2025 WNT Predictions for emerging players

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AzB Silver Member
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Last year we saw Mickey Krause and Johan Chua really come to the fore as well as a number of players who did not necessarily win events, but did some damage in major events.
Who do you people think will be the emerging stars this year? and who do you think will kick on and start making waves for the lower mid level pro's?
 
I think Aleksa Pecejl, not sure if I butchered the spelling… I think you might see him have a breakout year. Idk if Vitality Patsura will be going to all the Matchroom events this year, but if he does, he will be one to watch as well…
 
Smutzc said:
I think Aleksa Pecejl, not sure if I butchered the spelling… I think you might see him have a breakout year. Idk if Vitality Patsura will be going to all the Matchroom events this year, but if he does, he will be one to watch as well…
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yea, aleksa is often forgotten in these discussions. i can see it clicking for him.
 
Do we even know what the WNT roster of players will look like in 2025?

Assuming he'll be on the roster, I think Mortiz Neuhausen is the one most likely to take the next step forward. Labutis is another that might well take the next step forward.
 
Yeah, is this the year where the bottom of the roster will be replaced with new players? I forgot how it was supposed to go.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Yeah, is this the year where the bottom of the roster will be replaced with new players? I forgot how it was supposed to go.
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At snooker the top-ranked 64 of 128 remain on plus others that get in by Q-school or the second half of a two-year card. The WNT at this point only has the ranking list. The current rankings are available here:

Rankings - Matchroom Pool

matchroompool.com matchroompool.com
 
sjm said:
Do we even know what the WNT roster of players will look like in 2025?

Assuming he'll be on the roster, I think Mortiz Neuhausen is the one most likely to take the next step forward. Labutis is another that might well take the next step forward.
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Pijus made great strides last year and he certainly looks like he has the game and temperament to take it to win a major event this year.

That jump to true elite major winner appears to be a big one. Is there one particular attribute that you think sets those players apart? Is it simply that they have that pure bloody minded will to win that puts them in the winners circle when it really matters?
It's been pretty impressive how the likes of SVB, Gorst, Biado, etc have been in near hopeless situations in tournaments over the last few years and still found a way to grind out a win in a major.
 
Bob Jewett said:
At snooker the top-ranked 64 of 128 remain on plus others that get in by Q-school or the second half of a two-year card. The WNT at this point only has the ranking list. The current rankings are available here:

Rankings - Matchroom Pool

matchroompool.com matchroompool.com
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I can see the WNT evolving to this format at some point, as it gives pro status more credibility. Q school is incredibly difficult, only the super talented with a winners temperament make it to the main snooker tour. Being a "pro" should really mean something.
 
Mentality.

In any sport, it always comes down to mentality for the greatest players. The will to win.

What's that mean? Steely devotion to the game. The ability to think under pressure. The capability to shrug off mistakes and focus on the what is ahead of you. Knowing when to bear down and risk it all. And, of course, making big shots (plays) when it counts.

There are many gifted athletes in all sports. Often, very little separates their physical skills. What separates them is inside their heads.

Some players seem like born naturals. SVB and Filler come to mind. These rare luminaries burst on the scene and appear to take the game by surprise, but of course they had been laying the groundwork for years. That includes untold hours of practice other players might not submit themselves to.

Other players mature into greatness. FSR is a recent example.

I actually think Gorst is also one of them. Yes, he was a young prodigy (I saw a recording of him playing Kaci when they were 14 years old).

But aside from a surprise WPA Nineball title in 2019 at the age of 19, Gorst just kept making steady progress to become one of the best players in the world. Most of his success has come just the past two years.

Would he have made a bigger mark if not for the pandemic? Maybe. In some ways, the Russian-related ban on Gorst forced him to make life-altering decisions that probably toughened him up in a number of ways. Mentally especially.

Yet even just a year and a half ago, Gorst didn't seem to have quite gotten over the mental hump. I remember him conceding a Hanoi Open match to Jayson Shaw in October 2023. I was very disappointed at the time. Fedor seemed to get psyched out Shaw, and he ended the match after missing a key shot on the 7 down 9-8.

