Matchroom Premier League Pool (PLP) (14-21 Feb2022), nineball, 9ft, Winner $20K

[sjm]

That was one hell of a final, with some serious ebbs and flows. Filler came out on fire, then Albin was sensational to catch him at 4-4, and then each made an unconscionable error down the stretch.

Congrats to Albin, who needed over 50 matches played to win this event a year ago. This year, he only needed 31.

 

[Poolplaya9]

I wonder why MR rebranded the event from Champion's League Pool (CLP) to Premier League Pool (PLP)? I know they changed the format slightly, but it really is the same event. The commentators even stated such. I like the word "Champion's" better than "Premier".

Could be because they aren't technically all champions depending on how you define it. I wonder though if they already have a potential future event/s in mind where the word champions would be in the title and be more fitting, and in the mean time they don't want to dilute the term by unnecessarily using it too often or in places where it would be more of a stretch for it to apply such as here.

 

[AtLarge]

Some stats on the event are now available here: https://forums.azbilliards.com/thre...mier-league-pool-9-ball-february-2022.540677/

 

[iusedtoberich]

A few huge pluses on the rules used this event for this fan:

1) Luck counts. Made it much more intesting to watch. During kicks, the players would sometimes whack at the ball, trying to luck something in, and sometimes it worked. This won Albin his match over Shane to get into the finals.

2) 2 way shots are back. This came up a ton. On the last day I saw Albin go for a cross side, and a safe. He missed the bank got perfect on the next ball, and got the safe.

3) HARD breaks! Thanks, they are back, after 20 years missing! It looked like 90's pool! CB breaking from the rail, full hit on the 1 ball, full speed, try to stop in the middle of the table. Like Busty, Daulton, Archer. No more cut breaks. No more Corey breaks. No more counting balls past the string. Just line up and hit them HARD.

 

[BeiberLvr]

A few huge pluses on the rules used this event for this fan:

1) Luck counts. Made it much more intesting to watch. During kicks, the players would sometimes whack at the ball, trying to luck something in, and sometimes it worked. This won Albin his match over Shane to get into the finals.

2) 2 way shots are back. This came up a ton. On the last day I saw Albin go for a cross side, and a safe. He missed the bank got perfect on the next ball, and got the safe.

3) HARD breaks! Thanks, they are back, after 20 years missing! It looked like 90's pool! CB breaking from the rail, full hit on the 1 ball, full speed, try to stop in the middle of the table. Like Busty, Daulton, Archer. No more cut breaks. No more Corey breaks. No more counting balls past the string. Just line up and hit them HARD.

I didn't get a chance to watch, but I'm assuming like other MR events...

4) Matches started as scheduled and the finals didn't play out at 1am.

 

[Swighey]

Could be because they aren't technically all champions depending on how you define it. I wonder though if they already have a potential future event/s in mind where the word champions would be in the title and be more fitting, and in the mean time they don't want to dilute the term by unnecessarily using it too often or in places where it would be more of a stretch for it to apply such as here.

It was actually "Championship" League rather than "Champion's". The snooker version is also called Championship League, probably to avoid copying "Champions League" which has been the brand name of the European football club championship since the 90s. "Premier League" matches Matchroom's darts competition name. Pool, like darts did, needs simpler branding - and I think "Premier League Pool" is ultimately a better mouthful.

 

[SLO-ROLL]

You're obviously thinking of a different Judd Trump. The snooker player came 33/48 at the US Open. He'd have needed three more match wins to reach the final 16 of the US Open.

That whole deal blew my mind, then I learned he played with a different cue and that really got me.

 

[sjm]

A few huge pluses on the rules used this event for this fan:

1) Luck counts. Made it much more intesting to watch. During kicks, the players would sometimes whack at the ball, trying to luck something in, and sometimes it worked. This won Albin his match over Shane to get into the finals.

2) 2 way shots are back. This came up a ton. On the last day I saw Albin go for a cross side, and a safe. He missed the bank got perfect on the next ball, and got the safe.

3) HARD breaks! Thanks, they are back, after 20 years missing! It looked like 90's pool! CB breaking from the rail, full hit on the 1 ball, full speed, try to stop in the middle of the table. Like Busty, Daulton, Archer. No more cut breaks. No more Corey breaks. No more counting balls past the string. Just line up and hit them HARD.

Though it built a bit slowly to its crescendo, this was a superb event, and you've highlighted some of the reasons. This was a very comprehensive test of cueing skills.

