Kledio has quite a lof of snooker experience like his brother. Which translates as solid mechanics.
Last edited:
2025 Premier League Pool player list
- Thread starter Badpenguin
- Start date
Perfectly understandable. The most insular and unpredictable (in terms of selection) of the MR events. Probably a day or two too long.
You really learn a lot about the individual players seeing them so much, however, especially the ones we haven't seen much of before.
I am most interested in seeing how Labutis, Neuhausen and Manas perform.
Chua is one of my two favorite players and I've probably seen more of him than most anyone on AZB. But I am interested to see how he does in an event like this that demands steadiness and stamina.
I tend to be less interested in seeing well-known vets play, but SVB was quite something last year.
Every event that requires stamina, always count on the filipinos. They are used to playing long sets and long days/weeks. Well, at least it used to be like that. Shane is also known for his stamina, most likely will finish high.
At the PLP, it's four or five races to 5 a day and you never play in consecutive rounds until the late stages. Is physical stamina really an issue here? Not to me. As I saw up close a year ago when I attended, it's an event with a pretty relaxed pace.
One thing I like about all the Matchroom's events is that physical stamina is not much of an issue. At the just-completed European Open, most of the top players played either three or four matches in the first three days. On Day 4, nobody played more than two matches. On Day 5, those that remained played at most two matches. On Day 6, the last four played a race to 11 in the morning, and the winners got a break lasting over three hours before they played the race to 13 final. Nine or ten matches in six days is not a test of stamina.
PS Day 9 at Derby City - now that's a test of stamina. We have often seen players having to play as many as eight races to 9 at 9ball in one day. That's why moving the final to the next day was a stroke of genius by Diamond. Filler and Pagulayan both looked fresh in this year's 9ball final and they put on a great show for the fans.
when does this start?
Koyongian only played enough games to qualify for the Fargo Top 100 worldwide rankings after the Euro Open.
I've seen him a half dozen times now. Very good player with a lot of promise. Got to the final 16 of the Hanoi Open last year and lost a close one to Shaw.
Yet Koyongian played poorly when knocking Chua out of the Euro Open. Score was 10-6, but Chua played the second worst game I have seen him play (worst was a 9-0 loss to SVB). Kept making mistakes and poor shots and Koyongian couldn't capitalize. Koyongian played nervous.
Lechner knocked out Koyongian in the next round, 10-6, but the match wasn't especially close.
Ready for prime time? I would not have picked him for PLP, not yet. But MR wants to break into a new market (Indonesia, 280 million people).
Bui Truong An, also known as An Nhiet, is a more curious choice.
Probably not in the top five among Vietnamese players, but he reportedly is the youngest Vietnamese player to turn pro and does have a 786 Fargo (Not enough games to qualify for global ranking).
Even though he appears to well under 30 (can't find his age), Bui is known for something else. He owns 14 pool clubs in Vietnam and just signed a brand sponsorship deal with ... Simonis and Aramith. Also known to be good at trick shots.
I saw Bui lose a challenge match to AJ Manas not long ago. He was competitive, but Manas eventually pulled away and looked like the clearly better player.
In the Euro Open, Bui Truong lost 9-1 to FSR and 9-4 to Lo Ho Sum.
Last edited:
I've seen pretty much the entire PLP event the past three years. The players seem to get tired by day 5, but mentally not physically. The ones who are doing well seem fresher, and the ones who are losing, well, they appear frustrated and thus seemingly tired. It's weird.
I agree on the MR events. Good to see players not playing so many matches that they are very tired by the end.
Derby City is a creature all its own and does require herculean stamina, but we want players to be pretty fresh for big WNT titles.
The event is both, but all the players invited the past few years have been competitive. Everyone who has played has had a Fargo of 780 or better except for a few women who got invites.
The current iteration of the event goes back to 2022. (The inaugural 2021 event was a one-off with an odd structure and should be discounted).
The two players with the fewest wins in the last three years are ... David Alcaide (1-15 in 2024) and Eklent Kaci (2-13 in 2022). Not who you might expect.
The players are definitely highly competitive - they want to measure themselves against their peers.
The selection of new or lesser known players is a good thing imo. They are the most eager to show how good they are and put pressure on veteran players. Sanjin did that in 2023, and made people notice. Last year Wiktor Zielenski got off to a big start.
Sometimes the older, more experienced players can take the event for granted. I thought Ouschan did that in 2024. He fell behind, got frustrated and didn't really give it his all imo. Fresh blood is necessary.
On the other hand, SVB went all out last year. Practiced like crazy every day and won the event.
In 2023, Jayson Shaw was desperate to win a big MR event. He lost in the PLP finals to FSR and was both catonic and filled with rage after his loss (he was very unlucky and FSR had all the luck).
Shaw's embarrassing reaction made FSR almost apologize for winning! Sad spectacle, but it showed just how much Shaw cared.
For the players, MR pays for their hotel, meals and flight. Top prize is just $20,000, but it's still a prestigious invite.
Still, I am not sure this event has a long-term future. I guess it will depend on how big the WNT tour gets.
klenti kaci literally didn't get out of bed for this event when it was in the UK, and got docked a rack. i think kledio will do better than big brother kaci, he's hungrier. and already a tough opponent for anyone
And Earl, however I still believe Earl plays >800 except for his break which is closer to 500 level than 800 level.
Any discussion of pool’s earliest bloomers must include Wu and Pagulayan.
Yes, no event without Josh and Fedor is premier, but I think this still shapes up as a nice event, and I applaud Matchroom for staging it.