Congratulations to Joshua Filler for Winning the World 9-Ball Championship

[sjm]

Let's see him get in the box with Dennis or Shane. Josh may be the "world champion," but Dennis and Shane are the World Champions when it comes to money games!

I think we should arrange to have this sort of post "auto-generated" by AZB. Has there ever been a thread commending the winner of an event in which SVB contended but lost where noone said or implied that the champion wouldn't have won had the races been longer or had it been an action match?

Winning a World 9-ball championship is super-difficult, and the list of those who have accomplished the feat is a who's who list of pool. Some of the greats have never managed this very difficult feat. There is no "world championship of money games", and I'm not expecting to see one anytime soon.

Nobody suggests that a reigning world 9-ball Champion can beat anyone anytime under any conditions, and Filler can't either, but let's not make light of Filler's resume at 21.

From December 2017 to December 2018, Filler accomplished the following:

December 2017: A 5-0 campaign at the Mosconi, earning him the Mosconi Cup MVP.

June 2018: Won the World Pool Series 10-ball event with some of the straightest shooting I have ever seen. Shane and Dennis both competed in it.

Dec 2018: Won the World 9-ball Championship against a stellar field.

Nobody knows what's ahead for Filler. For all we know, he'll never win another event. What we do know, however, is that what he has accomplished already at the age of 21 is quite remarkable and that we should applaud rather than pooh-pooh these achievements. It isn't fair to compare him to all-time legends like SVB and Orcullo quite yet, for those are standards too high in the life of this young star.

If we don't find joy in the emergence of good, young new players like Filler (and a) Fedor Gorst, who came within a rack of winning the Bigfoot 10-ball and just won a Eurotour event and b) Skyler Woodward, who just wowed us at both the International 9-ball and the Mosconi Cup), are we real fans of pool?

Let's enjoy the moment and give the kid his due. For me, personally, watching the new stars of the game emerge is the greatest thrill of all as a fan.

 

[Swighey]

:thumbup:

I think we should arrange to have this sort of post "auto-generated" by AZB. Has there ever been a thread commending the winner of an event in which SVB contended but lost where noone said or implied that the champion wouldn't have won had the races been longer or had it been an action match?

Winning a World 9-ball championship is super-difficult, and the list of those who have accomplished the feat is a who's who list of pool. Some of the greats have never managed this very difficult feat. There is no "world championship of money games", and I'm not expecting to see one anytime soon.

Nobody suggests that a reigning world 9-ball Champion can beat anyone anytime under any conditions, and Filler can't either, but let's not make light of Filler's resume at 21.

From December 2017 to December 2018, Filler accomplished the following:

December 2017: A 5-0 campaign at the Mosconi, earning him the Mosconi Cup MVP.

June 2018: Won the World Pool Series 10-ball event with some of the straightest shooting I have ever seen. Shane and Dennis both competed in it, and Filler, if my memory serves, beat Orcullo in the semifinal.

Dec 2018: Won the World 9-ball Championship against a stellar field.

Nobody knows what's ahead for Filler. For all we know, he'll never win another event. What we do know, however, is that what he has accomplished already at the age of 21 is quite remarkable and that we should applaud rather than pooh-pooh these achievements. It isn't fair to compare him to all-time legends like SVB and Orcullo quite yet, for those are standards too high in the life of this young star.

If we don't find joy in the emergence of good, young new players like Filler (and a) Fedor Gorst, who came within a rack of winning the Bigfoot 10-ball and just won a Eurotour event and b) Skyler Woodward, who just wowed us at both the International 9-ball and the Mosconi Cup), are we real fans of pool?

Let's enjoy the moment and give the kid his due. For me, personally, watching the new stars of the game emerge is the greatest thrill of all as a fan.

:thumbup:

 

[jasonlaus]

I think we should arrange to have this sort of post "auto-generated" by AZB. Has there ever been a thread commending the winner of an event in which SVB contended but lost where noone said or implied that the champion wouldn't have won had the races been longer or had it been an action match?

Winning a World 9-ball championship is super-difficult, and the list of those who have accomplished the feat is a who's who list of pool. Some of the greats have never managed this very difficult feat. There is no "world championship of money games", and I'm not expecting to see one anytime soon.

Nobody suggests that a reigning world 9-ball Champion can beat anyone anytime under any conditions, and Filler can't either, but let's not make light of Filler's resume at 21.

From December 2017 to December 2018, Filler accomplished the following:

December 2017: A 5-0 campaign at the Mosconi, earning him the Mosconi Cup MVP.

June 2018: Won the World Pool Series 10-ball event with some of the straightest shooting I have ever seen. Shane and Dennis both competed in it, and Filler, if my memory serves, beat Orcullo in the semifinal.

Dec 2018: Won the World 9-ball Championship against a stellar field.

Nobody knows what's ahead for Filler. For all we know, he'll never win another event. What we do know, however, is that what he has accomplished already at the age of 21 is quite remarkable and that we should applaud rather than pooh-pooh these achievements. It isn't fair to compare him to all-time legends like SVB and Orcullo quite yet, for those are standards too high in the life of this young star.

If we don't find joy in the emergence of good, young new players like Filler (and a) Fedor Gorst, who came within a rack of winning the Bigfoot 10-ball and just won a Eurotour event and b) Skyler Woodward, who just wowed us at both the International 9-ball and the Mosconi Cup), are we real fans of pool?

