Here are the top Europeans that are currently active by Fargo Rating. Feijen, Shaw, and Appleton are in the top 5.
Albin is #12 in Europe. I understand he won China and got to the finals in Doha.
--But he came within a couple of games of not advancing out of the qualifying rounds in China,
--And then he let every opponent in the elimination stage in China get to at least 7,
--and then he went two and out in the follow-up tournament the next week in China, not getting past 5 (to 9) in either match.
--Then he returned to Europe. and lost 9-3 to Souquet in Austria...
Albin is a fantastic up-and-coming player. But he's closer to Petri Makkonen than he is to Shaw or Appleton. People tend to put too much emphasis on a few short-race, single elimination events.
Sanchez Ruiz hasn't left Europe, so far as we can see. But he is playing at a very high level against European opponents. Essentially the slew of opponents that Albin is beating 9 to 7 Ruiz is beating 9 to 6.
