Alex Pagulayan going to UK to try pro snooker

predator said:
Guys, you are completely missing the point with this wishing for more high breaks from Alex. Stop watching 147s on youtube. That is not your average snooker game.
He's playing against players who are playing (almost) as well as him and under all that pressure.
Every match must be a tactical war out there.
Not many players have scored many 50+ breaks when playing tight matches.

Remember what Selby did to O'Sullivan recently at the world championships? Just one century in the whole final. Ronnie scored 4 I think. Still lost convincingly at the end.
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Good post...not every fight is a knock out punch.
Alex's one-pocket knowledge s winning him some games.
...some centuries will come also...but get the ticket first.

I saw Hendry in his prime win a match 10-9...nobody ran 30.
You don't see this on TV so much.
 
Underclocked said:
All I can say is: "Alex, git 'er dun!!!" :grin:
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I'd hazard a guess to say Alex might well be the most followed "amateur" in the history of snooker. Seriously, other than friends and family, what interest have any of the others generated?

I have no idea if this holds true for China. There could be a 10 year old being followed by 100m million for all we know.

Boro Nut
 
Nick B said:
Freddie,
Common sense doesn't make any of us haters.
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Does Alex have to qualify to make everyone who says that he has little to no chance change their version of common sense?

One guy. One guy who said emphatically that he had no chance had enough humility to admit he was wrong. And that one guy is a bonafide pool fan and the only one who deserves a salut for admitting it.

Let's not change history. There are on this very thread posters who said Alex didn't have a chance, didn't like his chance, will fail, etc. What does it take for these guys to man up and say they were wrong? If Alex doesn't win tomorrow, do they come out all crowing and say, "told you so"?

Freddie <~~~ there is no surprise in this part of the world
 
JB Cases said:
You forgot desire in your math. Stephen Hendry pretty much lost the desire after he already did everything in snooker.

Alex is hungry to play, as if he were a 20 year old.

You don't know what's in a champion's head. One thing about Alex is that he already KNOWS what a lot of the snooker players don't know and that is how it feels to be a world champion. So having already tasted what that's like in one discipline he is hungry to go for it in another one.

He might not make it, but if it were ALL math based on age then no snooker player would still be competitive after 25. Fact is that many still are.
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John,
Ever run over 100? - I have probably 60 times all below the age of 30
Ever play Snooker with Alex - I have

At 48 I probably have a couple left in me but I almost never play anymore...but you can have 40 on the board before we start. Your knowledge of stroke mechanics speaks for its self. World class snooker is not Q-School. These are the guys who are on their way (hopefully). The guys over 40 that are still competing do it for the love of the game or the fact is they know nothing else. They have almost zero chance of winning a major. The TOP 20 are just that much better. If you argue this then you just want to be argumentative or you are ignorant to Snooker.

Million Dollar Arm is for the movies. Otherwise half of all Indian males under 30 would be in Florida next spring.

Nick
 
Cornerman said:
Does Alex have to qualify to make everyone who says that he has little to no chance change their version of common sense?

One guy. One guy who said emphatically that he had no chance had enough humility to admit he was wrong. And that one guy is a bonafide pool fan and the only one who deserves a salut for admitting it.

Let's not change history. There are on this very thread posters who said Alex didn't have a chance, didn't like his chance, will fail, etc. What does it take for these guys to man up and say they were wrong? If Alex doesn't win tomorrow, do they come out all crowing and say, "told you so"?

Freddie <~~~ there is no surprise in this part of the world
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Freddie,
If Alex makes it into the TOP 50. Any year I am wrong. That for me is the threshold. Anything short of that and you are not a pro. Tomorrow I will hope for Alex. A small feather in his cap is a good thing. Liam Highfield is currently about 80th in the world. Let's see.

A wasted opportunity (he should have been there at 20) is unfortunate.



Nick
 
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lmfao.......dude, he's 8-1

few amateurs on earth outside of China and the uk could have that kind of run

he's already bucked the odds to an extreme degree
 
predator said:
Guys, you are completely missing the point with this wishing for more high breaks from Alex. Stop watching 147s on youtube. That is not your average snooker game.
He's playing against players who are playing (almost) as well as him and under all that pressure.
Every match must be a tactical war out there.
Not many players have scored many 50+ breaks when playing tight matches.

Remember what Selby did to O'Sullivan recently at the world championships? Just one century in the whole final. Ronnie scored 4 I think. Still lost convincingly at the end.
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You're right that big breaks aren't as important in this tournament against non-pros.

However, if he wants to have success at the pro level he'll need to improve his break building. I'm not saying he can't make those improvements, but that he can't win a major event without improving.

Just to put it in perspective. Alex has a [recorded] 84 frames played and has only had 1 century. Looking at the current top 16 players, they have a combined 4,648 centuries and average a century every 19.49 frames. That means for roughly every 20 frames or less, anyone in the top 16 will run a century.

That's the level of play required to be at the top. Again, not saying Alex can't get there, just saying where he needs to be.
 
Nick B said:
John,
Ever run over 100? - I have probably 60 times all below the age of 30
Ever play Snooker with Alex - I have

At 48 I probably have a couple left in me but I almost never play anymore...but you can have 40 on the board before we start. Your knowledge of stroke mechanics speaks for its self. World class snooker is not Q-School. These are the guys who are on their way (hopefully). The guys over 40 that are still competing do it for the love of the game or the fact is they know nothing else. They have almost zero chance of winning a major. The TOP 20 are just that much better. If you argue this then you just want to be argumentative or you are ignorant to Snooker.

Million Dollar Arm is for the movies. Otherwise half of all Indian males under 30 would be in Florida next spring.

