Ralf Souquet - WOW

Celtic said:
I have seen players with better strokes then Ralph, I think there are players with better knowledge of the game then Ralph, but I dont think I have ever seen a player with as much mental toughness or focus as Ralph.
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I really don't see a candidate other than Efren. Playing all games I think Efren (in his prime) is a bit more complete than Souquet, given the fact that Efren can play under any conditions. But he's less consistent. Souquet is a tournament 9 ball specialist. And in tournament 9 ball I pick Souquet the favorite, especially today.

AND, Ralph Souquet's break is getting BETTER. I don't know how, but all of sudden he's breaking them better than everybody other than Shane and Bustamante - who breaks harder but doesn't park the cueball as much - (maybe Alcano or Wu).

So, playing all games (especially if we throw in banks) I'd say Efren is the only modern player with as much knowledge. Maybe Varner and Sigel were comparable to Souquet, I don't know. But Souquet plays against tougher opposition today, then they did in their prime.
 
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Ralf beat Shane 9-4, then he beat Mika 9-1, to reach the hot seat without surrendering more than six games in any match he played this week. Surely the final, a race to thirteen, would put an end to that. But it didn't, as Ralf beat Hatch by 13-6. In other words, against the three of them combined, he was 20 ahead. Yowser!

At this point, I'm forced to conclude that Ralf didn't care for the AZB headline that suggested that Mika was the one to beat ......... or maybe it just looked that way.
 
In between matches, while waiting for the finals, Ralf was shown with a brush, cleaning up the table for the final. He was picking up lint with the best of them and brushing the hell out of the cloth. Now THAT'S thorough!
 
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Re:Ralph vs Efren

There cannot ever be a true comparison of Ralph and Efren which is true when comparing Efren to other players. Everyone loves his big boyish smile, his humility, and perhaps the most congenial personality in pool. Ralph is the consumate professional and is the one younger players should try to emulate because what he does isn't "magic". Efren includes magic in his arsenal of talents which can't be duplicated.
 
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Ralph played great !!!!

What was up with the deal that evertime it was his break he would put the cueball in his pocket even if it was just for a second ? Not sure if I ever seen any other great players with that particluar odd habit.
 
sjm said:
Ralf beat Shane 9-4, then he beat Mika 9-1, to reach the hot seat without surrendering more than six games in any match he played this week. Surely the final, a race to thirteen, would put an end to that. But it didn't, as Ralf beat Hatch by 13-6. In other words, against the three of them combined, he was 20 ahead. Yowser!

At this point, I'm forced to conclude that Ralf didn't care for the AZB headline that suggested that Mika was the one to beat ......... or maybe it just looked that way.
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Wow! That's impressive even for Souquet. He really is remarkable, certainly one of my all-time favorite players.
 
houmatroy said:
What was up with the deal that evertime it was his break he would put the cueball in his pocket even if it was just for a second ? Not sure if I ever seen any other great players with that particluar odd habit.
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I noticed that too--I've never seen it before. Another twist on "pocket pool" I guess.
 
I have immense respect for Ralf's game. His slow deliberate and compact stroke is hard to shake. There are many others that generate more excitement and flash, but this guy gets there for the tournament money almost every time. At the end of his career, people will wish they had watched him more closely while he was playing so watch him while you can! :cool:
 
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houmatroy said:
What was up with the deal that evertime it was his break he would put the cueball in his pocket even if it was just for a second ? Not sure if I ever seen any other great players with that particluar odd habit.
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I saw that too in Turning Stone. He was actually cleaning the dust or chalk off. Whenever he got the ball, he placed it in his pocket, and cleaned it using the insides of his pants pocket by rubbing the outside of the pants. You could say he was rubbing the ball, while it inside his pocket.
 
Ralph Souquet puts the ball in his pocket to clean the cueball. He has been doing this for ever.
 
Ralf is without a doubt the one of the best 9baller of all time. IMO, he is the master of the mental game. You can drop a grenade next to him while he is playing, and he would not even hear it. That's how focus he is.
 
Souquet is certainly one of the very best 9 ball tournament players out there, maybe the best today. I think his break is amazing, better every year. I honestly would put it equal with Shane. One thing he seems to actually do little better with is absolutely SMASHING the rack and parking the cueball. You see Shane plant the ball quite well, but he never seems to hit the rack at a super high velocity. Soquet definitely can put a little more explosion into that ball and still plant it. Not too many out there do that.

The other thing is that every time I have ever spoken to him, he has been extremely friendly, forthcoming with information about his game or equipment, just a total class act. It would be great to see some of the total trash I play with in the bar league emulate this guys *sportsmanship*!!

Good job Ralf!

KMRUNOUT
 
Celtic said:
Ralf is a monster, when I read the AZB headline of the TSC news update saying "looks like Mika is the man to beat" and then looked and saw his opponent in the A finals I was a little amused, because if Mika was the man to beat then the guy who will do it as often as not was playing him next.

