Can male snooker players dominate mens pool?
- Thread starter Snake
- Start date
Snake said:
Nyce question, gots me wondering now hehehe. Well my opinion would be HUH-uh, cause there are alot of greats in the mens tour, but i couldn't tell. Me personally love to watch the snooker players, cause of how fundamentally solid they are. And this is why Niels Feijen is my hero, cause he was a snooker player i think at the age of 12, and in all my years of playing and learning the game, i was taught by allison and karen, i have recordings up the behind of them, and watch them everyday. Playing in the leagues the last two years, and being the youngest player outta 15 teams here, i had the most points, and highest average the past two years, learning from those two, so i could think it is possible that they can win some tour stops but not dominate the tour. Cole 'TheConArtist'
Snake said:
I'm sure they could but as far as I've heard, aren't they getting paid big bucks playing over there and arent' they treated like Stars? Why come over here and get paid peanuts, if they want to come over here and play, they might as well get a steady job at Burger King, they can get a weekly pay check, health care, and can have a great burger after work
Snake said:
I hate to say this but it is due more to how weak the ladies played for the most part. That would not be so easy among the men players. Even those well down the list can really play. I do believe the European snooker players are more disciplined and dedicated, thay take the game possibly more seriously. If they applied their practice habits an attitudes to pool they may come here do well but not dominate like has happened with the women. They would probably bring a few new things to the game as well as learn a few things themselves. It would all even out and the best players would be the more consistent winners as it should be.
macguy said:
They "could" because Snooker is played on a huge table and is a tough game that requires dedication and tons of practice. If these great shot makers turned that dedication on to pracicing 9ball or straight pool, anything is possible.
If the Snooker players were to practice the game, then yes they could easily dominate.
But as someone said earlier, financially it would be a waste of time as most of the top players have it made for themselves on the Snooker Tour.
I know people will say that they do not know the patterns of pool etc, but for me if they spent as much time practicing pool as they do at Snooker (around 7 hours a day), they could comfortably play against the best in the World.
But as someone said earlier, financially it would be a waste of time as most of the top players have it made for themselves on the Snooker Tour.
I know people will say that they do not know the patterns of pool etc, but for me if they spent as much time practicing pool as they do at Snooker (around 7 hours a day), they could comfortably play against the best in the World.
i don't think anyone can truely dominate playing 9 ball, let alone a snooker player, but i think surely a snooker player could win the world championship, tony drago took 3rd place in 2003 and also won another descent sized tourney that year, but in the wpc in 2003 mark williams got beat i think 11-0 and he was the world snooker champion, but he didn't seem to take things too seriously, the main thing that would hold back snooker players is the break shot, a lot of it would come down to motivation, whether it be finacially or other wise, but they'd have to concentrate on pool more than snooker
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Buckster_uk said:
If you watch the women 9 ball players that came out of snooker, I think you will find their game is fairly basic with great shot making ability. I agree that pattern play is a must learn, though so is developing a good stroke for some position shots and strategy. I have seen 14.1 pool players that just can not match up with good nine ball players even though they run 100's. On the other hand some came out of 14.1 and became strong in 9 ball. My point is that probably only a select few of the snooker players would ever make it in professional 9 ball within the top group od players. Dominate, I do not think so. Though I do understand that in Europe 9 ball is gaining some momentum. In which case I think it would be fantastic as the Europeans know how to make the billiards game work financially.
Doesnt Steve Davis play 9-ball? (rhetorical question) He doesnt win much at all. That could be because he does not practice 9-ball or anything like that, but from what I see theres a reason why the top players around for 9-ball are on top are because they learn to play 9-ball and they only perfect on it.
My .02 at least,
Zach
My .02 at least,
Zach
DEATHTRON said:
Well said. Much like 9 ball players could very well learn and compete quite well in snooker if they chose to.
Already 9 ball and snooker enjoy worldwide participation, just that snooker seems to have better organization about it.
Buckster_uk said:
What would they bring to the game that would have them dominate? If it is shot making, top pool players hardly ever miss and I would expect the top snooker players would almost never miss as well. The demands of pool are not as high in my opinion as snooker so the playing field is pretty much level even if the snooker player is a bit better shot maker. To dominate would mean they can do something no one else can do, that is just not the case. And even if it is to any extent, it would just raise the bar a little and the rest of the players would begin to match it very quickly out of necessity as has been the case in sports from the beginning of organized competition. Although Fisher and friends are still dominant, the other players are improving as well and will at a point catch up. I was at a tournament years ago and ABC was taping it. They taped the mens final and were doing the ladies and I heard one of the guys from ABC who was there say they could never show this they just don't play good enough. After watching the men play, it would be embarrassing and un-watch able. They could never make that statement today, the women have come a long way.