He's over the hump now - and he's just getting started.
 
SJM's choice of Neuhausen is also my pick. He's been making steady progress, and I sense in him more steel than someone like, say Wiktor Zielenski.

Wiktor gets inside his own head too much. Super talented, but he needs to get his head right to reach the top tier. You can almost see him physically deflate when things don't go his way.

Hard for me to see other break-through players at the moment.

Patsura has been developing mental toughness. Labutis is smart, steady and very dedicated. I like what I have seen from Jefrey Roda, but his nerves got to him in a few big majors last year.

Then there's Daniel Maciol. We'll see if his recent 10 ball championship is a launching pad.

Aleksa Pecelj and Sanjin Pehlivanovic -- cohorts of Gorst - seems like two sides of a coin. I've seen both appear to be on the verge of breaking thru, only to backslide. They are as good as anyone when they are at the top of their game.

Jonas Souto is a darkhorse. He's been playing very well and he appears to have some fire in his belly.

Others I am watching are Oliver Szolnoki and Denis Grabe. Grabe seemed like a journeyman until last year. He is 34 and it seems now or never.
 
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jbart65 said:
SJM's choice of Neuhausen is also my pick. He's been making steady progress, and I sense in him more steel than someone like, say Wiktor Zielenski.

Wiktor gets inside his own head too much. Super talented, but he needs to get him head right to reach the top tier. You can almost see him physically deflate when things don't go his way.
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Well said.

Yeah, the comparison between Neuhausen, #48 based on Fargo, and Zielinski, #18 based on Fargo, is an interesting one. Wiktor is an amazing talent who, at times, seems almost unbeatable, but if I had to bet on which of the two will play for Team Europe at the Mosconi first, I would have to go with Moritz.

Moritz, to me, in developing well in every area of the game. His decisions are improving, his defense is improving, his break is solid, and he is starting to play in a huge number of events, both big and small, much the way SVB and Gorst always did. He also walks in the giant footsteps of the German World 9ball Champions that came before him in Filler, Hohmann Souquet, and Ortmann and any association with them will only help him realize some of his goals as a pro player. Moritz is not yet one of the most elite, but his competitive pedigree is developing well and his unswerving commitment to excellence puts him on a trajectory to become one of them. I think it is only a matter of time.

As you note, Wiktor can become noticeably discouraged at the table when things are not going his way. He brings to mind an old saying of Irving Crane, which was "never show weakness to your opponent because they will feed off of it." I've always believed this to be true.
 
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jbart65 said:
SJM's choice of Neuhausen is also my pick. He's been making steady progress, and I sense in him more steel than someone like, say Wiktor Zielenski.

Wiktor gets inside his own head too much. Super talented, but he needs to get him head right to reach the top tier. You can almost see him physically deflate when things don't go his way.

Hard for me to see other break-through players at the moment.

Patsura has been developing mental toughness. Labutis is smart, steady and very dedicated. I like what I have seen from Jefrey Roda, but his nerves got to him in a few big majors last year.

Then there's Daniel Maciol. We'll see if his recent 10 ball championship is a launching pad.

Aleksa Pecelj and Sanjin Pehlivanovic -- cohorts of Gorst - seems like two sides of a coin. I've seen both appear to be on the verge of breaking thru, only to backslide. They are as good as anyone when they are at the top of their game.

Jonas Souto is a darkhorse. He's been playing very well and he appears to have some fire in his belly.

Others I am watching are Oliver Szolnoki and Denis Grabe. Grabe seemed like a journeyman until last year. He is 34 and it seems now or never.
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as a fan of wiktor it's a bit disappointing. super fun player to watch when he's flowing, but as you write he just deflates when things go against him.

souto is a hothead and has always been. can be fun to watch, much like gerson martinez, but i don't see that next level in him. he'll get in his own way in a major semifinal.
 
jbart65 said:
SJM's choice of Neuhausen is also my pick. He's been making steady progress, and I sense in him more steel than someone like, say Wiktor Zielenski.

Wiktor gets inside his own head too much. Super talented, but he needs to get his head right to reach the top tier. You can almost see him physically deflate when things don't go his way.