 

[spartan]

Congrats to Albin.
Albin is the best tournament player NOW cos he has arguably the best mental game in pool. As they say sports is 90% mental.
Other semifinalists must be secretly glad that this is a non-ranking event

-The format of this event (and 4 inch pockets) is probably the best format to determine who are the best players. It is also excellent training for Mosconi Cup and MC players should be selected using this format
-The semifinalists (Albin, Filler, SVB, Shaw) are acknowledged as the top 4 (in terms of big titles won NOT Fargorate) in this field of 16. Before this event, few would fancy upcoming stars Kaci, FSR to make semis over Albin despite their higher Fargorate.
-Albin and Filler “deserved” to be in final as they were the top 2 players (after 3 robin stages and 29 matches) in league table. They were also most consistent overall (despite slumps near end of round robin matches) with Albin holding record of 10 match winning streak and Filler with 8.

 

[Tin Man]

What a great event.

I would have loved to have seen the semi-finals and finals be 2/3 races to 5. Somehow it just seemed like they played for a week to get to the final four in this super long format, then they play one race to 7 for all of it with the last sets essentially coming down to the last game or two.

Ah well, we'd all make minor tweaks if we ran the show. I'll enjoy the tremendous success that it was, as in all other ways I give this five stars. Love the tight pockets, hard breaks, and the many short sets variation. Big win for pool.

 

[kitsap]

If you have not seen this, it is worth a few minutes of your time.

 

[BlueRaider]

If you have not seen this, it is worth a few minutes of your time.

It's hard for me to even fathom how these guys run out so easily on pockets that tight. Firing balls in with speed and spin, over and over, rarely missing.

Playing on 4" pockets is a different game entirely compared to playing on even 4.5" pockets, which itself is a different game compared to playing on 5" pockets.

That said, the game they're playing is what the elites need to play. Even though they're still overwhelming favorites to get out when they're in line, they still have to work to earn those outs because even the smallest lapse in focus is enough to cause a miss.

 

[sjm]

What a great event.

I would have loved to have seen the semi-finals and finals be 2/3 races to 5. Somehow it just seemed like they played for a week to get to the final four in this super long format, then they play one race to 7 for all of it with the last sets essentially coming down to the last game or two.

Ah well, we'd all make minor tweaks if we ran the show. I'll enjoy the tremendous success that it was, as in all other ways I give this five stars. Love the tight pockets, hard breaks, and the many short sets variation. Big win for pool.

Nice post. I liked the one short race finals, but your suggested format would have worked well, too. As we see every December at the Mosconi, fans love the tension that comes with short races.

Another thing worth noting is that the conditions got tougher as the week continued. Credit to Karl Boyes for mentioning early in the week that this would be the case. Both of the tables in use got about ten hours of play on each of the first seven days of the event. By the time we got to the climactic eighth day, the top pros were playing on worn cloth and the conditions were noticeably a little tougher than on day one.

Is it any wonder that this event delivered one of the most elite final stages (Ouschan, Filler, SVB, Shaw) in our sport's history? In fact, the only time I can remember where the late rounds were this star-studded was at the 1990 US Open 9-ball, when the last three standing were Varner, Archer and Sigel, three legends and future hall of famers. More recently, the 2016 US Open 9-ball gave us a similarly strong last three of SVB, JL Chang and Jayson Shaw and the 2012 US Open 9-ball gave us SVB, Orcullo and Pagulayan as the last three standing.

Just about everything worked right at the Premier Pool League event. Matchroom delivers again!

 

[sjm]

I think SVB may have dispelled the myth that short races don't fit his game. We hear this every year around Mosconi Cup time, but I think that at the Mosconi, it's the craziness, hoopla, and team setting, not the race length, that have not suited him.

Shane's play was superb all week, and it can be argued that he was unlucky in the double hill rack of the semifinal, falling just a hair short of reaching the final. Those of us who've been around the game a long time well remember that Shane was just as successful at the Derby City 9-ball when it was race to seven as when they switched to race to nine.

Shane embraced the short race to the max this week and really found his comfort zone. Well played, Albin, but well played Shane, as well!

 

[Swighey]

I think SVB may have dispelled the myth that short races don't fit his game. We hear this every year around Mosconi Cup time, but I think that at the Mosconi, it's the craziness, hoopla, and team setting, not the race length, that have not suited him.

Shane's play was superb all week, and it can be argued that he was unlucky in the double hill rack of the semifinal, falling just a hair short of reaching the final. Those of us who've been around the game a long time well remember that Shane was just as successful at the Derby City 9-ball when it was race to seven as when they switched to race to nine.

Shane embraced the short race to the max this max and really found his comfort zone. Well played, Albin, but well played Shane, as well!

Yes, but Shane was playing all day long, short race after short race. Wasn't playing cold. But yes, well played Shane!

 

[BlueRaider]

I think SVB may have dispelled the myth that short races don't fit his game. We hear this every year around Mosconi Cup time, but I think that at the Mosconi, it's the craziness, hoopla, and team setting, not the race length, that have not suited him.

