Reyes Cup has made SVB and Gorst a lot more comfortable in team events.
All I know is that SVB and Gorst and Sky and Bergman are incredible double pairings.
The new format means more double matches, so this will favour the USA.
Mosconi/Reyes/WPM rankings
- Thread starter jbart65
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All I know is that SVB and Gorst and Sky and Bergman are incredible double pairings.
The new format means more double matches, so this will favour the USA.
Okay so with their one Reyes Cup match added, they are at 50% win rate. Incredible indeed.
I believe Sky and Berg are at a 66% win rate. They compliment each other well. Looking forward to watching them play together, it's been 7 years!
Gorst has yet to prove himself at the MC. It was easier for him at the Reyes Cup because he had a team full of champions and they were stomping on an underpowered team. 4th time's a charm!!!
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Based on my chats with Lukas in September and my observations of his play at Turning Stone that same week, Lukas is still coming back from his car injury and playing in quite a bit of pain. Among other things, he told me he cannot yet break at full speed without severe pain and risk of reinjury, as you may recall was the case with Eklent Kaci after his accident a few years back.
Lukas, unlike three members of the 2025 Team USA squad (Sky, Billy and Shane) showed up to the UK Open, so the evidence suggests that he was very committed to the WNT this year. Lukas' play, if unspectacular, was encouraging in his 17th place finish there.
His car injury in the late spring, which happened while he was a sleeping passenger, derailed his year. It's good to see that he has resumed competing, but he is not his old self. He may well qualify for Team USA in 2027, but for now he must heal.
I met Lukas when he was about thirteen, when he was showing up to, but not yet playing in, some Joss Tour events.. He's a quality guy for whom I have always rooted. Wishing him well in his continuing effort to get back to his pre-injury form.
It's pure speculation, all right. Perhaps your suspicions are correct. Perhaps Hohmann is being honest. Or maybe the truth is a combination of what you think and what Hohmann says.
Whatever the case, I am not prepared to suggest Hohmann is a liar or an obfuscator. Because if you were right, sjm, that's what he would be doing here. Lying, mainly by omission. There's no other way to describe it.
The truth is, rumors have floated for months -- at least since the late spring or early summer - that Hohmann would not play in the Mosconi if he qualified. That lends more credence to his explanation. Clearly he's been telling this to people for a while, as Jay indicated.
As such, I will take Hohmann at his word. There is no need to give fuel to the conspiracy mongers of the pool world like Molina Mike or ... Bad Penguin! (sorry BP).
Since we are speculating, I will speculate too. Hohman probably realized that a second non-American-born player on the team would be unsettling to diehard U.S. Mosconi fans. Few knew he was working his way toward citizenship or that he would qualify on points.
At the same time, Hohmann is right about his game. He is steady and consistent and beats players he is supposed to. But he tightens up when the attention is upon him and loses to almost every top seasoned pro he plays deeper in a tourney.
Hohmann must be doing well financially since he also could afford to travel to every major pro pool event in the world this year. That's how he gained so many points. Kudos to him, but most U.S. players can't afford to travel that much. Some skipped events they didn't need to, though.
In any case, Hohmann probably wanted to prove a point -- and maybe goad other American players into stepping up. My guess is, he would accept an invitation in the future if he earns enough points again.
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Matchroom is at fault for not publicizing qualifying rules -- it's a constantly repeating error that fosters needless suspicion. MR needs to do better.
That said, players were aware of the rules. Thorpe acknowledged as much. Perhaps MR needs to offer players more updates on their status.
probably for some european fans as well. personally i don't care, but i will say that i think team USA should be building for the future and giving younger players a chance if possible. bergman is neither here nor there in that regard, but johan obviously likes him and what he can bring to the team. lucas would be nice to see in the mosconi
As sjm pointed out, Lukas has not fully recovered from his injuries. There is no other youngster worth putting on the Mosconi in 2026.
Yes, the suspicion here is that he misrepresented the facts to allow Matchroom to save face. If so, I'll call that honorable, not deceitful.
Yes, I knew of the rumors, too, but if he felt that way, he should have disqualified himself from consideration months ago as a service to Matchroom, other Team USA hopefuls and the fan base.
He became a citizen in 2025. Unless he thinks Fedor won't qualify for Team USA in the future, this theory doesn't jive with his proclamation that he'd be interested in inclusion going forward. Non-American-born Fedor is likely a member of the next five Team USA squads.
Yes, but he was just one of four Americans that even reached the business end of a Matchroom major, reaching day five twice this year. Even with his diminished level of self-confidence, he has outperformed some of those that we'll sadly have to accept as members of Team USA, players that haven't played in even one high-pressure WNT match this year.
Yes, he's doing fine, but every tournament entered is an investment in oneself, and with about 15K in earnings this year per AZB money list, he has probably covered little more than his participation costs. The decision to turn down an event in which his expenses are covered and in which he's guaranteed $20,000 or better doesn't jive with me.
Trying to prove a point. No way.
We'll see.
The bigger issue is that Matchroom promotes the Mosconi as the signature moment, the climax of the WNT year. They sell Mosconi participation as every player's dream and promote the Mosconi race all year in WNT in-tournament commentary, which is for the fans, not the players.
If Matchroom wants fans to be heavily invested in the Mosconi qualification race, why aren't the fans in the loop with respect to what it will take to make the team?
Not in my book. Being deceitful is being deceitful. I am not going to make up stuff to save face or spare MR embarrassment. It would also let MR off the hook if it engaged in what I consider a dispicable manner.
If I were pressured not to play, for instance, I would either say so, or much more likely, issue a simple statement along the lines of: "After careful consideration, I have declined to play in the Mosconi Cup. I wish Team USA every success."
Disagree. I personally would never rule myself out of something unless I, in fact, qualified. He doesn't owe anyone such a service. It also would have been presumptuous.
What's more, he would have taken off the pressure of other American players to participate in more WNT events and gather points. IMO they should have felt the heat.
I saw Hohmann as a player with a high floor but a lower ceiling relative to Bergman and Woodward. He was more consistent and had some reasonably high finishes this year, but when they play their best, Bergman and especially Woodward have higher ceilings.
No matter. Team USA is a big underdog. For once, SVB and Gorst have to play great at the same time to give Team USA a chance.
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Get a room guys...
A Matchroom if you will.
A Matchroom if you will.
Um sir, Hohmann is a multiple-time World Champion. Bergman or Sky have never come close. Bergman and Woodward have higher ceilings? Where? When was the last time they came close to it?
When Hohmann plays his best, he wins a world title. When Sky or Bergman play their best, they win 1st at Ultimate Pool or Tennessee Joe's Barbox Classic Open Championship Tour 8ball 9ball Doubles Major Cup Tournament. I mean he's at the Qatar 10ball even after declining a $20K freeroll, to try to win $100K. He's even hungrier than them in 2026.
Hohmann is showing more form in 2026 than anyone on Team USA not named SVB or Fedor, point blank. I'll take Hohmann's lowest ceiling in 2026 over Sky or Berg's lowest ceiling.
And what do you mean by "For once, SVB and Gorst have to play at the same time"?
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i hope he does recover then. he seems to have a lot of heart, always in action, even now in the philippines.
he doesn't owe them anything. if anything it's the reverse. in the mosconi legends edition 2014 he got the brush-off, when everybody knew he should have been on team europe. young karl boyes got that spot, lol. thorsten had three world championship titles and one fairly recent, karl hadn't won and would never win the W9C
The Hohmann who was world champion is not the same one today, as you surely know. I have seen him a lot the past few years. His ceiling right now is not as high as Woodward. I'd put it slightly below Bergman too, but that's debatable.
Hohmann has lost to pretty much every top pro this year who was in form. He falters more when his nerves are high.
I wouldn't, but not going to quibble. I don't think a strong case can be made for the wild cards (Gorst now getting in on points). It is what it is.
The word "great" was missing.
