reyes/blomdahl/sayginer

Just finished watching the Blomdahl vs. Reyes exhibition match...

Final Score: 9-5 Blomdahl over Reyes

Post Match Interview:

Efren states that he table was easy so anyone can win on it

Efren says he would like to keep improving he 3-cushion game so he can compete with Blomdahl.

I'd also like to note that Efren treated the match very nonchalantly and went for some crazy shots. In the first game, Blomdahl breaks and makes nothing. Efren then steps up and two strokes this shot:

START(
%AP0P3%BM7Z1%Cm8S1%DM7F5%EG1M5%FF8N9%GK7N8%Hd1I2%IR0R7%JB1B7
%KB9B7%LB7B8%MB6B6%NB1B2%OB1B8%PD5Y9%QX5_0%Wr2Z9%XR6S0%[O2Q4
%\E0Y6%]Q1R2%^P0Q0
)END
 
in all likelihood, if reyes enters the next sang lee international he would not last long.

the next SL open will be held in august, 2006 from the 13th to the 20th at carom cafe in flushing, ny. the format will be:

qualifying round robin: 96 players grouped in 12 flights of 8. games to 25 points. top two in each flight advance, as well as the best six (of the 12) third place finishers.

semifinal round robin: 40 players grouped in 5 flights of 8. games to 35 points. the 40 players consist of the 30 from the qualifying round, 5 auctions/lottos, and the 5 seeded players (most likely blomdahl, sayginer, jaspers, caudron, and ceulemans). top two from each flight advance to the A finals, and the next two advance to the B finals.

final round robins: A finals play to 40 points for places 1 to 10. B finals play to 35 points for places 11 to 20. each final is a ten player round robin.

purse is $100,000. first place gets $15,000, second $12,000, third $10,000, ... down to 20th place getting $1500.

the chances of reyes making it to the A finals is almost nil. and they're not much better that he would make to the B finals. it's even money at best that he would make it out of the qualifying round and on to the semifinal round robin. to paint a picture of how strong the field is, consider last year's results.

last year, the semifinal round robin consisted of 4 flights of 8. the overall averages of each flight were 1.246, 1.208, 1.215, and 1.306. the B final round robin had an overall average of 1.223, and the A final round robin averaged 1.558 overall.

as you can see, even if reyes plays at his best, say 1.2 (which is really a stretch since averages go down as the competition goes up--i.e. it's much easier to average 1.0 against a worse player than a better player), he will play below the overall average. in fact, there's a very good chance he wouldn't even break 1.0 against this field.

william
 
Bob Jewett said:
Almost certainly straight rail, but I could be wrong. Straight rail and balkline are very different games. Someone who averages 20 at balkline can probably run 10,000 at straight rail, given some incentive.

Anyone interested in seeing what can be done at carom billiards should get Frederic Caudron's DVD set "Master of Billiards" (or "Le Virtuose de Billard") at http://www.i-billiard.nl/products_online_en.html

On that 2-DVD set, he shows how to play straight rail, at least 3 kinds of balkline, cushion caroms (you might call it "one cushion billiards"), and 3-cushion. I think he runs at least 100 at each (except 3-C), and at straight rail he gets the balls on the cushion and takes them around the table a couple of times. He shoots very, very quickly, and he gives commentary (in English) on why he's taking certain shots and how he's playing them.

The DVD set is also available from Kozoom, but their shipping was more when I checked into it.

If you think you have ever seen a pool player with good control of the balls, I think you will change your mind when you see Caudron play balkline.
Click to expand...

I agree - Caudron's DVD is real eye-opener for any serious player who wants to witness the level of ball control that is humanly possible these days. I was so impressed with he DVD that I bought a few copies just to give to my friends. Caudron has absolutely uncanny cue AND object ball control. With such a solid background in balkline, I think that Caudron may very soon become the world champion of 3-cushion.

About 10 years ago, I watched him play pool for fun at Sang Lee's billiard room when one of the house players challenged him to play 9-ball while he was there for the 3-cushion tournament. As a joke, he was pretending to not know the rules, but then broke and ran out practically every table. After a few racks he admitted to "playing a little". Whenever he got a little out of line, he slow-banked shots in like they were nothing - it was scary. If you watch this DVD you will understand just how good of a cueist he is. His soft touch masse/pique strokes which he NEVER misses are really astounding. He's a really nice person and overly modest for a guy with his talents. Balkline is his best game (18.1, 18.2, etc).

