I keep hearing about the guy in the most glowing of terms. I am wondering, why is it that certain Asian players never play in the US? I am thinking of Yang, too. Can it be that they are satisfied with the San Miguel Tour and Tokyo 9 ball only? Does anyone know how I can watch Chao play (videos, internet, cable, etc.) other than taking a plane to Taipei?
Fong Pong Chao
- Thread starter lewdo26
- Start date
lewdo26 said:
Fang played in the U S Open a couple of years ago. And he also played in the challenge of champions a couple of times. When he played in the Open he was constantly distracted by a news film crew from Japan or whereever it is he is from. They followed him constantly and wherever he went. to eat,,they were there. He actually went to the bathroom 1 time and they waited outside the door for him. being a celebrity in his home country must be a bitch. he does play a good game of pool. Bet he would play better if the film crew stayed home................................................mike
lewdo26 said:
Lewdo, see if you can get a tape of Chao's classic match against Pagulayan in the 2004 World Championships. As you seem to understand, Chao is something special.
As for your observation, remember that the San Miguel tour is realtively new and that Yang and Chao didn't come to the USA even before that tour existed. There is one great international field that manages to attract even those that nearly never play in the USA, and that would be the BCA Open, but Yang and Chao don't even play in that one. Our loss.
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That Chao/Pagulayan match(I have it on tape) was a classic for sure.Pagulayan's on the hill leading 10-5. Chao wins to make it 6-10 and then break and runs 4 straight racks to tie it up hill-hill, 10-10.He comes up bad on the break and a saftey battle ensues. Alex makes a gutsy long bank to get a run out started but hooks himself shortly thereafter. He then does a two rail kick to pot the ball he was hooked on and proceeds to run out.GREAT action, it doesn't get any better sports fans.
That Chao is something else , top quality for sure. RJ
That Chao is something else , top quality for sure. RJ
This guy's my idol! Chao is from my hometown Taiwan, not Japan. Sjm and RJ, that game you guys are talking about was THE best game of pool I have ever seen. I watched it LIVE!!! RJ go through ur tape and if you see this crew-cut guy with a red t-shirt and glasses sitting in the middle...thats me! hehe. When Chao lost I was so bummed I just left even though there was another semi-final after that match. Anyway, there is a pool league in Taiwan that all of the pro Taiwanese players play in, don't know why they don't make more appearances overseas though. Would love to see them more often on TV here.
Tim.
Tim.
sjm, man it was such an honor seeing the man play, simply amazing. I've never been so nervous before. I remember watching the re-runs of that match when i got back to Canada, and that same choked feeling came back when Alex kicked that 3-ball in...OMG. Chao did an incredible job coming back, but gotta give Alex credit for pulling it out and making his way out of the mess with the 3-ball after sitting there watching Chao run all those racks to tie it up. Emotional rollercoaster that was! I actually got to exchange a few words with Chao and get and get my book signed in the practice area the next day too! That was awesome, made my summer. I think that match was a LOT more entertaining than the final match.
sjm said:
We were very fortunate here in Canada to get 18 hrs (9days at 2 hrs per) of 2004 World Pool Championship coverage including the group stages, round of 64,32,16,8,4 and then the final two players.It was highlights of certain complete games and not whole matches.Some of the matches were just excellent.I taped the whole works and deleted the commercials as I watched.If someone has a simuliar set of the 2002 WPC (or other pool tapes),PM and we can do a trade.
I heard the USA only got 4 hrs of television coverage. Considering all the great American stars like Archer,Strickland etc, that's really disappointing.RJ
The bitter truth is there's no competition here for the likes of Chao and Yang, except for the big guns like Archer, Strickland, Morris, etc, and they fly to Taipei several times a year to play in the tournaments there.
As the last WPC clearly illustrated, the talent in the east runs very, very deep, with qualifiers from Taiwan 2 of the last 8 players, and one unknown (even in Taiwan) snatching 2nd place. If they want a change of pace the Philipines is just a short hop over, and they have untapped players that will play anyone for any amount, world champion or not.
BTW, Chao is not some new face on the pool scene. The guy won 2 world championships, and one incredible challenge of champions against busta. That last rack is the single craziest run I've ever seen.
-Roger
As the last WPC clearly illustrated, the talent in the east runs very, very deep, with qualifiers from Taiwan 2 of the last 8 players, and one unknown (even in Taiwan) snatching 2nd place. If they want a change of pace the Philipines is just a short hop over, and they have untapped players that will play anyone for any amount, world champion or not.
BTW, Chao is not some new face on the pool scene. The guy won 2 world championships, and one incredible challenge of champions against busta. That last rack is the single craziest run I've ever seen.
-Roger
buddha162 said:
Yep, I think Chao is one of the most experienced of Taiwanese players. At least he was the first ever Taiwanese top player I heard of in the early 90s.
I think it's unbelievable how many talented pool players emerge from Taiwan. Their pool association was founded early 1990s and before that the pool clubs were constantly harrassed and raided by police and other authorities and they were not safe places to be. Mostly they were meeting places for organized gang members or something sinister like that. That's why there are so few old and very experienced pool players coming from Taiwan compared to the Philippines for instance.
I think there are so few lucrative tournaments on American soil so Yang, Chao and other Taiwanese players hardly ever make the trip.
The Chao-Pagulayan match at the WPC was probably the best match of 2004, that I've seen anyway. Does anyone know what Alex was shouting out after he won?
I've watched Chao on TV several times and he sure is one hell of a player, I am most impressed by his break, he hammers it every time and plants whitey square in the middle of the table every time, it's no wonder that he strings so many racks together. He was ill a few years back and didn't play at all during that time but he now looks to be back in his regular form.
I've watched Chao on TV several times and he sure is one hell of a player, I am most impressed by his break, he hammers it every time and plants whitey square in the middle of the table every time, it's no wonder that he strings so many racks together. He was ill a few years back and didn't play at all during that time but he now looks to be back in his regular form.
There are several reasons why most taiwanese players elect to not come to the states for tournaments. Firstly, like it was previously mentioned, there are enough top competiton in Taiwan already. There's really no great need to find anybody new to play against. Japan and the Philliphines are also much closer. Plus, the top European and American players go to Taiwan/Asia for tournaments several times a year. Second, there aren't that many big tournaments in the states to justify a flight over here. There's the usual US Open, Challenge of Champions, and so on. But the rest of the bigger tournaments are not any bigger than the tournaments in Asia. Third, there is a significant language barrier for most of the Taiwanese players. Fourth, a lot of the Taiwanese players are either running a pool room, helping to run a pool room, or are doing other things to make a living. So the free time to take 2 to 3 weeks off just to participate in a tournament just isn't there for many of the players. Its a shame. The Taiwanese Tour has one of the highest level, if not the highest level, of competiton. This is evident by the consistent strong showings of the Taiwanese players at WPC and the fact that a player that wasn't even on the offical pro circuit in Taiwan made it to the round of 32 at the WPC.
lewdo26 said:
The tape I have with Chao/Pagulayan is only a highlight tape with three other matches on it, all on one two hour tape.That particuliar match was shown in progress with Pagulayan leading 10-5 on the hill.What they show(on my tape) is Chao spectacularily winning the next five racks to make it 10-10.The hill-hill game is a classic. RJ
ps.The whole Chao/Pagulayan segment of that tape is only about 1/2 hr long.But excellent.