Live NOW! Austin Murphy vs. Efren Reyes
- Thread starter JB Cases
- Start date
Is Austin going to enter this Qualifier or is he already qualified?
Danny K's Hosts LA Qualifier for Predator International 10-Ball Championships
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qualifier Date May 3,2008
Danny K's in Los Angeles, CA
Winner receives free entry fee and spot into 8th Predator International 10-Ball Championship
Held in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel May 12-17,2008 during the BCAPL 8-Ball Championships
Entry fee $50
double elimination
limited to 32 players
Race to 7 10-ball - winner breaks
please contact Danny K's at :
1096 N. Main St. ● Orange, CA 92867 ● (714) 771-9706
http://www.dannyks.com/
Danny K's Hosts LA Qualifier for Predator International 10-Ball Championships
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qualifier Date May 3,2008
Danny K's in Los Angeles, CA
Winner receives free entry fee and spot into 8th Predator International 10-Ball Championship
Held in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel May 12-17,2008 during the BCAPL 8-Ball Championships
Entry fee $50
double elimination
limited to 32 players
Race to 7 10-ball - winner breaks
please contact Danny K's at :
1096 N. Main St. ● Orange, CA 92867 ● (714) 771-9706
http://www.dannyks.com/
hang-the-9 said:
Think about that for a second.
You realize if the pockets were bigger that Efren still has the advantage, right?
Let's face the facts. Efren is a top tier pro who has a better stroke, more knowledge, and much more experience than this Austin kid.
These two could play match after match, and anyone who would even consider putting money on Austin must hate money.
That's not to say Austin doesn't have a great future ahead of him right now. But seriously, it makes me wonder if people actually thought he had a chance against Efren.
fanthom said:This about says it all. Good wan! I've known Austin ever since he's a young kid, perhaps 7 or 8 from the local SF Bay Area tourneys he and his older brother participated in. He has a very supportive and loving family which means alot to a kid. An observation I had with Austin is he appears to be very emotional when a match's outcome turns out otherwise. It appears to still be the case according to some of the posts here. IMO, Austin could be bettered emotionally and skillfully, but he needs to be exposed to tougher competition against better players around his age up to maybe 21 y.o.
It is unfortunate that the Philippines is far-off and US visas are hard to come by because there are many in Austin's age there that would be willing to step up and take the challenge. Mika Immonen and Marcus Chamat did and have improved, matured and intensified their games. Efren and all the other Phil. players were honed in this environment where natural talent, skill, perseverance, tenacity and intestinal fortitude must all go together to prevail. Players that are constantly exposed to such tough competitive environment eventually becomes accustomed to the rigors of stiff competition and the handling of defeat. I suppose Mr. J Helfert is a witness to a few of these. And BTW, crying in public from a loss is not well received and becomes the object of ridicule, more oftenly becomes the involuntary 'a.k.a' of a player and should best be done, if at all necessary, in private with no witnesses.
The 2008 10-ball WPC will be upcoming this September. It would be a great exposure and opportunity for Austin if he can be sponsored and make a month trip to play the qualifiers and hopefully the main event. There will be plenty of local action as well where he can have a good gauge of where his game stands against the Philippine and international arena.
I stayed off this thread for a long time, but this post got me motivated to respond.
I've watched Austin develop over the last few years and he has a lot of potential as a player. Will he make it to the top remains to be seen. Among the very young players I give Landon and Chuckie the best chance at pool stardom. They seem better suited to handle the rigors of pro pool. I wish Austin the best, but he needs to develop a little more maturity as a player. Getting upset will only hurt your game, not improve it.
As far as the young filipinos are concerned, I've seen several in the 14-16 year old range who could give Efren problems RIGHT NOW! He would have to get down and play his best to win. Efren would be the favorite over these filipino kids, but they wouldn't be nervous and they wouldn't fear him. They would be trying hard to beat him. And they have some serious firepower as well, and Efren knows it! He knows who they are better than me.
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You're right about the Filipino kids Jay! But that brings up the question of environment. Those kids are among the very best in the world all the time so the "training" they get is tougher than any other place on Earth. The only other place that is close is Taiwan.
