I watched most of the American Junior Showdown and I was pretty impressed. A lot of talented youngsters.
Ten boys/young men and two girls, Savannah Easton and Sophia Mast, were invited.
Easton and Mast played well, but succumbed to better players (Mast) or the pressure (Easton).
The finalists were Laz Martinez, 18, and Niko Konkel, 16. As it happens, they were the two players I was most impressed with.
Martinez was the best player of the bunch. Probably the best outright shotmaker, sometimes very daring. His kicking is excellent and his safety play was pretty good. Very soft touch and finesse when needed.
He was prone to occasional lapses of attention, however. He gave up a 3-1 lead in set 1 of the championship vs Konkel, for instance.
Konkel beat Joey Tate, 19, in an upset and then knocked off Hayden Ernst and Savannah Easton.
Tate has shown plenty of ability, but he’s not consistent at the highest levels. At least not yet. He seemed a bit too nonchalant against Konkel.
Ernst played well, actually, but Konkel was superb against him. Ernst didn’t get a lot of chances at the table.
Easton jumped out to a one-set lead vs. Konkel, then he won eight of the next nine games to win two-sets to one. I don’t think he missed a single shot he tried to pocket.
Konkel was very impressive. Maybe the straightest shooter of the group. He accepted a handful of long shots and hit all but one. One long shot was big-time highlight reel with incredible positioning on a hard-to-reach next ball.
Konkel was also the best jumper by far. Seemed almost Gorst-like. Loved his calm demeanor and focus.
Konkel did falter a bit in the pressure of the final. Missed a few shots he made earlier in the event. He also needs to improve on safety play and kicking.
Before this event, I had seen Payne McBride once before. I also saw Tate and Prasad a few times.
McBride was excellent. Second or third best player in the showdown. He probably would have won if not for Martinez. Need to see more of him.
Eddie Vondereau and Konnor McFadyen, both 17, showed some good stuff. As did Jas Makhani and D’Angelo Spain, who are both under 15. Definitely ones to watch.
Adrian Prasad, 17, has looked pretty good when I’ve seen him before, but he was disappointing in this event. He has a 700-plus Fargo, so he is doing a lot right.
Put a gun to my head and I think two of these players are future Mosconi members. Could be more, but they are still young. They could plateau or decide pool is not a lucrative life endeavor.
Ten boys/young men and two girls, Savannah Easton and Sophia Mast, were invited.
Easton and Mast played well, but succumbed to better players (Mast) or the pressure (Easton).
The finalists were Laz Martinez, 18, and Niko Konkel, 16. As it happens, they were the two players I was most impressed with.
Martinez was the best player of the bunch. Probably the best outright shotmaker, sometimes very daring. His kicking is excellent and his safety play was pretty good. Very soft touch and finesse when needed.
He was prone to occasional lapses of attention, however. He gave up a 3-1 lead in set 1 of the championship vs Konkel, for instance.
Konkel beat Joey Tate, 19, in an upset and then knocked off Hayden Ernst and Savannah Easton.
Tate has shown plenty of ability, but he’s not consistent at the highest levels. At least not yet. He seemed a bit too nonchalant against Konkel.
Ernst played well, actually, but Konkel was superb against him. Ernst didn’t get a lot of chances at the table.
Easton jumped out to a one-set lead vs. Konkel, then he won eight of the next nine games to win two-sets to one. I don’t think he missed a single shot he tried to pocket.
Konkel was very impressive. Maybe the straightest shooter of the group. He accepted a handful of long shots and hit all but one. One long shot was big-time highlight reel with incredible positioning on a hard-to-reach next ball.
Konkel was also the best jumper by far. Seemed almost Gorst-like. Loved his calm demeanor and focus.
Konkel did falter a bit in the pressure of the final. Missed a few shots he made earlier in the event. He also needs to improve on safety play and kicking.
Before this event, I had seen Payne McBride once before. I also saw Tate and Prasad a few times.
McBride was excellent. Second or third best player in the showdown. He probably would have won if not for Martinez. Need to see more of him.
Eddie Vondereau and Konnor McFadyen, both 17, showed some good stuff. As did Jas Makhani and D’Angelo Spain, who are both under 15. Definitely ones to watch.
Adrian Prasad, 17, has looked pretty good when I’ve seen him before, but he was disappointing in this event. He has a 700-plus Fargo, so he is doing a lot right.
Put a gun to my head and I think two of these players are future Mosconi members. Could be more, but they are still young. They could plateau or decide pool is not a lucrative life endeavor.