Mr. Kuo in Vegas

[lewdo26]

Is this Kuo's first appearance in the United States?

I said this in another thread and I'll say it again. The growing Taiwanese presence in international tournaments is one of the most exciting things happening to pool today.

This could seriously change our perception of pool's totem pole. There must be a few talents in Taiwan and the Philippines most of us are not even aware of, that could make an impact in the high echelons of the game.

This tournament sounds exciting!

 

[sjm]

This is big news indeed. Kuo is an indisputable star of our sport and his first appearance in competition on American soil is an exciting moment.

In view of the fact that most of the Taiwanese contingent will sit out the IPT, I do not agree that the Taiwanese presence is growing perceptibly on the worldwide stage. Po Cheng Kuo, Pei Wei Chang, Chin Shun Yang, and Fong Pang Chao all opted out, and Chia Chang Wu made a last ditch, but unsuccessful, attempt at earning a qualifiying spot.

 

[Onemoreyouth]

do you know all those names, or did you have to look them up?

if anybody gets a chance to record some of his matches, i'm sure the rest of us AZ'ers would love to see him play......

 

[daake0266]

Taiwanese players in BCA:
Po-Cheng Kuo, 2005 World Game champion Pei-Wei Chang, Shin-Mei Liu, Pei-Chen Tsai, Jeniffer Chen and Hsin Huang.

 

[lewdo26]

This is big news indeed. Kuo is an indisputable star of our sport and his first appearance in competition on American soil is an exciting moment.

In view of the fact that most of the Taiwanese contingent will sit out the IPT, I do not agree that the Taiwanese presence is growing perceptibly on the worldwide stage. Po Cheng Kuo, Pei Wei Chang, Chin Shun Yang, and Fong Pang Chao all opted out, and Chia Chang Wu made a last ditch, but unsuccessful, attempt at earning a qualifiying spot.

I can't disagree that their presence on the international stage is not yet established. But Kuo's and Wu's recent appearances point to bucking the trend. The IPT might go on for quite some time, and I trust and hope that eventually the few big (but lesser known to us) names from Asia will make their way in.

Everyone's guess for now, sjm! Take care.

P.S.: I just noticed Pei-Wei Chang's name also appears in the brackets. I believe this is also his first U.S. appearance.

 

[lewdo26]

do you know all those names, or did you have to look them up?

I don't know their whole names, but I do know their last names by heart since I've been interested in the WPC and Asian tournaments for a little while now. In chronological order: Chao, Yang, Pei-Wei Chang (!), Kuo, and Wu. All of whom can shoot anyone down at any given day if given the opportunity.

 

[Yokita]

I don't know their whole names, but I do know their last names by heart since I've been interested in the WPC and Asian tournaments for a little while now. In chronological order: Chao, Yang, Pei-Wei Chang (!), Kuo, and Wu. All of whom can shoot anyone down at any given day if given the opportunity.

Fong-Pang Chao is first generation representation of Taiwan pool. He has twice World Champion title (1993, 2000), 3 times International Champion of champions (1995, 2001, 2005), and numerous Asian Champions. Chao, however, and most of Taiwanese pool players scarcely take part in tournaments beyoud Aisa. Europe and U.S.A. are too far from Taiwan. Taiwanese players hardly make their appearences in the tournaments in U.S.A.

Ching-Shun Yang is so far considered No.1 player in Taiwan. Although Yang doesn't own glorious world titles, he will get lots some time or other. Yang is too excellent!

Po-Cheng Kuo and Pei-Wei Chang both stand out conspicuously in World Pool Championship. Kuo got 3rd place in 2004 WPC, and runner-up in 2005 WPC; Chang was beaten at the finals by Alex Pagulayan in 2004 WPC, and beat Thorsten Hohmann at the finals in 2005 World Games. This is their first appearances in the U.S.A.

Chia-Ching Wu, just a 16 y/o high school student, has the destructive breaking and perfect cue ball control on breaking. Marvellously, Wu's excellent breaking skill brought him 9-Ball and 8-Ball double World Champion last year.