I have heaps of respect for Mika's game, I think he is the best of the younger generation players, but Ralph has been beating up on that whole generation for over a decade and his game is just as deadly as ever. Ralph is the best front running player I have ever seen, when he is on and gets control of a match just break your cue and shake his hand because I don't think I have ever seen someone able to break his control over the table at that point.

I have seen players with better strokes then Ralph, I think there are players with better knowledge of the game then Ralph, but I dont think I have ever seen a player with as much mental toughness or focus as Ralph.
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I agree with Celtic very much. Also the comparison with Efren (later on) was good. Ralf's knowledge in 9-ball and 8-ball is huge and he's surely cababale of dominating any tournament, especially those Major ones where it's single elimination and one match per day (at IPT he wasn't the biggest favourite, but of course high finisher anyway).

What it comes to multi-rail kicking, some creative tricks and miniatyre cue ball control (like in 1-pocket) - where Efren is above others, Ralf is not there.

But what it comes to mental strength and discipline, he's top class. Only Fong Pang Chao comes to my mind who could be on the same level, I mean when he was on his prime.
Chao is not as dedicated as Ralf then again. He's is more or less retired, eventhough he's about the same age as Ralf, and he never really competed in other disciplines than 9-ball and seldom outside the Far East.
In Major finals, Chao had similar, maybe even stronger mental approach than Ralf. Ralf may be more consistent and definitely more dedicated, but when both have their determination and focus on the highest level, they are head above others, and may be that Chao could be even little bit stronger than Ralf.

What it comes to Professionalism and sportsmanship, Souquet is the only man to claim the title. Thorsten and only very few others can compete with Ralf there..
 
8-ball, 9ball, 10-ball, 14.1...Ralf is at the top of these games.
He's a great natural thinker and I'm sure he could be great at one pocket. But I suppose he had very little reason to study that game in great detail...there's just one major event per year.
 
TorranceChris said:
I have immense respect for Ralf's game. His slow deliberate and compact stroke is hard to shake. There are many others that generate more excitement and flash, but this guy gets there for the tournament money almost every time. At the end of his career, people will wish they had watched him more closely while he was playing so watch him while you can! :cool:
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I totally agree with you that people should watch him as often as possible, because even if he doesn't do the magical things that Efren does, Ralf is playing almost perfect "textbook" pool.

I learn something everytime I watch Ralf. Yesterday I learnt to keep on betting on him ;)

TorranceChris said:
His slow deliberate and compact stroke is hard to shake.
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This is unfortunately a myth that is hard for Ralf to get away from. Yes, he do plays slow SOME time, but more often than not he is playing very well and with a nice, steady rhytm. Not slow at all.

In the three matches broadcasted yesterday, where he beat Shane 9-4, Mika 9-1 and Dennis 13-6, he didn't play slow in any of them.

Sometimes, when Ralf struggles, he can use some time to think of the best solutions, but when he finally decides what to do he plays with a nice rhytm. He doesn't use much time when he is down on a shot.
 
Marvel said:
I agree with Celtic very much. Also the comparison with Efren (later on) was good. Ralf's knowledge in 9-ball and 8-ball is huge and he's surely cababale of dominating any tournament, especially those Major ones where it's single elimination and one match per day (at IPT he wasn't the biggest favourite, but of course high finisher anyway).

What it comes to multi-rail kicking, some creative tricks and miniatyre cue ball control (like in 1-pocket) - where Efren is above others, Ralf is not there.

But what it comes to mental strength and discipline, he's top class. Only Fong Pang Chao comes to my mind who could be on the same level, I mean when he was on his prime.
Chao is not as dedicated as Ralf then again. He's is more or less retired, eventhough he's about the same age as Ralf, and he never really competed in other disciplines than 9-ball and seldom outside the Far East.
In Major finals, Chao had similar, maybe even stronger mental approach than Ralf. Ralf may be more consistent and definitely more dedicated, but when both have their determination and focus on the highest level, they are head above others, and may be that Chao could be even little bit stronger than Ralf.

What it comes to Professionalism and sportsmanship, Souquet is the only man to claim the title. Thorsten and only very few others can compete with Ralf there..
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Very good post. Hard to disagree with you.

Regarding professionalism and sportsmanship Ralf and Thorsten are the best, imo.
 
houmatroy said:
What was up with the deal that evertime it was his break he would put the cueball in his pocket even if it was just for a second ? Not sure if I ever seen any other great players with that particluar odd habit.
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Deuel does that as well.
 
Thanks Juega. So he won back in 1996. I bet he would like to win again. And he should.

On his break, it was apparent that his goal was to get the cue back up table to play the one, that is the one and the cue were ending up close near where he was breaking. In fact, in every break the one ended up close, but not in, the corner pocket to his left as he broke. My question is, what ball was going in?
 
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