Hard for me to see other break-through players at the moment.

Patsura has been developing mental toughness. Labutis is smart, steady and very dedicated. I like what I have seen from Jefrey Roda, but his nerves got to him in a few big majors last year.

Then there's Daniel Maciol. We'll see if his recent 10 ball championship is a launching pad.

Aleksa Pecelj and Sanjin Pehlivanovic -- cohorts of Gorst - seems like two sides of a coin. I've seen both appear to be on the verge of breaking thru, only to backslide. They are as good as anyone when they are at the top of their game.

Jonas Souto is a darkhorse. He's been playing very well and he appears to have some fire in his belly.

Others I am watching are Oliver Szolnoki and Denis Grabe. Grabe seemed like a journeyman until last year. He is 34 and it seems now or never.
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Very sad that of the 10+ players you mentioned, I’m guessing that absolutely none are Americans.
 
Teenager Sam Henderson is perhaps the most promising I've seen lately, but long way to go.

Lukas Fracasso-Verner, now 21, has also elevated his game.

Neither of these players appears remotely close to winning a decent sized tourney with a solid field.

I might be among a small and dwindling group, but I still think Tyler Styer has all the ability to make a big move up the rankings. The mental game has always been his albatross.

​

 
I hope it is Sam Henderson. He has been working really these last couple months without any WNT events.

I really like Neuhausen he is very good player and only getting better and a really good guy. After he played Sam, he spent another half hour after the match to talk about some shots during the match.

I hope the Filipinos (AJ and Bernie) are able to make it to more of the big events, they are fun to watch.
 
Haven't you guys heard, everybody is running out every set if a template rack is used.

I'm not watching anymore because it's too easy, even for lower level Pros
 
jbart65 said:
Others I am watching are ********* and Denis Grabe. Grabe seemed like a journeyman until last year. He is 34 and it seems now or never.
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F*** that guy. I loathe that guy for life after seeing the s**t he pulled against Mitch Ellerman at the Leende, Netherlands Eurotour stop the year Johann Ruslynk (sp?) brought everybody from the American team over to Europe to prepare for the Mosconi Cup.

He directly accused Ellerman of giving him a gaff rack, actually saying "All you Americans cheat!". He continued on with this spiel even as Ellerman was shocked, and offered to let Grabe rack for both of them. Grabe was obviously playing mental games and trying to get into Ellerman's head. Given the relative separation in skills between the two, it just seemed such a mentally weak, and a***ole thing to do.

I will root against Denis Grabe in every match he ever plays in, for the rest of my life. He is the ONLY player I feel that way about.

(For the record.... Ellerman shot his nuts in that match.. Mah MAN!!!!)
 
sjm said:
Well said.

Yeah, the comparison between Neuhausen, #48 based on Fargo, and Zielinski, #18 based on Fargo, is an interesting one. Wiktor is an amazing talent who, at times, seems almost unbeatable, but if I had to bet on which of the two will play for Team Europe at the Mosconi first, I would have to go with Moritz.

Mortiz, to me, in developing well in every area of the game. His decisions are improving, his defense is improving, his break is solid, and he is starting to play in a huge number of events, both big and small, much the way SVB and Gorst always did. He also walks in the giant footsteps of the German World 9ball Champions that came before him in Filler, Hohmann Souquet, and Ortmann and any association with them will only help him realize some of his goals as a pro player. Moritz is not yet one of the most elite, but his competitive pedigree is developing well and his unswerving commitment to excellence puts him on a trajectory to become one of them. I think it is only a matter of time.

As you note, Wiktor can become noticeably discouraged at the table when things are not going his way. He brings to mind an old saying of Irving Crane, which was "never show weakness to your opponent because they will feed off of it." I've always believed this to be true.
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Absolutely! It can be intimidating to have a player trying hard to beat you from any and all deficits, and showing confidence while doing so. All it takes is a few good racks, and all of a sudden, they don't have the pushover match they were looking forward to.

I've won a few 5-0, 6-0 races to 7, by just never giving up, and remaining confident that I *can* beat players of a certain level from that deficit.
 
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