In the USA our kids are taught to lay down to trap opponents in order to keep the action flowing. Our kids go to tournaments and they are treated as circus freaks rather than serious competitiors.
Austin will go one of two directions, either he will bear down and put in the work and get as far as his talent will take him or he will quit. Pool is not a matter of survival for Austin as it is with so many others, including a lot of the Filipino kids.
It's a different story when your existence hangs on the game.
In the USA our kids are taught to lay down to trap opponents in order to keep the action flowing. Our kids go to tournaments and they are treated as circus freaks rather than serious competitiors.
Austin will go one of two directions, either he will bear down and put in the work and get as far as his talent will take him or he will quit. Pool is not a matter of survival for Austin as it is with so many others, including a lot of the Filipino kids.
It's a different story when your existence hangs on the game.
In my humble opinion, I think that Austin should have waited until he was a little bit older and more mature as a player to play Efren in this setting. I have seen Austin play, and the kid plays STRONG! I don't think that he is pro level. He is a good shortstop, and that says alot for someone who is 14 years old.
I really think it would have been better if Austin just challenged Reyes to a small money game at some tournament later on down the line. I wanted to see two champions battling it out, not a mismatch. And the reason why it was a mismatch is because a group of people voted for Austin 100x per day.
He needs to get a reputation before he belongs in a challenge match of this sort, playing someone like Efren. I don't think Austin was selfish, but I really don't think he deserved to play.
I hope I'm not talking down on Austin, I am just saying how I really feel about the whole thing. He claimed that he was ready to play Efren, and he really wasnt. Austin was CLEARLY off his game. But when he was campaigning for votes here, he implied that he would pose a challenge to Reyes. He didnt. Instead of a great match, we got a mismatch, so it was a little dissapointing to me.
I really think it would have been better if Austin just challenged Reyes to a small money game at some tournament later on down the line. I wanted to see two champions battling it out, not a mismatch. And the reason why it was a mismatch is because a group of people voted for Austin 100x per day.
He needs to get a reputation before he belongs in a challenge match of this sort, playing someone like Efren. I don't think Austin was selfish, but I really don't think he deserved to play.
I hope I'm not talking down on Austin, I am just saying how I really feel about the whole thing. He claimed that he was ready to play Efren, and he really wasnt. Austin was CLEARLY off his game. But when he was campaigning for votes here, he implied that he would pose a challenge to Reyes. He didnt. Instead of a great match, we got a mismatch, so it was a little dissapointing to me.
hang-the-9 said:
I dunno bout the score line would be a 10 or a win because of the tight pockets. besides Efren struggled with those pockets as well. so it could be the same result or far worse of what we've seen (15-6). also the fact that this is only an exhibition match and Efren was simply cruising and giving the kid a break. The Efren that we know doesn't play like this and we know what he is capable of. anyway, according to what Efren said in his interview, he is already experiencing some problems with his stroke consistency and that his back troubles him a lot whenever he bends over the table in every shot.
as for Austin, He'd be glad that he was able to play against the great Efren in the twilight of his career. atleast he got the bragging rights of telling everyone, that he was there and played against the best. truly a very memorable experience.
jay helfert said:
Thanks Jay. I had the fortune to vacation in 1999 and 2004 and I thought I'd bring it up here as a constructive suggestion for the younger US players. I've always enjoyed witnessing tight competition and the Philippines is one place where I've seen it happen, at least in pool. The younglings were really playing their hearts out and I've always appreciated the 'DO OR DIE' and 'CAN DO' spirit in competition. It can never be thought. Either comes natural or a lesson hard learned through experience. When they lose, they lick their wounds. Come back and try again and again. That's fighting spirit and that I love to watch in a battle. 'THE ONLY THING TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF, Nothin' else.'
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bandido said:.......and Petroni (but dunno if banging his head on the table was learned here
I can't believe my eyes when I saw Petroni hanging around with our regular shortstops and
going from place to place and playing those 1 day tournaments that Julie Falcon used to
set up! I believe that was in '00-'01 when he went with Marcus Chamat, and I was one of
those who went along with the circus act!