Let's enjoy the moment and give the kid his due. For me, personally, watching the new stars of the game emerge is the greatest thrill of all as a fan.

Gotta spread it around before I can give you Rep. :thumbup:
Jason

 

[S.Vaskovskyi]

I think we should arrange to have this sort of post "auto-generated" by AZB. Has there ever been a thread commending the winner of an event in which SVB contended but lost where noone said or implied that the champion wouldn't have won had the races been longer or had it been an action match?

Winning a World 9-ball championship is super-difficult, and the list of those who have accomplished the feat is a who's who list of pool. Some of the greats have never managed this very difficult feat. There is no "world championship of money games", and I'm not expecting to see one anytime soon.

Nobody suggests that a reigning world 9-ball Champion can beat anyone anytime under any conditions, and Filler can't either, but let's not make light of Filler's resume at 21.

From December 2017 to December 2018, Filler accomplished the following:

December 2017: A 5-0 campaign at the Mosconi, earning him the Mosconi Cup MVP.

June 2018: Won the World Pool Series 10-ball event with some of the straightest shooting I have ever seen. Shane and Dennis both competed in it, and Filler, if my memory serves, beat Orcullo in the semifinal.

Dec 2018: Won the World 9-ball Championship against a stellar field.

Nobody knows what's ahead for Filler. For all we know, he'll never win another event. What we do know, however, is that what he has accomplished already at the age of 21 is quite remarkable and that we should applaud rather than pooh-pooh these achievements. It isn't fair to compare him to all-time legends like SVB and Orcullo quite yet, for those are standards too high in the life of this young star.

If we don't find joy in the emergence of good, young new players like Filler (and a) Fedor Gorst, who came within a rack of winning the Bigfoot 10-ball and just won a Eurotour event and b) Skyler Woodward, who just wowed us at both the International 9-ball and the Mosconi Cup), are we real fans of pool?

Let's enjoy the moment and give the kid his due. For me, personally, watching the new stars of the game emerge is the greatest thrill of all as a fan.

Tap...tap...tap...could not be said better!

 

[skogstokig]

yes, very well deserved. playing fast and loose, beautiful to watch. last year's final stages was slow and rather boring tbh, this year was better with shane, wu and filler going far.

 

[ChrisinNC]

When his game matures a bit, he will be unstoppable.

Some people on this forum (not me) stated not that long ago that Filler and his game was not nearly matured / experienced enough to win a world championship at least for a few more years. I guess they were wrong.

 

[Get_A_Grip]

What's interesting is that even with these new breaking rules, this event came down to the best breakers. Hit the break as soft as you can to make a legal break and hang the 1 ball near the top right corner pocket. The spread of balls usually made for an easy run-out in most cases.


Sent from my iPhone using AzBilliards Forums

 

[gxman]

I think top 3 from Europe is Shaw, Kaci, and Filler. Playing a race to 11 9-ball, it's anyones match.

Same for top 8-10 in the world when including Shane, Dennis, Biado, Big Ko, Wu, & JL Chang.

I might have to relook at the bracket, but the only player I think Filler beat from whom I listed is Biado in the Finals. Not that Albin and Kazakis are light weights.

According to Fargo, Filler was the 3rd top 10 player Biado played. A line up of Wu, Shane, then Filler, Biado was due to slip up.

With that said Filler played an outstanding Final

 

[terryhanna]

Terry, any specifics you remember for those of us not able to attend ?

These four sets were all big money 10 ball with 1000's of dollars wagered on them played in 2018 Aramith Action Room on a tight 9ft Diamond Table .

Filler played Jeff Deluna a race to 25 Filler won the match 25-17.

He played Ronnie Alcano two races. Ronnie won 1st set 21-19

Filler won the 2nd set after the stakes were raised 25-21

He played Roberto Gomez race to 23 and lost a nail biter, Filler was up 21-17 and lost the match 23-21

I had a huge DCC Action Room update thread going during the Derby that had much more details about all these matches and all the others in the 2018 Action Room here https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=467934

Some huge matches are already being scheduled for next month in the 2019 DCC Aramith Action Room, Carlo Biado vs Eklent Kaci has been confirmed already :yikes:

 

[gxman]

Being in action like that help builds character. I applaud Filler of not just being a tournament player.

 

[AtLarge]

... June 2018: Won the World Pool Series 10-ball event with some of the straightest shooting I have ever seen. Shane and Dennis both competed in it, and Filler, if my memory serves, beat Orcullo in the semifinal. ...

Filler's semifinal win was against Corteza. Kazakis beat Orcollo in the other semifinal.

 

[sjm]

Filler's semifinal win was against Corteza. Kazakis beat Orcollo in the other semifinal.

Thanks for the correction. I was there and still wasn't sure. I've corrected my post.

 

[Ak Guy]

A real 9 baller!

Filler makes 9 Ball look easy. About the only thing I don't care for is his theatrics after the game. But, I am old and he is not and he has good reason to celebrate a great achievement!

Carlo also is a great Ball player. He just seemed to be frustrated and out of sorts when he played Filler. I was pulling for Carlo to be a repeat since he beat Shane.

So many great players.

 

[gxman]

DCC 2019 in the backroom will be nuts. Kaci is into action too.

 

[sjm]

DCC 2019 in the backroom will be nuts. Kaci is into action too.

Yeah, good news for Bigtruck! He should have some good ones to choose from.