Nick
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I will take that spot. Personal bullshit challenge aside....Freddie is 100% right. Many said Alex has no chance because there are supposedly 1000s of club players in England who could beat him easily. Supposed to be hundreds of teenagers vying to become pros who are raining centuries.

And yet Alex is one match away from earning a guaranteed spot in all pro snooker events for the next two years.
 
JB Cases said:
Sure. Technically the game can played to the last ball because it is possible for either player to lose points from fouls. So as long as there is a chance to snooker the other player and force loss of points the game can be won even though there aren't enough points on the table to win by running those balls.

Players will often battle to snooker the leading player until it's futile.
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Actually John, the bolded is not true. There has to be two balls left on the table for snookers to even be possible. Let's say you have only the pink and black left on the table. Theoretically (putting "futile efforts" aside for argument's sake), a player can keep trying to snooker the other player behind the black to gain points. This, in fact, is what happened when Alain Robidoux refused to concede the frame when he thought Ronnie O'Sullivan was "showing him up" by shooting most of that frame left-handed. It came down to the pink and black, and Alain kept applying snookers. When Alain's snooker attempts on the pink finally failed (leaving Ronnie an open shot at a pocket), Ronnie pocketed the pink, and the frame was officially over, even though the black was still on the table.

Link cheat provided to where only the pink and black are left on the table:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vs-nUiRq_GE#t=4m30s

Almost 4 minutes later (of them jockeying on the pink), listen to the commentator at 7:20:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vs-nUiRq_GE#t=7m20s

But once Ronnie pots the pink, it really is over -- no snookers are possible at that point.

-Sean
 
what kind of rank snooker player makes 50K/yr ? or 75-100K/yr ?

Would a guy have to be around top 40 to make around 50K/yr? top 10 to be in the 75-100K/yr salary mark?

Saw someone post a ~60th rank player making ~60K over 2yrs.

alex could easily achieve that in pool.
 
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sfleinen said:
...Ronnie pocketed the pink, and the frame was officially over, even though the black was still on the table.
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Not quite. It's was only de-facto over, because it's the first score on the black fair or foul that ends the game (unless the scores are tied). It's only officially over when that first score on the black occurs. In your example it is officially over because the opponent finally concedes after the pink is potted (or is deemed to), accepting the futility of having to make a now meaningless score on the black.

Boro Nut
 
gxman said:
so alex is something like 8-1 vs guys that has been living and breathing snooker all their life. pretty outstanding!
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Exactly.
If he does not qualify this year, you can bet your every dollar he does next year. He will be dedicated like when he was learning pool, I'm sure.

I hope he gets it on this try, would be awesome. If your a billiards fan and can not root for this guy then you have NO heart.
 
JB Cases said:
I will take that spot. Personal bullshit challenge aside....Freddie is 100% right. Many said Alex has no chance because there are supposedly 1000s of club players in England who could beat him easily. Supposed to be hundreds of teenagers vying to become pros who are raining centuries.

And yet Alex is one match away from earning a guaranteed spot in all pro snooker events for the next two years.
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The bottom of the snooker pro's don't make squat ,, so yes just like in pool there are good snooker players who can make much better money at another job ,,

And remember Alex is one of the best all around players in the world ,, if he had Shane's break he's Shane , and he's been playing snooker for a long time he didn't just pic up the game yesterday


1
 
JumpinJoe said:
Exactly.
If he does not qualify this year, you can bet your every dollar he does next year. He will be dedicated like when he was learning pool, I'm sure.

I hope he gets it on this try, would be awesome. If your a billiards fan and can not root for this guy then you have NO heart.
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Cannot agree more with you, Sir. How the hell a pool player doesn't root for a guy like Alex ?
Go Alex goooooooooooo :thumbup:
 
JumpinJoe said:
Exactly.
If he does not qualify this year, you can bet your every dollar he does next year. He will be dedicated like when he was learning pool, I'm sure.

I hope he gets it on this try, would be awesome. If your a billiards fan and can not root for this guy then you have NO heart.
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Annual qualifications only???
 
And let's not forget that even if he falls at the last hurdle he already has a good chance of playing in a few professional tournaments next season by dint of his frames-won record. A point is awarded for each frame won, and when the number of entrants falls short of the 128 players optimum the best performers from Q school are invited to fill the vacant slots.

Boro Nut

A ranking list will be compiled during Q School, with players earning one point for every frame won. During the main tour season, should any of the tournament draws fall below a total entry of 128 then the field will be topped up with the highest ranked players from the Q-School list who have not gained one of the 8 tour cards.

So hopefully Alex will get a chance to play at least a few events of the pro tour, whether or not he beats Highfield tomorrow morning.

Hope Alex wins, but he appears to be on his way in any case.
 
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Chesscat said:
And let's not forget that even if he falls at the last hurdle he already has a good chance of playing in a few professional tournaments next season by dint of his frames-won record. A point is awarded for each frame won, and when the number of entrants falls short of the 128 players optimum the best performers from Q school are invited to fill the vacant slots.

Boro Nut

A ranking list will be compiled during Q School, with players earning one point for every frame won. During the main tour season, should any of the tournament draws fall below a total entry of 128 then the field will be topped up with the highest ranked players from the Q-School list who have not gained one of the 8 tour cards.

So hopefully Alex will get a chance to play at least a few events of the pro tour, whether or not he beats Highfield tomorrow morning.

Hop
e Alex wins, but it appears he is on his way in any case.
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Yeah I hope he wins...if he's on the tour then we'll have long threads like these for every event he plays in. There are 11 or 12 ranking events but there are also a lot of non-ranking events also and they have decent payouts, certainly a lot more than major pool events.
 
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