so will the cut off be top 6 today?
2025 Premier League Pool player list
- Thread starter Badpenguin
- Start date
this format suits chua well with his explosive style. very good right out of the blocks. short race, tv table all the time.. suits his style.
Yes.
Chua won his first two matches today, but he showed both the promise and peril of his style of play.
I was watching his first match vs SVB as I was getting ready to go to work. I had to stop and just watch because Chua can be so amazing.
Karl and Scott were saying, he's not going to try to cut that, is he? A super thin, long cut on the 2 just an inch off the short rail. Most extreme cut shot I have seen all week, and maybe all this year so far.
Then another extreme cut shot. No matter. "If he shot the other one, he's going to shoot this one, too," Karl declares.
It goes in. Again. Karl and Scott, you can just see them shaking their damn heads. "He must have a system," Scott says, about Chua's uncanny ability to hit thin cut shots. "Or he must have really good eyesight."
Whatever. Chua wins 5-1, and SVB only got a game via a Golden Break.
Then Chua plays Yapp. Same thing. Jumps out to a 4-1 lead.
But ... Chua plays a few poor safeties and misses a couple of very aggressive shots. He should have played safe or did a careful two-way shot.
Yapp ties it up 4-4, but proceeds to lose after a careless positional shot.
Chua can play defense. His kicking is quite good and he can be very good at safeties. No Ouschan or Alcaide, he, but no chump, either. He just wants to play offense, though.
Last call for SVB. Seventh place on 11 points. He has three games left and is behind Shaw and Yapp, who each have 13 points. They only have two games left, though.
SVB has to beat Yapp in his very next game to start the evening session. He is almost certainly out if he loses. Then he finishes up with Duong and Kledio Kaci.
SVB has not played very well inn the PLP. Has lost three more rounds than he has won. I would not invite him to this event next year. Just not seeing the same high-level effort.
SVB has to beat Yapp in his very next game to start the evening session. He is almost certainly out if he loses. Then he finishes up with Duong and Kledio Kaci.
SVB has not played very well inn the PLP. Has lost three more rounds than he has won. I would not invite him to this event next year. Just not seeing the same high-level effort.
Wow, that's cruel. Shane always gives a maximum effort. Allow him a week in which he just hasn't played to his usual standard. Even great players have off weeks.
Even if he manages to make the last six, he's got little chance to reach the semis, so this PLP has been a disappointment for Shane no matter what.
I've seen so much of SVB that I think I can tell if he is not giving his usual high-octane effort. He's going 98% instead of 110%.
Even 98% of Shane is normally good enough to win. Not this week. Perhaps he is tired of being in Bosnia for so long. It's been a grind.
He's not dogging it, of course. But he hasn't practiced as much as usual. And he has taken some shots he normally wouldn't. That was especially true in days 1-2. There's almost a hint of nonchalance in his game. I see a bit of the same with Shaw and even FSR. Maybe an age thing.
Whatever the case, I think SVB was similarly not 100% engaged in the PLP in 2023 in the UK, when he was ousted early. He seemed pretty unhappy with his play two years ago, then came back with a ferocious effort in 2024 to win the event in Connecticut. Not seeing the same ferociousness this time around.
That's why I would consider not reinviting him in 2026. The energy in this event seems to be with the younger players. Bring back Filler and Gorst instead ...
Even 98% of Shane is normally good enough to win. Not this week. Perhaps he is tired of being in Bosnia for so long. It's been a grind.
He's not dogging it, of course. But he hasn't practiced as much as usual. And he has taken some shots he normally wouldn't. That was especially true in days 1-2. There's almost a hint of nonchalance in his game. I see a bit of the same with Shaw and even FSR. Maybe an age thing.
Whatever the case, I think SVB was similarly not 100% engaged in the PLP in 2023 in the UK, when he was ousted early. He seemed pretty unhappy with his play two years ago, then came back with a ferocious effort in 2024 to win the event in Connecticut. Not seeing the same ferociousness this time around.
That's why I would consider not reinviting him in 2026. The energy in this event seems to be with the younger players. Bring back Filler and Gorst instead ...
same here, i was supposed to work but i HAD to watch. incredible performance.
Races to five are sometimes like live grenades.
Chua plays Sanjin. Sanjin wins 5-3 and makes about 20 shots in total.
Game 1. Sanjin is blocked on the 2 after his break and tries to jump for contact. The 2 hits one long rail, bounces off the other and flukes the 9 in the side.
Game 2. Chua scratches but gets two balls in. Sanjin has an open table and runs out.
Game 3. Sanjin gets a golden break.
Game 4: Chua breaks and runs out.
Game 5: Sanjin flukes in the 9 again on his first shot after Chua plays safe.
Chua wins games 6-7 to get back to within one game. Yet he gets too straight on the 8 and misses a hard shot trying to get on the 9.
Sanjin makes the last two shots and wins the match.
Chua plays Sanjin. Sanjin wins 5-3 and makes about 20 shots in total.
Game 1. Sanjin is blocked on the 2 after his break and tries to jump for contact. The 2 hits one long rail, bounces off the other and flukes the 9 in the side.
Game 2. Chua scratches but gets two balls in. Sanjin has an open table and runs out.