There are several Taiwanese pro pool players superior to Kuo, Chang, and Wu. Most of them do not join overseas tournaments, so their names is much stranger to non-Taiwanese, e.g. Hui-Kai Hsia, Jung-Lin Chang, Hung-Hsiang Wang, Hao-Ping Chang, Hui-Chan Lu, Chin-Ching Kang, Che-Wei Fu, Kuang-Chang Huang, Yu-Lun Wu, Chia-Hsiung Lai, Kun-Fang Li.

 

[lewdo26]

There are several Taiwanese pro pool players superior to Kuo, Chang, and Wu. Most of them do not join overseas tournaments, so their names is much stranger to non-Taiwanese, e.g. Hui-Kai Hsia, Jung-Lin Chang, Hung-Hsiang Wang, Hao-Ping Chang, Hui-Chan Lu, Chin-Ching Kang, Che-Wei Fu, Kuang-Chang Huang, Yu-Lun Wu, Chia-Hsiung Lai, Kun-Fang Li.

Thanks for the synopsis, Yokita. It's hard to imagine how much more superior the less known players on your list would be (I know some of them... Hsia, Fu). But I suspected the level of talent in Taiwan is greater than our awareness of it here in the United States.

 

[Williebetmore]

There are several Taiwanese pro pool players superior to Kuo, Chang, and Wu. Most of them do not join overseas tournaments, so their names is much stranger to non-Taiwanese, e.g. Hui-Kai Hsia, Jung-Lin Chang, Hung-Hsiang Wang, Hao-Ping Chang, Hui-Chan Lu, Chin-Ching Kang, Che-Wei Fu, Kuang-Chang Huang, Yu-Lun Wu, Chia-Hsiung Lai, Kun-Fang Li.

Yokita,
Thanks for the rundown of Taiwanese players. We are not fortunate enough to see them play very often in the USA.

What about Min-Wei Chin (I'm not sure of the spelling)?? He did very well in a straight pool tournament here in the USA around the year 2000. There are several excellent Accu-Stats tapes documenting his performance. I have never heard of him since; does he still play???? He appeared to be fairly young.

 

[lewdo26]

Yokita,
Thanks for the rundown of Taiwanese players. We are not fortunate enough to see them play very often in the USA.

What about Min-Wei Chin (I'm not sure of the spelling)?? He did very well in a straight pool tournament here in the USA around the year 2000. There are several excellent Accu-Stats tapes documenting his performance. I have never heard of him since; does he still play???? He appeared to be fairly young.

Good question, Willie. In the commentary for the finals, Incardona mentions Min-Wei Chin had a father in New Jersey. So where in the world is he hiding?

 

[Yokita]

Yokita,
What about Min-Wei Chin (I'm not sure of the spelling)?? He did very well in a straight pool tournament here in the USA around the year 2000. There are several excellent Accu-Stats tapes documenting his performance. I have never heard of him since; does he still play???? He appeared to be fairly young.

I'm so glad of your mention of native Taiwanese players.

Min-Wai Chin (DOB: Jan. 29, 1971)
Min-Wai Chin specializes in straight-pool, but doesn't like shooting 9-ball. Though Chin isn't good at 9-ball, he's really the greatest straight-pool master in Asia.

As well as other Taiwanese players, Chin seldom takes part in tournaments hold beyond Asia. He has bagged plenty straight-pool champion titles in Asia.

The only one overseas tournament he joined was "2000 U.S. Open 14.1 Straight-Pool Championship." Chin went undefeated at the winner's side of bracket, but unfortunately was beaten at the finals by Ralf Souquet, who was sent to the one loss side by Chin.
(Results: http://www.azbilliards.com/thepros/2000showtourney2000.cfm?eventnum=77)

I believe most people have never heard of him, because 14.1 is indeed less prevalent than 9-ball and Chin never goes to the U.S. except 2000 US Open. He still plays 14.1 well in Taiwan. Chin's highrun on 14.1 is over 500.

 

[sniper]

This is big news indeed. Kuo is an indisputable star of our sport and his first appearance in competition on American soil is an exciting moment.