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Snake said:
Womens pro pool is dominated by two great diciplined players in Corr and Fisher. As some posters earlier in the thread mentioned, womens pool is weak compared to mens pool. Yes, some of these women can play pool good, but less than a handful can play great. Steve Davis is a great all around pool player with a background in Snooker. Fisher and Corr dominate because they played championship quality snooker before women like Jeanette Lee even was a good amature 9-ball player.
But since there is little or no money to be made in 9-ball, the men snooker players will just stick with snooker. To answer your question, Snooker players would be a force to wrecken with if they decided to play 9-ball on 9ft tables.
The REAL question is can a 9-ball 9ft table player compete with Snooker players playing Snooker? Most likely not. But there is WAY more money in Snooker than pool...You would think, that guys like Strickland, Archer and Morris would give it a shot, even, players like Souquet, Reyes and Bustamante would give Snooker a try..
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Tony Drago finished 3rd at the WPC in 2003 and won the World Pool Masters the same year. Both he and Davis were knocked out in the round of 64 at last year's WPC.
I don't believe there are any recent examples of pool players attempting the switch to snooker. I suspect the big money is at the highest level while those ranked outside the top 64 barely earn a living and need to give lessons or have another job away from the game. If anyone can post a link of a complete snooker money list, I would love to compare the earnings between the two disciplines for the 100th ranked player.
In the next three years, I bet we see some snooker pros take a shot at pool in the US. I'm not talking about any of the Top 32, but a few from the lower ranks of the Main Tour.
I don't believe there are any recent examples of pool players attempting the switch to snooker. I suspect the big money is at the highest level while those ranked outside the top 64 barely earn a living and need to give lessons or have another job away from the game. If anyone can post a link of a complete snooker money list, I would love to compare the earnings between the two disciplines for the 100th ranked player.
In the next three years, I bet we see some snooker pros take a shot at pool in the US. I'm not talking about any of the Top 32, but a few from the lower ranks of the Main Tour.
9 ball players have no chance at snooker.............thats why none choose to...........ask King James.......he tried it in his absolute prime..........practiced everyday for 4yrs, and still could not compete at the top.........on the other hand , many snooker players can compete at a high level of 9 ballpete lafond said:
JustPlay said:
Another note of interest is that not as many women play 9 ball, especially here in the US and Canada as those women who play snooker off-shore. So given the number of women snooker players, they should dominate. The same does not hold true for men and nine ball.
Because pockets are tight in snooker does not mean that men 9 ball players can not meet the demands of the game. And. if you played 9 ball on a snooker table you would loose much of the excitement and thrill of fantastic shot making and position play which is 9-ball. There is no magic when it comes to playing any game of 9-ball or snooker and the level of talent is spread throughout all the games. Where a transformation into one game requires new shot making precision, the other game requires a more premier stroke. I vote that it all balances out.
The answer is yes snooker players can dominate, but not the players from the UK, or any country that teaches them to stand and stroke similar to Steve Davis. There are already two snooker players that are dominating players, Alex Pagulayan and Marlon Manalo. Both of them have more fluid strokes and monster breaks. The snooker players from the UK who all follow the same "elegant" style of playing would drastically have to make changes to their games to get where Alex and Marlon are. To play good 9-ball you need a 9-ball stroke and a break.
LastTwo said:
You feel that they could take more that 50% of the top 10 positions in 9 ball? Or are you saying they could have some representation in the top ten positions.
pete lafond said:
Alex Pagulayan is already one of the top 10 players in the world (IMO), the only people who will gamble with him are the Taiwanese. Marlon Manalo is the most feared player on the west coast tournament trail, so yes I think that snooker players can be in the upper-echelon of players. Notice that I said that I don't think the UK players or anyone who plays with that classic style can be ANY type of force in 9-ball. Find a snooker player with Alex or Marlon's stroke and you've got a good 9-ball player.
Just a note of information, Canada had a top ranked snooker (north american champion 20+ yrs, top five ranked in the world also for 20+ yrs) and pool player ( ran 150 and out on Irving Crane at I believe the '63 world straight pool championship, Crane was the reigning world champion) his name was George Chenier!