2019 China Open 9ball/9ft (5-8 Sep) Winner $40K

Couple of really nice stories here beyond the emergence of Raga and the continuing excellence of Wu.

SVB was eliminated by Carlo Biado in the semifinals of the 2018 World 9-ball Championship, so revenge was surely served cold here.

Kaci's run of excellence isn't too shocking, as he's widely regarded as a top fifteen player by most. His win over Filler in the quarterfinals might prove a breakout moment, and if he wins the China Open, he'll have beaten two the top three players by Fargo rate. Now wouldn't that be something!

This is one fine event with world beaters everywhere you look.
 
sjm said:
Couple of really nice stories here beyond the emergence of Raga and the continuing excellence of Wu.

SVB was eliminated by Carlo Biado in the semifinals of the 2018 World 9-ball Championship, so revenge was surely served cold here.

Kaci's run of excellence isn't too shocking, as he's widely regarded as a top fifteen player by most. His win over Filler in the quarterfinals might prove a breakout moment, and if he wins the China Open, he'll have beaten two the top three players by Fargo rate. Now wouldn't that be something!

This is one fine event with world beaters everywhere you look.
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I'd include the continuing excellence of SVB along with that of Wu. Both absolute monster legends of the sport, and no surprise to see them both go deep in yet another world class tournament.

On the women's side, Siming Chen continues her dominance in this event. Here are her China Open finishes since 2010:

2010: Winner (I didn't realize she was old enough to have won almost ten years ago?!)
2011: Lost in Finals
2012: Lost in Semi-finals
2013: Lost in Finals
2014: Lost in Semi-finals
2015: Lost in Semi-finals
2016: Not top 4 - unsure of finish
2017: Winner
2018: Not top 4 - unsure of finish
2019: Finalist - TBD

Granted, the event is played in her home nation, but that's still a darn strong run.
 
CptBurbagio said:
I'd include the continuing excellence of SVB along with that of Wu. Both absolute monster legends of the sport, and no surprise to see them both go deep in yet another world class tournament.

On the women's side, Siming Chen continues her dominance in this event.
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While what you say is true, I find Wu's play of much greater consequence than SVB and Siming, whose excellence is something we've come to assume, for SVB and Siming are established legends who compete as often as anyone in our sport, and both have a long resume of important titles.

Wu is far more mysterious, for though we know what he is capable of, we rarely get to see him compete as his participation in the biggest events hasn't been very frequent over the years. It is for this reason that he was nearly as big a story as Josh Filler at the US Open 9-ball.

Raga and Kaci are surely the most compelling stories this week, as the meteoric rise of new stars in our game is the most exciting thing to watch in our game. Can one of them win the title? Maybe.
 
sjm said:
While what you say is true, I find Wu's play of much greater consequence than SVB and Siming, whose excellence is something we've come to assume, for SVB and Siming are established legends who compete as often as anyone in our sport, and both have a long resume of important titles.

Wu is far more mysterious, for though we know what he is capable of, we rarely get to see him compete as his participation in the biggest events hasn't been very frequent over the years. It is for this reason that he was nearly as big a story as Josh Filler at the US Open 9-ball.

Raga and Kaci are surely the most compelling stories this week, as the meteoric rise of new stars in our game is the most exciting thing to watch in our game. Can one of them win the title? Maybe.
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I would counter with, Wu is #1 on Fargo, so I dont see it as a surprise. It would be nice to see him play more though.
 
Wow c'mon SVB.

Can someone link the match when it starts.

Will try to follow at work tonight.
 
jasonlaus said:
I would counter with, Wu is #1 on Fargo, so I dont see it as a surprise. It would be nice to see him play more though.
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I didn't say it was a surprise. Wu's excellence will never surprise anyone because of what we've seen, but let's note that he has won just one WPA sanctioned event in the last 11 years. What I said is that Wu's participation in the biggest events has been sporadic for many years. Even this year, he skipped the World 10-ball Championship. He is, consequently, mysterious, and anytime he participates, it's a big story. Contrastingly, we get great play form Shane and Siming anytime there's a big event, because they are always there.
 
sjm said:
I didn't say it was a surprise. Wu's excellence will never surprise anyone because of what we've seen, but let's note that he has won just one WPA sanctioned event in the last 11 years. What I said is that Wu's participation in the biggest events has been sporadic for many years. Even this year, he skipped the World 10-ball Championship. He is, consequently, mysterious, and anytime he participates, it's a big story. Contrastingly, we get great play form Shane and Siming anytime there's a big event, because they are always there.
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Is that why everybody was betting against Siming in the very near past because of us seeing her so much?
 
The saddest thing about this China Open is you are not sure if you'll be able to watch live the final stage matches. I would be happy if I'm wrong and there will be a stream we can watch. For the time being I could have watched only few matches streamed on FB. Both semis are very promising and it would be great if there will be a stream that works.
 
KMRUNOUT said:
Is this the “Anton” Raga I used to hear about? Child prodigy...may have given Efren the 8 ball at one point?

KMRUNOUT


Sent from my iPhone using AzBilliards Forums
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Yes, he is world #30.

I was excited to see him and Jerico Banares (PHI), who plays similar speed (world 34) attend this event, and I keep hoping they'll find a way to get to US Open 9-Ball or Predator World 10-Ball or US International 9-Ball.

Somebody mentioned the saddest thing about this event; I think it may be something you guys are not as privy to as I am. Jerico Banares is now at 794, and based on his play at this event, I think he may join the 800 club.

BUT he failed to advance out of the prelims. Looking at his prelim games against established opponents, he played 68 games at 829 speed! You can't ask for too much more... I find it sad the structure is such that you can perform that strong and not advance.
 
f210 said:
:smile: Anthony Raga might be the dark horse here. Maybe it is his time to shine with significant wins over Jayson Shaw, Niels Feijen, Johann Chua and Fu Jianbo.

I hope we can get a live stream of his next match. I have never seen him play in a tournament. Does he play fast or slow? To whom (Filipino player)is his playing style similar with?
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ton of his matches on youtube
 
mikepage said:
BUT he failed to advance out of the prelims. Looking at his prelim games against established opponents, he played 68 games at 829 speed! You can't ask for too much more... I find it sad the structure is such that you can perform that strong and not advance.
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I feel the opposite, Mike. This is as it should be.

What makes it so difficult to win a WPA title is that you will always run into a buzz saw at some point. You'll be called upon to find a gear you're not even sure you have. Whether you can deal with the stress of matching up with champion after champion, each with a different pace, style, and method will define you. That stress may come early or late, possibly even both.

Even the great ones get backed into a corner. At the US Open, Filler was on the brink of elimination in Stage 1, trailing 9-5 in the race to 11 against Albin Ouschan. Somehow, though, Josh found his highest gear and completed the comeback, and we know what happened after that.

Sustained excellence may not pay off today, but those able to exhibit it will eventually be rewarded. Stress, and sometimes failure, come with the territory at the toughest events even when one plays very well. I like it that way.
 
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sjm said:
I feel the opposite, Mike. This is as it should be.

What makes it so difficult to win a WPA title is that you will always run into a buzz saw at some point. You'll be called upon to find a gear you're not ever sure you have. Whether you can deal with the stress of matching up with champion after champion, each with a different pace, style, and method will define you. That stress may come early or late, possibly even both.

Even the great ones get backed into a corner. At the US Open, Filler was on the brink of elimination in Stage 1, trailing 9-5 in the race to 11 against Albin Ouschan. Somehow, though, Josh found his highest gear and completed the comeback, and we know what happened after that.

Sustained excellence may not pay off today, but those able to exhibit it will eventually be rewarded. Stress, and sometimes failure, come with the territory at the toughest events even when one plays very well. I like it that way.
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Yeah, I know you feel that way. You're a romantic Stu!
 
Must be a flexible start time, lol.

Edit: LOL, somehow my laptop is now Eastern Time. Haha - nope it was a.m. and had switched to China time when I was messing with it this morning.

Hope something is actually streamed.
 
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Final Day

Starts 930am local time (930pm Eastern) about 30 minutes from now

All races to 11 . Alternate Breaks
Winner $40K, Runner up $20K, Semifinalists $10K

lastday.jpg


"Likely" Stream links

https://www.facebook.com/hoangsaohoa/videos/

http://v.zhibo.tv/30463098


:)
 
Someone please post a link when it's up. I'm on a VPN in Tokyo and still don't see anything's gone live.
 
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