This is wonderful news, as to this point, just the opposite has been true. The Mosconi points race runs from November to November, so it is nearly half over, and Justin has zero Mosconi ranking points at present.
The fact that he is playing in an Ultimate 8ball event, to me, is of no import, but Florida Open, US Open and Arizona Open are all WNT majors that figure to have tough fields. They will be a good proving ground for a player that has not, to my knowledge, played in a rotation pool major this decade.
I have long been a Justin Bergman fan and may well have been the first to declare him to be America's best "after-the-break player" some ten years ago. He has always had a great mind for pool, and if he is ready to start competing frequently at rotation pool again, perhaps he can rediscover some of the old magic. He is one of America's best ever defensive players and he is also a great kicker. The fact that his break was always his weakness won't matter as much today as it did in his prime. Back then, there was no break box, the pockets were 4 1/2" and the one was racked on the spot. I'm guessing Justin will find WNT conditions to his liking.
He's giving himself every opportunity to show Johan the state of his game. I'm sure he realizes in full that if his competitive results in WNT play are unremarkable, Johan would be unlikely to use up a Team USA wild card on someone who will be 39 by the time the selections are made. That said, there is no reason to think that those results will be unremarkable, for if Justin gives it everything he has, I think he will be successful.
Go get 'em Justin. You can do this!
