2024 World 8 Ball Championship (2-8 Sep), New Zealand , Winner $75K

kling&allen said:
I don’t disagree on those points Stu about the players. I think you wisely avoid social media, but Filler’s response to this situation was vastly different than Albin’s, which is why Filler is taking heat from many (like Mike P at Billiards Digest and other reasonable voices) and not Albin).
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Obviously, yours is a voice of reason in these AZB parts, but ultimately, I don't care how the players play the politics.

The fact that they feel pressure to spin these incidents at all is a reflection of these troubling times in our sport and I don't think any of the players should feel under any obligations to defend the decisions they make when it comes to participation in pro events.

I say let them play pool and let them manage their careers in any way they see fit. As a fan, I'm focused on supporting them and doing anything I can to promote the emergence of a professional landscape in which the conflicts of interest start to disappear.

They are pool players, not politicians. Let's leave them to do what they do best.
 
kling&allen said:
Yes, any victory here certainly will come with an asterisk next to it (like strike shortened seasons in baseball, etc).
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well, one can at least say that if filler wins it wasn't the toughest battle he ever fought. beating hybler twice, guttenberger, chang, wu and maybe ryan hsu. but that's partly the luck of the draw. hsu beat biado, chieh, mario, konrad and fortunski.
 
skogstokig said:
well, one can at least say that if filler wins it wasn't the toughest battle he ever fought. beating hybler twice, guttenberger, chang, wu and maybe ryan hsu. but that's partly the luck of the draw. hsu beat biado, chieh, mario, konrad and fortunski.
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Yes, Hsu had a tough path to the final for sure. Sometimes, that can be an advantage in the final. We shall see.
 
Jimmorrison said:
So, does everybody got that? Strength of field, is no longer a metric, when it's Filler. For everybody else, it is.
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No, it's not a metric for anyone.

A major title is a major title. Perhaps you have put an asterisk next to SVB's world 9-ball title in 2022 as it came during Fedor Gorst's absence due to the WPA ban of Russian players, but you should not, even though when Gorst emerged from the ban, he became the #1 ranked player in the world.

Unfathomable pool politics can and does affect field quality, but the winner is the winner and there is no tournament in the history of our game that has an asterisk next to the name of the champion.
 
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Jimmorrison said:
I was referring to the many posts, in the past, that you mentioned strength of field.
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Of course, it can matter when it comes to legacy and our perception of a player's achievement, but in the grand scheme of things, we tend to measure each player's accomplishments based on titles won.

It's too complicated to do it any other way. Just a week ago, Moritz Neuhausen won at Turning Stone, while several of those that might have played went to the Texas Open, which happened to coincide. Does it cheapen Moritz' achievement because he prevailed over a weaker field? Not to me.

Guess what I'm saying is that you are making a lot of sense, but field quality is a lot like luck of the draw. Sometimes it breaks your way and sometimes it doesn't, but keeping track of it all sure is not easy. In the end, titles won are titles won.

Speaking as a fan, my only hope is that we can get pool politics out of our way so that we can get the most elite fields possible at all of pool's majors. We're not there quite yet, but I'm hoping for better.
 
Rubilen Amit is the Women's World 9-Ball champ, defeating Siming Chen 1-4, 4-2, 4-2, 4-3.

Men's 8-Ball championship about 2 hours from now.
 
sjm said:
Obviously, yours is a voice of reason in these AZB parts, but ultimately, I don't care how the players play the politics.

The fact that they feel pressure to spin these incidents at all is a reflection of these troubling times in our sport and I don't think any of the players should feel under any obligations to defend the decisions they make when it comes to participation in pro events.

I say let them play pool and let them manage their careers in any way they see fit. As a fan, I'm focused on supporting them and doing anything I can to promote the emergence of a professional landscape in which the conflicts of interest start to disappear.

They are pool players, not politicians. Let's leave them to do what they do best.
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I agree with you 100 percent. Unless one walks in the shoes of a professional pool player today in 2024 and has to incur the expenses to travel the world every month, multiple times a month, and must win, place, or show to break even, one does not understand how expensive it is living out of a suitcase, as well as how it affects one's well-being, mentally, emotionally, and physically. The pro player has every right to pick and choose which event to compete in, and if they change their mind, so be it.

There is not enough money in this fractured industry of pool today to earn a decent living, even with Matchroom's influx of events. Yes, Fedor made a nice score recently at the World's, but that's one player and one event. The other pros are scrambling for crumbs, trying to decide which crumb to eat that will sustain them to keep going. while the pool organizations flex their muscles, putting up stop signs and hurdles for the pros.

I recently read a post on Facebook when a person said they hoped Joshua Filler loses because of him changing his mind about competing in an event. Shame on the railbirds who have no financial interest, and shame on the pool organizations who continue to muddy up the waters.

Pool players crumbs.jpg
 
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AtLarge said:
Filler is the champ, 10-8 over Hsu.
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1 miss from each i believe. no safeties played. icbw.

pretty strong from a player virtually unknown outside taiwan. didn't crumble on the main table. i wonder if we'll see more of him on the big stage, he took down quite a few 800 scalps. if he's a game specialist like min-wei chin (2000 US open 14.1) maybe we won't see him much.
 
I don´t care politics but i care about man who is worth of his word.
It is easy to be good guy when it cost you nothing.
Who can stay honest when it pay it dearly.
That why I hate Shaw. He is hypocritical.
He act like "good guy" but when money get on the line, good guy is gone and that guy uses all the tricks of the book.
Now what i´ve seen lately from Filler start get me little worried. Making fouls in Matches and acting like nothing happened etc.
For me that is everything. I just can´t root guys that i don´t respect.
 
skogstokig said:
1 miss from each i believe. no safeties played. icbw. ...
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1 miss for Filler, but 2 for Hsu (Games 4 and 9). Filler played a safety in Game 10 after his successful break, when he tried to just graze the 2-ball and kick back behind it on the head rail; he failed and Hsu ran out.
 
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Poolmanis said:
I don´t care politics but i care about man who is worth of his word.
It is easy to be good guy when it cost you nothing.
Who can stay honest when it pay it dearly.
That why I hate Shaw. He is hypocritical.
He act like "good guy" but when money get on the line, good guy is gone and that guy uses all the tricks of the book.
Now what i´ve seen lately from Filler start get me little worried. Making fouls in Matches and acting like nothing happened etc.
For me that is everything. I just can´t root guys that i don´t respect.
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Vice: the nature of gam/bull/ing.
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Against the rule book or what, players have an unwritten responsibility to the backers, the rail, certainly not least, their own pocket. With untold sums across the planet, turning boyscout might be unwise.
 
JAM said:
Well said. This trumps all the negative comments about Joshua Filler, and I couldn't agree more. It's been challenging to read the negative comments written by some. This post below on Facebook is right on the money.


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i tend to stay mostly between the rails when following pro pool, and with that perspective filler was brilliant. fast, accurate, almost flawless. regarding the side stuff and the drama, it's nice to get some different views for nuance, thanks
 
Already laid out my thoughts, and they pretty much align with sjm.

I can’t get worked about 8 ball, though, for any reason. I find it interesting to watch merely for seeing how pros run patterns. My main playing partner prefers 8-ball, so it helps me a bit.

But I find little entertainment value in watching 8 ball. I grew up playing 8 ball, and never played 9 ball until three years ago. (I got back into the game after a long absence). And yet watching the pros play is boring to me.

Vastly prefer watching 9 ball. Never imagined I would think of 8 ball as boring!
 
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