Shane's play was superb all week, and it can be argued that he was unlucky in the double hill rack of the semifinal, falling just a hair short of reaching the final. Those of us who've been around the game a long time well remember that Shane was just as successful at the Derby City 9-ball when it was race to seven as when they switched to race to nine.

Shane embraced the short race to the max this max and really found his comfort zone. Well played, Albin, but well played Shane, as well!

sjm, what are your thoughts on SVB winning another major(s)? He's still racking up prize money via deep finishes in basically every tournament he enters, but his wins seem to have dried up a bit since 2017 or so, which coincides with the rise of Filler, Gorst, Ouschan (although Ouschan nabbed a world title in 2016), and even Shaw to a degree. It will also be even tougher for him to win another one once the Taiwanese players are back in action in the major events.

 

[kling&allen]

Nice post. I liked the one short race finals, but your suggested format would have worked well, too. As we see every December at the Mosconi, fans love the tension that comes with short races.

Another thing worth noting is that the conditions got tougher as the week continued. Credit to Karl Boyes for mentioning early in the week that this would be the case. Both of the tables in use got about ten hours of play on each of the first seven days of the event. By the time we got to the climactic eighth day, the top pros were playing on worn cloth and the conditions were noticeably a little tougher than on day one.

Is it any wonder that this event delivered one of the most elite final stages (Ouschan, Filler, SVB, Shaw) in our sport's history? In fact, the only time I can remember where the late rounds were this star-studded was at the 1990 US Open 9-ball, when the last three standing were Varner, Archer and Sigel, three legends and future hall of famers. More recently, the 2016 US Open 9-ball gave us a similarly strong last three of SVB, JL Chang and Jayson Shaw and the 2012 US Open 9-ball gave us SVB, Orcullo and Pagulayan as the last three standing.

Just about everything worked right at the Premier Pool League event. Matchroom delivers again!

It's going to be a great year for professional pool.

 

[Swighey]

It's hard for me to even fathom how these guys run out so easily on pockets that tight. Firing balls in with speed and spin, over and over, rarely missing.

Playing on 4" pockets is a different game entirely compared to playing on even 4.5" pockets, which itself is a different game compared to playing on 5" pockets.

That said, the game they're playing is what the elites need to play. Even though they're still overwhelming favorites to get out when they're in line, they still have to work to earn those outs because even the smallest lapse in focus is enough to cause a miss.

I'm converted. I thought 4.25 pockets would be more than tight enougth but, as you say, they are firing some of the balls in with 4 inch pockets. And they will get better at it the more they play.

 

[sjm]

sjm, what are your thoughts on SVB winning another major(s)? He's still racking up prize money via deep finishes in basically every tournament he enters, but his wins seem to have dried up a bit since 2017 or so, which coincides with the rise of Filler, Gorst, Ouschan (although Ouschan nabbed a world title in 2016), and even Shaw to a degree. It will also be even tougher for him to win another one once the Taiwanese players are back in action in the major events.

You've framed the matter well, BlueRaider. Winning the majors has never been tougher.

Of course, what a major is can be debated, but to me, it means an event having a large, internationally diverse, field, in which the majority of the elite are present. At very least, we're talking about the World Pool Championship, the US Open 9-ball, the China Open, the All-Japan, and the International, but I think we'll soon include the UK Open, the European Open, and maybe even the World 10-ball and Derby City 9-ball on our list of majors. Yes, I think we may be looking at nine major titles available.

Can Shane win one? Hmmm. Winning a major these days means doing a lot of heavy lifting. The PLP, a great event but not even close to being a major, gave a glimpse of what it takes. To win it, Shane would have had to beat Ouschan and then Filler in the last two matches. Look what it took for Sanchez-Ruiz at the Derby City 9-ball --- he had to beat Shane, Ouschan, Morra, and he also beat Filler twice to bag the title. Albin had to beat Shane and then Orcullo to bag the International 9-ball. Shane will likely have a similarly difficult path if he is to win a major.

That said, I think the game may be evolving in a direction that will benefit Shane. First, the elimination of the three-point rule from all Matchroom events will suit him. Shane always thrived on his break, and the three-point rule, which forced him to cut break most of the time, erased some of his advantage with the break. In fact, trouble with his cut-break may have cost him the match in the semifinals at the 2021 International 9-ball. Second, the trend is toward tighter pockets, and this is good news for Shane. As we all remember, Shane was almost unbeatable on the 4" TAR table. His super-straight shooting paid greater dividends on super-tight equipment.

More major titles available, the gradual disappearance of the three-point rule and the trend toward tighter pockets all bode well for Shane. Yes, I believe he'll win something real big again one of these days. Hope I'm there to shake his hand and say "well played" when it happens.

 

[skip100]

With dozens of world-beating Asian players out of commission due to covid restrictions, now is the time for US and European players to put the hammer down to try to win major championships.