Ktown D said:
Bruce is around 6' 5"
Pro Players taller than 6 ft
- Thread starter birdy
- Start date
Bruce is around 6' 5"
cuetable said:Billiard Player Dirk Snip of the Netherlands. He moves the score beans easily with his fingers when we normally use our cuesticks to do so.
Check out the article and photo from NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/nyregion/18pool.html?ex=1156132800&en=857718f1b27778b1&ei=5087
A giant with a childlike, cheerful soul
His solution to May Ray's La Fortune:
http://cuetable.com/C/?@1AOWR4BHXB3CNIU4VHXB1VOfE5VSvT1VbPJ1VOKj3VblE3VOWI1uAxU@
Hi
Someone just pointed out one will need to be a member of NY Times (free) to see the article. Dirk is 7 ft tall
Here is the article
Billiards’ Best Spin Doctors Vie in a Three-Cushion Zone
By COREY KILGANNON
Photo by Chang W. Lee
Published: August 18, 2006
“See, watch this: cushion, cushion, ball, cushion, ball,” said Ira Lee, tracking the path of a cue-ball shot in a series of incredibly calculated caroms by Hugo Patino, the great Colombian billiards player. “That’s called an umbrella shot because of the path the ball takes. Beautifully played.”
Ira Lee, who was inspired in billiards by the tournament’s namesake, contemplated his next shot Thursday at the Carom Cafe in Queens.
Cheers and applause went up around the room for Mr. Patino, the 2003 United States national champion, who was competing yesterday in the Sang Lee International Open billiards tournament in Flushing, Queens.
“If you notice, the cue ball just traveled more than 35 feet, which you never get in pool,” said Michael Ian Shamos, one of several billiards historians watching the tournament at the Carom Cafe.
The 80 entrants, who seemed to outnumber spectators yesterday, include some of the world’s best players of three-cushion billiards, a game played with three balls on a pocketless table slightly larger than a pool table.
A player scores by striking the cue ball once so that it hits the other two balls, and at least three sides of the table — also known as cushions or rails — all in a single shot. The three cushions must be struck before the cue ball contacts the second of the two other balls.
It is never easy, and depending on the positioning of the three balls, it can require staggering displays of acumen with a cue stick. Yesterday, the players — dressed in white shirts with black slacks, vests and bow ties — often spun the cue ball severely to ricochet repeatedly off the sides in paths that seemed calculated with a protractor and executed by remote control.
Robert Byrne, another billiards expert, motioned toward a small crowd of billiards aficionados who gathered to watch the players on the 10 tables in the competition area. “You have 18 of the top 20 players in the world competing for one of the most prestigious titles, and look how few people are here to watch them,” he said.
Mr. Byrne pointed to the four tables closest to him and said, “Look, you have the national champions from Colombia, Mexico, Holland and Korea.”
He pointed toward Dirk Snip, from the Netherlands, calling him “the tallest billiards player in the world.”
With Mr. Snip crouching over a table while surveying his next shot, Mr. Byrne added, “He’s seven-foot, but he’s got the shortest name.”
Later, Mr. Snip said his height helped him see the table better and his long reach was also an advantage.
“I’m the tallest billiards player and I’m from the smallest country,” he said.
Players or experts constantly emphasize how much harder and complex the game is than ordinary pocket billiards, requiring more skill and ball control, and the insight and forethought of chess.
Three-cushion billiards shots follow intricate geometric patterns, with the cue ball sometimes hitting up to 10 cushions in a single shot. Shot names include the Snake (the ball curves severely from backspin) and the Ticky (the ball ricochets rapidly in a cushion-ball-cushion-cushion-ball pattern).
The cue stick is a bit thicker than a usual pool stick. It is also stiffer and shorter so a player can strike the cue very hard to spin it. This is because players often strike directly down on the cue ball with great force, to spin the ball for a drastically curved shot.
This is also why the table surfaces are supported by strong two-inch thick slabs of slate, heated by electric coils that must be turned on at least 24 hours before play. The surface must be nine degrees above room temperature to keep moisture off the cloth surface and maintain a consistent roll.
The tournament finals, a round-robin setup among the 10 remaining players, will be tomorrow and Sunday at the pool hall. The tournament — with a total purse of $85,000, and the winner’s share $12,750 — is held to honor Sang Lee, a Korean-born billiards legend who settled in Flushing, worked to popularize the game and opened the Carom Cafe.
“He died two years ago from stomach cancer,” Mr. Byrne said of Mr. Lee. “They say it was from too much kimchi, which is the spicy Korean cabbage they like to eat.”
Sang Lee has many disciples, including Ira Lee, 36, a computer programmer from Flushing who helped organize the event.
“I used to only play pool,” Ira Lee recalled. “But one morning I saw a crowd of people around a billiards table in Jackson Heights screaming, ‘Maestro, Maestro.’ I broke through the crowd and it was Sang Lee on one of his famous runs. I said, ‘This guy is amazing,’ and just became hooked on billiards instead of pool. It’s just a higher-level game, all around.”
Luck also can help, said Carlos Hallon, who walked by with his billiards cue and a big smile. Mr. Hallon had just knocked off the formidable player Raymond Ceulemans, 68, from Belgium, who holds 35 world titles and 61 Belgian national titles. It was Mr. Ceulemans’s first defeat in the tournament this week and afterward, he breezed by Mr. Hallon without a word and left the hall.
Mr. Hallon, 53, is no slouch himself. He has three United States national championships but is semiretired from billiards and living in Miami where he sells appliances.
As Mr. Ceulemans walked by, Mr. Hallon waved his lucky gold ring, with a horseshoe design. “He’s the man, nearly unbeatable,” Mr. Hallon said. “But not today.”
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Earl Grey
my name is Earl
Life is short--make fun of it.
Perhaps the tables are easier on the backs of shorter players because of history. When billiards first became popular a couple hundred years ago, I don't think most of the players at that time averaged anywhere near 6 feet tall. I think they were about Napoleon's size, 5'-4" or 5'-6".
Perhaps the tables are easier on the backs of shorter players because of history. When billiards first became popular a couple hundred years ago, I don't think most of the players at that time averaged anywhere near 6 feet tall. I think they were about Napoleon's size, 5'-4" or 5'-6".
I believe one of my favorite players, Jim Rempe, is around 6'2" or 6'3". Also, I have a couple of tall friends that play, and at least one of them thinks that being tall is a disadvantage because he has a hard time getting into a comfortable stance. Just one opinion.
birdy said:
i'm 5'12
i heard this before and couldn't stop laughing.