In view of the fact that most of the Taiwanese contingent will sit out the IPT, I do not agree that the Taiwanese presence is growing perceptibly on the worldwide stage. Po Cheng Kuo, Pei Wei Chang, Chin Shun Yang, and Fong Pang Chao all opted out, and Chia Chang Wu made a last ditch, but unsuccessful, attempt at earning a qualifiying spot.

IMO the Taiwanese players are going to have to still make more appearances on the world stage before they make a truly signifigant impact. Their starting to appear more which is a good sign but it's still not a whole lot of events their participating in. To be fair, there are very few events in North America that justify the $3000 overseas trip to compete, hopefully with the emergence of the IPT and some major prize money at stake we will have the opportunity to see them play on a regular basis.

 

[Ktown D]

Chin's highrun on 14.1 is over 500.

Is there any documentation of this? Video, news article,etc. Was this in competition or was he just practicing? Over 500 would be pretty close to the recognized record. How far over 500 did he supposedly go? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Yokita]

Is there any documentation of this? Video, news article,etc. Was this in competition or was he just practicing? Over 500 would be pretty close to the recognized record. How far over 500 did he supposedly go? Inquiring minds want to know.

Chin's outstanding performance is for teaching videos. They could be downloaded by P2P software, eg. eMule. He made it 6 or 7 times. (I'm not sure of exact number.) I know the records were accepted by TMPBC(Taiwan Men's Pro-Billiard Competition), but APBU(Asia Pocket Billiard Union) didn't accept it because of non-competition record.

 

[zcat27]

Why

This is big news indeed. Kuo is an indisputable star of our sport and his first appearance in competition on American soil is an exciting moment.

In view of the fact that most of the Taiwanese contingent will sit out the IPT, I do not agree that the Taiwanese presence is growing perceptibly on the worldwide stage. Po Cheng Kuo, Pei Wei Chang, Chin Shun Yang, and Fong Pang Chao all opted out, and Chia Chang Wu made a last ditch, but unsuccessful, attempt at earning a qualifiying spot.

Why would people like Fong Pang Chao chose to sit out the IPT?

 

[Yokita]

Why would people like Fong Pang Chao chose to sit out the IPT?

Chao, Yang(Chin-Shun Yang), and most Taiwanese players were not sponsored at all. This is the most important reason to force them to opt out the IPT. Without sponsor's supports, players can't afford to travel to the U.S--it's too expensive for the non-sponsored!

When the IPT tournaments was held in Asia, they will be very interested in it.

 

[lewdo26]

So Min-Wai Chin doesn't like 9 ball, huh? That'll sound like music to Willie's ears...

 

[Williebetmore]

I'm so glad of your mention of native Taiwanese players.

Min-Wai Chin (DOB: Jan. 29, 1971)
Min-Wai Chin specializes in straight-pool, but doesn't like shooting 9-ball.

Though Chin isn't good at 9-ball, he's really the greatest straight-pool master in Asia.

I believe most people have never heard of him, because 14.1 is indeed less prevalent than 9-ball and Chin never goes to the U.S. except 2000 US Open. He still plays 14.1 well in Taiwan. Chin's highrun on 14.1 is over 500.

Yokita,
Actually I think Chin is QUITE well known among straight pool fanatics here in the U.S. (though that is an admittedly small group of people). It was quite amazing to watch him come here as an unknown (at least here) and plow through a very strong field.

He is a great player, and if he applied himself I can't believe he could not be a superior 9-ball player.

 

[justnum]

oh no it sounds like a parent teacher conference all over again,

if he applied himself Im sure he could be a great player too.

I started playing pool to get away from discussions like that.

 

[Williebetmore]

oh no it sounds like a parent teacher conference all over again,

if he applied himself Im sure he could be a great player too.

I started playing pool to get away from discussions like that.

Num-man,
Oh no. It sounds like another person coming to an internet forum to get away from discussions. This is a GREAT place to avoid discussion.

Actually, I should have been clearer. Chin is already a superior shotmaker and position player. I should have just said he could be a great nine-ball player if he wanted to. I am not implying that he has motivation problems or skill deficits like a high school kid. NO ONE gets to his level without having superior motivation.

P.S. - It's a little like heading to a Led Zeppelin concert to get away from all the noise.