In this 1st group, these players have won a U.S. Open 9 Ball Championship
Louie Roberts, David Howard, Mike LeBron, Tommy Kennedy, Reed Pierce, Rodney Morris, Corey Deuel, Jeremy Jones, Gabe Owen and John Schmidt.
In group #2 these players have won a U.S. Open 9 Ball Championship AND a World 9 Ball Championship.
Buddy Hall, Mike Sigel, Allen Hopkins, Steve Mizerak, Jimmy Reid, Nick Varner, Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer, Ralf Souquet, Efren Reyes & Alex Pagulayan.
Of the 10 men in group one, I personally think that only Morris, Deuel and Schmidt have a chance at winning a World 9 Ball Championship.
(Louie Roberts is dead, David Howard and Reed Pierce have semi-retired, Tommy Kennedy, Jeremy Jones and Gabe Owen have not showed real world class speed since their U.S. Open victory and Mike LeBron has age and health issues to contend with.)
Of the 11 men in group two, I think that Strickland, Archer, Souquet, Reyes and Pagulayan still have a chance at winning another World 9 Ball title, although the window is rapidly closing on Strickland and possibly also Reyes.
Of the World 9 Ball Champions who have not won a U.S. Open Championship, "modern era (1985-present)", you have Fong Pang Chao, Takeshi Okumura, Oliver Ortman, Rudolfo Luat, Kunihiko Takahashi, Mika Immonen, Thorsten Hohmann, Chia Ching Wu and Ronnie Alcano.
Of the 9 World Champions listed above, I believe that Chao, Ortmann, Luat, Hohmann, Wu and Alcano have a legitimate chance at either one of these 2 major titles.
In addition to those named above, you also have Shane VanBoening, Ching Shun Yang, Thomas Engert, Dennis Orcullo, Lee Van Corteza, Niels feijen, Po Chen Kuo, Pei-Wei Chang, Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Che-Wei Fu and Jung-Lin Chang as very legitimate threats to win either of these 2 majors, provided they play.
There is just so much talent now that picking a winner of a major pool championship is getting more and more like picking the winning lottery numbers.
I think pool is in great shape.
Louie Roberts, David Howard, Mike LeBron, Tommy Kennedy, Reed Pierce, Rodney Morris, Corey Deuel, Jeremy Jones, Gabe Owen and John Schmidt.
In group #2 these players have won a U.S. Open 9 Ball Championship AND a World 9 Ball Championship.
Buddy Hall, Mike Sigel, Allen Hopkins, Steve Mizerak, Jimmy Reid, Nick Varner, Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer, Ralf Souquet, Efren Reyes & Alex Pagulayan.
Of the 10 men in group one, I personally think that only Morris, Deuel and Schmidt have a chance at winning a World 9 Ball Championship.
(Louie Roberts is dead, David Howard and Reed Pierce have semi-retired, Tommy Kennedy, Jeremy Jones and Gabe Owen have not showed real world class speed since their U.S. Open victory and Mike LeBron has age and health issues to contend with.)
Of the 11 men in group two, I think that Strickland, Archer, Souquet, Reyes and Pagulayan still have a chance at winning another World 9 Ball title, although the window is rapidly closing on Strickland and possibly also Reyes.
Of the World 9 Ball Champions who have not won a U.S. Open Championship, "modern era (1985-present)", you have Fong Pang Chao, Takeshi Okumura, Oliver Ortman, Rudolfo Luat, Kunihiko Takahashi, Mika Immonen, Thorsten Hohmann, Chia Ching Wu and Ronnie Alcano.
Of the 9 World Champions listed above, I believe that Chao, Ortmann, Luat, Hohmann, Wu and Alcano have a legitimate chance at either one of these 2 major titles.
In addition to those named above, you also have Shane VanBoening, Ching Shun Yang, Thomas Engert, Dennis Orcullo, Lee Van Corteza, Niels feijen, Po Chen Kuo, Pei-Wei Chang, Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Che-Wei Fu and Jung-Lin Chang as very legitimate threats to win either of these 2 majors, provided they play.
There is just so much talent now that picking a winner of a major pool championship is getting more and more like picking the winning lottery numbers.
I think pool is in great shape.
