There's not really any such thing as a best in the world right now, just the best for a given stretch of time.
If you're lucky that stretch of time is a long one... like Mika was the best for all of 2009.
Thorsten's stretch is several months now. Who knows if it will last or who will take over next.
I've heard gripes the HOF is not totally objective or unbiased so who knows if he'll make that.
And as for all-time, how do you compare a modern player who does 8/9/10b/14.1/1p to guys who dominated
only straight pool for decades?
Let's say that Thorsten is a real threat in any of the existing popular tournament formats.
He may not beat shane in 10 ball race to 100, but outside of a tar-length race he can win any straight pool
or 9b/10b tournament.
If you're lucky that stretch of time is a long one... like Mika was the best for all of 2009.
Thorsten's stretch is several months now. Who knows if it will last or who will take over next.
I've heard gripes the HOF is not totally objective or unbiased so who knows if he'll make that.
And as for all-time, how do you compare a modern player who does 8/9/10b/14.1/1p to guys who dominated
only straight pool for decades?
Let's say that Thorsten is a real threat in any of the existing popular tournament formats.
He may not beat shane in 10 ball race to 100, but outside of a tar-length race he can win any straight pool
or 9b/10b tournament.