Mika was on the higher end of pool as he kept himself within the Makati/Cubao area.
I can't believe nobody in here mention Tang Hoa, who considers Manila as his 2nd home!
...and Markus Juvagopi-1 said:I can't believe my eyes when I saw Petroni hanging around with our regular shortstops and
going from place to place and playing those 1 day tournaments that Julie Falcon used to
set up! I believe that was in '00-'01 when he went with Marcus Chamat, and I was one of
those who went along with the circus act!
Mika was on the higher end of pool as he kept himself within the Makati/Cubao area.
I can't believe nobody in here mention Tang Hoa, who considers Manila as his 2nd home!
gopi-1 said:I can't believe my eyes when I saw Petroni hanging around with our regular shortstops and
going from place to place and playing those 1 day tournaments that Julie Falcon used to
set up! I believe that was in '00-'01 when he went with Marcus Chamat, and I was one of
those who went along with the circus act!
Mika was on the higher end of pool as he kept himself within the Makati/Cubao area.
I can't believe nobody in here mention Tang Hoa, who considers Manila as his 2nd home!
Did these guys mix it up with the local talents like those in Farmers, Coronado lanes, Side Pocket and One Side? How did they measure up? Who is Julie Falcon?
fanthom said:
They all did play there and more, but let's just say it was a rude awakening for them.
Julie is our poor man's version of Mike Massey, and he saw he didn't have any future on
trick shots whatsoever and decided to be a TD who's always looking for sponsors to
stage one day tournaments for shortstops. I've been out of the Philippine pool scene
for almost 5 years now (migrated to the US Summer '03), but I still keep abreast of
what's going on in there...
Julie Guevarra, aka Falcon, now heads a local amateur tournament at
Hobbies of Asia (Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City) every Saturday, 7 PM onwards.
The open 9-ball tournaments feature amateur players who slug it out
to win the Php5,000 ($125) first prize. (2nd prize is Php2,000).
Weekly winners are pitted again each other at the end of the month
to determine that month's champion.
Monthly champions (from April to November 2008) then battle it out in
December 2008 for the Php50,000 grand prize.
Enough of the competition thing!
Yes, Falcon does trick shots and all. The crowd was treated to some last Saturday.
He is also one of the best players to play pool using one hand - no bridge hand!
Believe you me, he could draw, follow, stop, put english and all on the cue ball
without using a bridge hand! And I kid you not!
Twice I saw him play 9-ball using just one hand (no bridge hand). He even gave
weight to the opposing player, i.e., i believe it was the 8. And Falcon won just
the same - no kidding!
He has tattoos of cue balls on his body, a particular one that everyone
would notice is the 9-ball cue ball tattoo on his wrist.
Falcon also hangs out at Fusion and One-Side. He's a really nice chap
in my book - absolutely loves pool - lives and breathes by it
Hobbies of Asia (Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City) every Saturday, 7 PM onwards.
The open 9-ball tournaments feature amateur players who slug it out
to win the Php5,000 ($125) first prize. (2nd prize is Php2,000).
Weekly winners are pitted again each other at the end of the month
to determine that month's champion.
Monthly champions (from April to November 2008) then battle it out in
December 2008 for the Php50,000 grand prize.
Enough of the competition thing!
Yes, Falcon does trick shots and all. The crowd was treated to some last Saturday.
He is also one of the best players to play pool using one hand - no bridge hand!
Believe you me, he could draw, follow, stop, put english and all on the cue ball
without using a bridge hand! And I kid you not!
Twice I saw him play 9-ball using just one hand (no bridge hand). He even gave
weight to the opposing player, i.e., i believe it was the 8. And Falcon won just
the same - no kidding!
He has tattoos of cue balls on his body, a particular one that everyone
would notice is the 9-ball cue ball tattoo on his wrist.
Falcon also hangs out at Fusion and One-Side. He's a really nice chap
in my book - absolutely loves pool - lives and breathes by it
gopi-1 said:
