Me, too. We are watching the emergence of a generation of mega-stars on the women's side and it is, as you properly point out, a privilege to get to see it.
Chezka Centeno: The Next Ga Young Kim?
- Thread starter sjm
- Start date
Ga Young has not played pro pool for years. I'm surprised she even has a Fargo.Not sure why Ga Young Kim is not on the top list @ fargo, but her and Chezka are only 1 point apart.
Interesting...I saw her play a few years ago and she was almost as good as I hope to be and gy Kim was better then.
A couple years can can see big change, truth.
GYK has Never been better than Peavey! or will she.
She is learning the game. GYK tries shots that are too High%.
SP plays some position.
GYK is 41, SP is 33.
Some players aspirations/abilities aren't as high as others.
I first saw Chezka last winter. She was sporting pink hair and knocking her opponents around like cheap cardboard cutouts in a dilapidated Sears store.
My first thought was, who the heck is this woman and how come I’ve never heard of her before? I thought I was pretty familiar with all the top women.
Not sure I ever saw a player shoot so fast and accurately. Her pre-shot routine consists of one or one and a half prestrokes and away she goes. She is arguably the best potter in the women’s game already.
Of course, she has holes in her game. Her safety play is … interesting, to say the least.
Both Chou and Seo tried to slow her down and outfox her. At times they appeared to have the edge. Chezka got in some holes, not surprisingly, but she then dug herself out almost immediately. Even when she got out of line, she quickly got back in line with a great shot or great leave.
Amazingly her play in Las Vegas was inconsistent all week, and yet she still won. As she gets older and slows down a bit naturally, I suspect the rest of her game will mature too.
I do wonder how other pros will respond. They almost seem put off by her speed and they get taken out of their own games not by Chezka, but by themselves. It’s the intimidation factor.
Look forward to seeing how her game evolves.
My first thought was, who the heck is this woman and how come I’ve never heard of her before? I thought I was pretty familiar with all the top women.
Not sure I ever saw a player shoot so fast and accurately. Her pre-shot routine consists of one or one and a half prestrokes and away she goes. She is arguably the best potter in the women’s game already.
Of course, she has holes in her game. Her safety play is … interesting, to say the least.
Both Chou and Seo tried to slow her down and outfox her. At times they appeared to have the edge. Chezka got in some holes, not surprisingly, but she then dug herself out almost immediately. Even when she got out of line, she quickly got back in line with a great shot or great leave.
Amazingly her play in Las Vegas was inconsistent all week, and yet she still won. As she gets older and slows down a bit naturally, I suspect the rest of her game will mature too.
I do wonder how other pros will respond. They almost seem put off by her speed and they get taken out of their own games not by Chezka, but by themselves. It’s the intimidation factor.
Look forward to seeing how her game evolves.
Great post!
What may be a difficult out for many she just makes it look so easy. And to do it so quickly definitely intimidates her opponents in my opinion.
check out her match against chou
i saw a V, so vantage
I enjoy Chezka's game as much as anyone. She is so natural, smooth, and quick, I sometimes wonder how anyone ever beats her.
At least until a seemingly rushed, unforced error comes out of nowhere. She's not yet 25, so still quite young with time to improve. But that got me thinking...
Stu, in your experience. How common is it for pool players to make great strides in their game after age 25 or so? Specifically, the all-time greats?
I can't think of any, but I've of course not followed pool for nearly as long or as closely as you. I think to other sports (baseball, football, basketball, etc) and most every great player was a star by 25 or never really would be. The exceptions are very few and far between.
I think pool has a gentler aging curve than the more physically demanding sports, but I'm not yet convinced it's not a similar shape. That is, top players are top players by their early 20s, and folks don't develop "late." If true, Chezka might be a tantalizing talent, one we always think will take the next step, but never quite does.
Now, clearly, she's already a top-5 female player, so it's hard to fault her. But when she could be a top-5 female player of all time? That might be harder to see if we are still talking how she would need to improve to get there, rather than just maintain what she's already doing.
(I'll keep rooting for her, regardless.)
Great question here, Rocket.
It's definitely true that the legendary players have usually shown world championship form by the time they're 20 at the pool table. Certainly, Jean Balukas, Ewa Mayaya , Loree Jon Jones, Jeanette Lee, and Robin Bell Dodson did. Gerda Hofstatter bloomed at about 25, and the three snooker cross-overs, Allison Fisher, Karen Corr and Kelly Fisher all reached 25 before they developed their skills at the pool table. By the age of 30, each was a legend. It's never too late to learn the skills needed to become a world champion pool player provided one has the work ethic.
Chezka is 24, but she didn't compete much from 2019-22, focusing on other things in life, and like most Asians, playing it safe until COVID blew over. She had wowed us with her stroke even before that, but when she began to play the full complement of premier events worldwide in 2023, she quickly bagged the 2023 World 10-ball title.
As you note, there's no guarantee that she'll make great strides over the next few years, but to be fair, despite her great accomplishments so far, she is a bit inexperienced compared to a typical 24 year old pro.
I think the deck is stacked in her favor, as she'll have access to the top Philippines-based players and some of the more legendary decision makers our game has ever seen in people like Reyes, Bustamante, Orcullo and Corteza and even fellow female pro Rubilen Amit. The Filipinos really support each other in pro pool, and that's one reason they are so successful. I'm betting on Chezka, not against her, and I see every reason to believe she can be one of the best ever.
We shall see.
The most obvious and recent example is Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.
He was a very good player living in David Alcade's shadow the first decade of his career. Then, just after turning 30, he went on an unprecedented tear in 2022 and 2023. He won a bunch of major titles in a two-year span.
Or take Albin Ouschan. He was a top European player by the age of 25. Played in the Mosconi starting in 2015 and won the WPA nine-ball title in 2016. But his game really took off after the pandemic. He went on a big tear in 2021 and 2022.
Once a bit of a hothead, Ouschan is a cool customer today. He is arguably the finest tactician in the men's game. His safety play is outstanding.
As good as Joshua Filler is, his safety and kicking game are much better now than they were just three years ago. If he becomes the greatest ever, it will be because of that.
Where have you been? Chezka has been around for years.
Having observed her over the years, she actually has slowed down. Which is probably the reason for her more recent successes.
That's a great point. And I feel the intimidation factor is one of Chezka's more powerful weapons.
Chezka only started to grace the international stage in a big way in 2023, as sjm noted. I went back last winter/fall to look at her career and noticed the near absence of any tournament play outside of Asia.
Covid obviously was a big reason. And many Filipino players don't travel far because of the cost.
What seems to have changed the situation in the past year was the 2023 World Cup of Pool title by Filipinos James Aranas and Johann Chua. They fairly well dominated the tournament against the best players in the world.
The victory opened the eyes of every Filipino player. Anton Raga mentioned seeing that win and being inspired when he almost won the 2023 European title. All of a sudden I started seeing Filipino players who had not shown up much at international events suddenly making appearances.
Around the same time, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and a few other big stars made the rounds in the Philippines. The Filipino opponents more than held their own, giving them the confidence they could play with anyone.
It's almost as Covid dealt a blow to the psyche of all Filipino players stuck at home because it forced them to be so insular. They seemed to start thinking they were not good enough to play with the best in the world.
And now the cockiness or confidence is returning.
Chezka will improve all facets of her game playing top opponents. It's inevitable. And every tournament promoter should want her.
But nothing in life is guaranteed. The promise is there. It is up to her to make the most of it.
Covid obviously was a big reason. And many Filipino players don't travel far because of the cost.
What seems to have changed the situation in the past year was the 2023 World Cup of Pool title by Filipinos James Aranas and Johann Chua. They fairly well dominated the tournament against the best players in the world.
The victory opened the eyes of every Filipino player. Anton Raga mentioned seeing that win and being inspired when he almost won the 2023 European title. All of a sudden I started seeing Filipino players who had not shown up much at international events suddenly making appearances.
Around the same time, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and a few other big stars made the rounds in the Philippines. The Filipino opponents more than held their own, giving them the confidence they could play with anyone.
It's almost as Covid dealt a blow to the psyche of all Filipino players stuck at home because it forced them to be so insular. They seemed to start thinking they were not good enough to play with the best in the world.
And now the cockiness or confidence is returning.
Chezka will improve all facets of her game playing top opponents. It's inevitable. And every tournament promoter should want her.
But nothing in life is guaranteed. The promise is there. It is up to her to make the most of it.
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Chezka has been around for years, all right, but she mostly disappeared from the international stage from 2017 to late 2022, from what I can see.
As it happens, I didn't get back into pool until 2022 after a long absence. I then started watching pro pool and getting familiar with all the top players.
Chezka started showing up again on the global stage with last year's WPA 9-ball and 10-ball tournaments. That is when I first saw her.
I did notice that she played a bit slower in Las Vegas. But she played pretty damned fast the first time I saw her when she crushed Margaret Fefilova Styer.
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When she hits her groove, she's highly explosive and so fun to watch. I agree with everyone saying that the intimidation factor helps her get over the finish line. She's great for a primetime viewing experience. We are fortunate to witness greatness emerge before our eyes. I get excited everytime I watch her play.
This is a post of the very highest quality. Well said!