Do you agree with final 64 - Single Elim.?

[Snapshot9]

I have mixed feelings about the final 64 being single elimination.

How do all of you feel? Is Single all right or should it be Double elimination?

 

[Celtic]

I think the event should be seeded right from the start and should go straight into a double elimination event instead of spending the first 4 days doing round robin. I hate the round robin format to start the event and making those 4 days into the first four days of a double knockout event with races to 11 on the A side through to the later rounds and races to 9 on the B-side till later rounds would be a better way to go about things.

 

[vapoolplayer]

this may sound crazy, but i think the entire tourney should be a huge round robin. everyone plays everyone else, race to 11. winner or alternating breaks.

this would definitely prove who is the most consistent/best player.

but hey, i also think the winner should get a million bucks.

VAP

 

[sjm]

I love this format. Let's not forget that the round robin format is seeded. The sixteen best players in the eyes of the seeding committee are placed in sixteen different groups, so those having a track record of excellence on the world stage are rewarded for it, just as it should be.

Nonetheless, pool is a sport in which the world's best hook up far too rarely for there to be a truly objective means of ranking and seeding all the players entered in the world championships. The round robin format says "if you can play some, prove it, and if you do, you'll get to compete for the world title." The real beauty of the round robin is that it enables every player in the field to showcase his talent and allows the pool fans of the world to learn so much about the players of the world.

I find this format extremely fair, and past results verify that the cream rises to the top. Some of the underdogs have now earned a right to run with the true thorougbreds of our sport, and in the next few days we'll learn who's got what it takes.

Making the knockout event double elimination would add several days to an already long event. I don't think it would be practical.

 

[BlowFish]

There really is nothing wrong either way or combination. It's all right. That's the order of battle and that's how players are judged.

 

[Egg McDogit]

I think the event should be seeded right from the start and should go straight into a double elimination event instead of spending the first 4 days doing round robin. I hate the round robin format to start the event and making those 4 days into the first four days of a double knockout event with races to 11 on the A side through to the later rounds and races to 9 on the B-side till later rounds would be a better way to go about things.

I'd like to see it the other way around...kind of like what VAP said. Starting out with race to 11 single elim and then at 8 or 16 left, doing a round robin

 

[sniper]

I kind of like the event the way it is now, maybe change the round robin format a little bit instead of having race to 5 alternating breaks, maybe make it race to 7 or even 9 and have winner breaks, but this creates a dilema for TV matches which would be become considerably longer.

 

[DoomCue]

I'd like to see it the other way around...kind of like what VAP said. Starting out with race to 11 single elim and then at 8 or 16 left, doing a round robin

I'd tend to agree, except that a lot of the time, round robin format tournaments are over before all the matchups are done. This leads to anticlimactic matches, which is not good for TV. I think a round robin format definitely is the fairest way to determine the best player out of a group of players, but I don't think the format lends itself well to increasing the popularity of televised pool (here in the States, anyway). Round robin would just be one more thing Joe Shmoe doesn't understand about pool.

I like the format the way it is. There's an incredible amount of pressure to perform with the current format. In a short race to five, round robin, alternate break format, there's an increased premium placed on minimizing mistakes. Once a player has moved on to KO stages, the usual safety net of being able to take a loss, a la the usual double-elim format, is gone. This once again places a premium on minimizing mistakes, especially since the format switches to winner breaks in the KO stages. The WPC is a demanding test of mental toughness, and pool, although it has physical aspects, is primarily a mental exercise.

-djb

 

[efirkey]

I'd like to see it the other way around...kind of like what VAP said. Starting out with race to 11 single elim and then at 8 or 16 left, doing a round robin

Sounds more interesting. I would also make the round robin matches longer maybe 9 or 11 games. In a race to 5, I could get lucky and beat some of these champions.