.

And I absolutely agree with you regarding the manner in which he played. It wasn’t the numbers that impressed me, it was the ease and fluidity with which he made those numbers.
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I love how in snooker they get to a point where they’ve won the frame and that particular pressure is off, yet there is still so much more to be done on the table (especially during a total clearance) and now the player can show off a bit but they still have high run prize or maximum prize to consider. The more I watch of it the more I like and am impressed.

I think having a place full of fans cheering and hanging on every shot really makes the players focus and dig deep.

Ruslan...a bada$$. I’ll have to go back and watch some of his other matches. I caught one earlier match and the final. That was the first time I’ve seen him playing straight pool I think but he obviously knows the game.
 
sjm

sjm

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RichSchultz said:
what makes one a “straight shooter” and how do we compare players for this?
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Great question!

There are no stats on who pockets best, because even the Accu-stats TPA figures take more than this into account, The straightest shooters are the ones you'd most count on to make a tough, but not crazy tough, shot. These guys are all surely on the short list: Jayson Shaw, Fedor Gorst, JL Chang, Josh Filler, Ruslan Chinakhov, Shane Van Boening, Albin Ouschan, Niels Feijen, and Klenti Kaci.

Usually, the straightest shooters are the ones with the best fundamentals and the most repeatable strokes.

Late addition: I revised this post to add Feijen and Ouschan to my list of the straightest shooters.
 
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lfigueroa

lfigueroa

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Well, I'm not going to dispute him being a straight shooter, because he may very well (most likely) be a straight shooter.

But primarily, that's not what I saw demonstrated.

What I saw was innovative and conservative pattern play, excellent CB control, and otherworldly control of the CB on his break shots.

Lou Figueroa
YMMV
 
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sjm

sjm

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lfigueroa said:
Well, I'm not going to dispute him being a straight shooter, because he may very well (most likely) be a straight shooter.

But primarily, that's not what I saw demonstrated.

What I saw was innovative and conservative pattern play, excellent CB control, and otherworldly control of the CB on his break shots.

Lou Figueroa
YMMV
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Yes, Lou, that's what I saw in the final, too. I summarized my thoughts on his technical excellence in post #2.
 
Cardigan Kid

Cardigan Kid

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sjm said:
Great question!

There are no stats on who pockets best, because even the Accu-stats TPA figures take more than this into account, The straightest shooters are the ones you'd most count on to make a tough, but not crazy tough, shot. These guys are all surely on the short list: Jayson Shaw, Fedor Gorst, JL Chang, Josh Filler, Ruslan Chinakhov, Shane Van Boening, and Klenti Kaci.

Usually, the straightest shooters are the ones with the best fundamentals and the most repeatable strokes.
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I also think there is another level of straight shooting—your description is excellent for a straight shooter, I would only add, they hit the pocket cleanly. I’ve seen players like Shaw and Filler hit cut shots down the rail and it hits dead pocket, not touching a rail....and then Shane or Corey D will make the same shot, but the ball might hit half diamond up and still pocket. I know this is anecdotal and only my perception but I have marveled at Feijen, Shaw, Albin O, and Filler on how they hit the pocket more accurately it seems than the other top pros. Ruslan and Fedor are in that lexicon as well, like you mentioned.
 
sjm

sjm

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Cardigan Kid said:
I also think there is another level of straight shooting—your description is excellent for a straight shooter, I would only add, they hit the pocket cleanly. I’ve seen players like Shaw and Filler hit cut shots down the rail and it hits dead pocket, not touching a rail....and then Shane or Corey D will make the same shot, but the ball might hit half diamond up and still pocket. I know this is anecdotal and only my perception but I have marveled at Feijen, Shaw, Albin O, and Filler on how they hit the pocket more accurately it seems than the other top pros. Ruslan and Fedor are in that lexicon as well, like you mentioned.
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Yes, Albin Ouschan and Niels Feijen are also in the conversation for the straightest shooter, but the best way to validate your statement would be to make the pockets really tight and see who is affected the least. As SVB has been consistently successful putting together packages even on silly-tight pockets (remember that all TAR matches were on 4 1/4"), I'm not inclined to agree that Albin or Niels shoot any straighter than Shane does. Future BCA Hall of Famer Corey Deuel is not even in the conversation for straightest shooter.
 