Game 3. Sanjin gets a golden break.
Game 4: Chua breaks and runs out.
Game 5: Sanjin flukes in the 9 again on his first shot after Chua plays safe.
Chua wins games 6-7 to get back to within one game. Yet he gets too straight on the 8 and misses a hard shot trying to get on the 9.
Sanjin makes the last two shots and wins the match.
I think the right answer here is somewhere comfortably in between “Shane always gives maximum effort” and “Shane isn’t giving enough effort to warrant being asked back”. I don’t care what anyone says, this event is a grind – hell it is a grind to follow this event, much less to play in it. To this point, Shane has played 21 sets to 5. Each one is against a world-class player capable of beating you even if you play your best and none of them individually are really that important.
Maximum effort and focus is what you’re going to see from SVB before & during US Opens and World 9-Ball Championships where every single shot and decision matter – you aren’t going to see that in your 3rd race to 5 on day 2 of a 7 day long marathon event. These guys are trying to play loose and find a comfortable rhythm, but you’re absolutely going to see a different style of play than you might in other events. I believe this last point explains some of the crazy shots we’ve seen Chua attempt, for example.
Perhaps I was too critical of SVB, but I am just not sure he really digs this event. Oh, I bet he likes it fine, especially when it's held in the U.S., but I didn't see the same fire from him in 2023, either.
I really do think the more experienced players have let up a bit at times. They have been around the block a lot. Pacing themselves, maybe, or realizing this trophy is not as important as others. The money is just so-so, too.
In the 2023-24 PLPs, btw, I didn't think Ouschan gave it his all, either.
As for Chua, he takes and makes those "crazy" shots pretty regularly. Maybe not quite as much when he plays in a big Open, but he is just a very aggressive player.
There's no doubt that guys like Moritz Neuheusen, Sanjin, Kledio, etc want to win this event real bad and it gives them a sliver of an edge over the SVBs and Shaws vs. what their talent would dictate.
Scrunge19
Registered
SVB’s invitation isn’t in peril while he remains a top player on the tour. But even more bigger of a consideration is the marketing effect of including the most popular American born player. None of the other American players has anywhere near the level of draw that someone like SVB has. And the invitational events Matchroom puts on are just as much marketing as they are serious pool competition.
Which is why he almost certainly will be invited again. Loved watching him last year when he was determined to conquer the world. Hasn't been as much fun to watch this time around.
Yes, very well said. America's best two players will be invited, and Shane and Fedor will certainly be that for the foreseeable future. As we saw, Mosconi Cup Team USA regular Tyler Styer, a fine player but not one that contends for the major titles, couldn't get out of Stage 1. Four of the six that remain have a Fargo of 830+ and the other two are 800+. Only the truly elite win this title, and unless FSR wins it, we'll have the first PLP champion that is not also a World 9ball champion.
None of the world's top three players are in the hunt for this title, and their absence will surely reduce fanfare. Still, there might be a great story waiting in the wings and I wish the top six the best of luck.
I know I'm still watching.
Given the point totals, Chua (18) and Capito (17) are almost certain to make the final cut. Just one or two wins in the next 6-player round robin should do the trick.
FSR is also on track with 16 points.
Shaw, Yapp and Neuhausen are probably fighting for the last spot. Each has 14 points. Shaw has a big tiebreaking edge in rounds won.
Chua and Capito I would bet have been the best breakers. Not many dry breaks. I only remember seeing two or three from Chua.
I think FSR and Shaw are playing free and loose, however. I lean toward one of those two winning the event.
I’d love to see Chua and Capito in the finals, though. We’ll see. Chua has been a high wire act the past few days and Capito has tensed up at times. If they can keep their emotions in check and maintain their energy levels either could win.
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I didn’t miss Filler or Gorst, but I’d like to see them back next year. MR should go by its rankings for the top 12 players, like it did in 2024, with four wildcards. Frazer has said they likely would in the future.
The wildcard selections need to be better, too. Maybe MR wants some easy wins for the top players, but it shouldn’t be too easy.
Frazer also floated the idea of the PLP becoming a year-opening event while commentating this week. Interesting idea.
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Funny FB comment from Margaret Fefilova after seeing the goofy PLP dance vid: "Players are starting to go crazy on day 555 of the PLP …"
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I have long admired Matchroom for its invitationals, but the Matchroom invitationals are meant to showcase the most elite performers. That was not the case in this event.
Whether you go by the current Matchroom rankings or the AZB money list, the two best players in the world are absent. If you favor a weaker field, then this year's event is for you. I'm glad, but not surprised, that it has opened the door for a potential Cinderella champion, but .....
In December, we had the Filler-less Mosconi Cup. In early March, we had the Gorst-less European Open, and in late March, we had the Filler-and-Gorst-less PLP. It's time we, once again, got the best possible fields in all the Matchroom produced events. Until we do, the Matchroom pro pool offering is not quite what it used to be.
I remain optimistic but will not join you in the view that any event lacking both of the two best 9ball players in the world, each of them future first ballot BCA Hall of Famers, will do.
there's something lethargic and boring about robbie capito, i'm glad chua overtook the lead. chua vs jayson would be the funnest final
What was her comment?