Besides the hundreds he runs at straight, balkline and 1-cushion, on his DVD he also runs 15 from the break in 3-cushion explaining each shot and each position in his commentary. I thought it was great because they used the (uncommonly seen) multi-angle feature so you can press a button on your remote anytime to toggle between the overhead view and the closeup.

He has a website: www.fred.caudron.info where he sells his book

-Ira
 
nibrobus said:
Just finished watching the Blomdahl vs. Reyes exhibition match...

Final Score: 9-5 Blomdahl over Reyes

Post Match Interview:

Efren states that he table was easy so anyone can win on it

Efren says he would like to keep improving he 3-cushion game so he can compete with Blomdahl.

I'd also like to note that Efren treated the match very nonchalantly and went for some crazy shots. In the first game, Blomdahl breaks and makes nothing. Efren then steps up and two strokes this shot:

START(
%AP0P3%BM7Z1%Cm8S1%DM7F5%EG1M5%FF8N9%GK7N8%Hd1I2%IR0R7%JB1B7
%KB9B7%LB7B8%MB6B6%NB1B2%OB1B8%PD5Y9%QX5_0%Wr2Z9%XR6S0%[O2Q4
%\E0Y6%]Q1R2%^P0Q0
)END
Click to expand...


I have a copy of this tape, also - taken from Japanese TV. I think Efren maybe took Blomdahl a bit too lightly to start off.

Right off the bat, Efren took a risky 1-9 carom off Blomdahl's first dry break (and made it!). But then Blomdahl broke and ran the next 3(?) racks and basically ran out with any opportunity given to him. He was up 7-2 at one point - if I recall correctly... and Efren didn't really have control of the table.

Near the end of the match, Blomdahl played Efren a tough saftey which forced him to try a 3 cushion table-length cross-table kick at the one (which Efren misses by a HAIR - giving up ball in hand. TB ran out easily.

On the 3-cushion segment, it looked to me like the table played VERY short - almost like an unheated pool table - and it took Blomdahl a few more innings to adjust. But once he locked onto the table, he ran away with it: 30 points in 19 or 20 innings (which isn't really a great game for his normal standards). But I recall that Efren looked very comfortable on the 3-cushion table. It appeared that his strategy was to go all out to score (no defense) against Blomdahl - which is probably his best plan (to make lots of points) since he obviously can't out-move him in 3-cushion tactical play. In the end, Efren really didn't miss any of his shots by that much - he naturally knows the cue ball very well.

-Ira
 
Can someone post details of the championship Blomdahl won at nine ball?

I think its an Accu-Stats three cushion tape with Torbjorn doing commentary where he says he doesn't think he plays pool nearly as well as the philipino players. I don't doubt at all he can play great pool, I just don't see him having much chance of winning a pro event in the states competing against the likes of Archer, Earl, Deuel, the philipinos,etc...

He's my favorite player so I'd love him to prove me wrong. I own just about every accu-stat tape he's on and have posted before I think his talent is just as great as Efrens.

Maybe he'll try out for the IPT :cool:
 
Blomdahl and 9-Ball

This is a copy of a post that I posted a few months ago to a thread that was comparing top 3-cushion players skills with top pool players skills >>>


" About 10 years ago or so, Blomdahl was in Chicago for a world class 3 cushion tournament. One night after tournament play was over, Blomdahl played Marco Marquez some cheap 9 ball just to goof off ( I think it was for 5 a game ) - everybody was sweating it just for the curiosity factor. Well Blomdahl surprised everybody by holding his own and running as many racks as Marco and we all had fun watching it. Blomdahl was even chirping a little saying " Well, I can play a little pool ". It kinda makes you wonder just how good guys like Sayginer and the rest of the billiard champions would have been at pool if they played just pool and no 3 cushion.

PS, I don't think Blomdahl will be mad at me for knocking his '9 ball action' ^_^ "
 
I really think some of these top 3-cushion players would play top level pool if they solely switched to pool for a year or two. 3-cushion players have more solid fundamentals than even snooker players, and with more powerful strokes to boot. Combine that with their accuracy and knowledge of rails, well that's pretty strong.
 
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