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Seth C.

AzB Silver Member
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lfigueroa said:
Well, I'm not going to dispute him being a straight shooter, because he may very well (most likely) be a straight shooter.

But primarily, that's not what I saw demonstrated.

What I saw was innovative and conservative pattern play, excellent CB control, and otherworldly control of the CB on his break shots.

Lou Figueroa
YMMV
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I agree with all of this, but would add only that, to some extent, CB control can be accomplished in different ways, and his way is something special. I saw tremendous CB speed control, and I saw it result from an ability to stroke the CB with an infinite variety of stoke speeds. Many players rely heavily on tip placement to control CB speed, so that they can stay in their stroke speed comfort zone. Ruslan strokes it at whatever speed fits best. Of course he is employing a mix of tip placement and stroke speed when playing every shot, but his stroke speeds occupy the full range. It’s as if Brooks Koepka were to use a 7 iron to hit every approach shot from 200 yards out to 100 yards out - while also drawing and fading the ball.
 
Cardigan Kid

Cardigan Kid

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sjm said:
Yes, Albin Ouschan and Niels Feijen are also in the conversation for the straightest shooter, but the best way to validate your statement would be to make the pockets really tight and see who is affected the least. As SVB has been consistently successful putting together packages even on silly-tight pockets (remember that all TAR matches were on 4 1/4"), I'm not inclined to agree that Albin or Niels shoot any straighter than Shane does. Future BCA Hall of Famer Corey Deuel is not even in the conversation for straightest shooter.
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Can’t agree more. I used the Corey analogy as a hall of fame caliber player who isn’t necessarily a straight shooter because he pockets balls, but from my perception, not as pure as some of the others.

Also, another factor is when they are under pressure, the straightest shooter will prevail because of what you said, fundamentals and repeatable stroke. So I think the Mosconi cup MVP award is a nice little window into a straight shooter. Albin, Niels, filler, have recently won the mvp award, and under pressure they just seemed to not waiver in the least and they shoot so straight.

Hail Ruslan, by the way, not wanting to derail the thread so much. But great topics to feast on here.
 
erhino41

erhino41

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Top players hit the rail on purpose, most of the time. If the margin for error is there why not use it. If the pockets didn't take that ball off of the rail they wouldn't hit it.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk
 
ShootingArts

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
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the first thing I noticed

Seth C. said:
I agree with all of this, but would add only that, to some extent, CB control can be accomplished in different ways, and his way is something special. I saw tremendous CB speed control, and I saw it result from an ability to stroke the CB with an infinite variety of stoke speeds. Many players rely heavily on tip placement to control CB speed, so that they can stay in their stroke speed comfort zone. Ruslan strokes it at whatever speed fits best. Of course he is employing a mix of tip placement and stroke speed when playing every shot, but his stroke speeds occupy the full range. It’s as if Brooks Koepka were to use a 7 iron to hit every approach shot from 200 yards out to 100 yards out - while also drawing and fading the ball.
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The first thing I noticed was that super controlled speed stroke. His touch was nothing short of fantastic in that final. That was also the first clue something special was going on.

Hu
 
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RichSchultz

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I would think Shaw is an excellent, creative escape artist. Doesn’t that mean he doesn’t have to be a straight shooter?
 
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ChrisinNC

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The TD obviously just suffered a senior moment, as I’m sure he knew the correct rule to be applied in this situation. I’m guessing Ruslan, as an experienced European 14.1 tournament player, also was well aware of the correct ruling. To me, it shows a lack of integrity and tarnishes Ruslan’s great play, that he did not at least make an attempt to correct the TDs error in this case, particularly considering Alex questioned the ruling at the time. Just my opinion which I’m sure others here may disagree with.
 
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