SJM at the 2022 World Games

[straightline]

Hope you get to see it. Styer played some exceptional pool and very nearly pulled off the victory.

Is public viewing forthcoming? And @JAM Thanks for the Finals link.

 

[AtLarge]

I could not find any streaming coverage of the event at all, which sucks as I wanted to see the carom stuff. And was it only really 16 players? I'd figured it would've been at least 32. ...

Yes, just 16 players in each of the 4 billiards sports. Names here: https://twg2022.com/qualified-athletes-teams/

 

[sjm]

Yes, just 16 players in each of the 4 billiards sports. Names here: https://twg2022.com/qualified-athletes-teams/

That's right. As it was single elimination, it took 12 matches in each discipline (men's nine ball, women's nine ball, carom, snooker), 48 matches in all, to get down to the semifinalists.

The way it was handled was to have four sessions a day with a match in every discipline in every session for the first three days. That brought each field down to four. Day four of competition had five sessions. The first two sessions featured the semifinal matches and the third had all four bronze medal matches. Session four had the women's nine ball final and session five had the men's nine ball final, so the pool competition was finished on day four. Day five of competition had just two sessions, the carom final and then the snooker final, after which the medal ceremony for all four disciplines took place.

In conclusion, a field size of more than sixteen wouldn't have worked unless the cue sports disciplines were contested separately, and I think that having them together made the World Games a better event.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... In conclusion, a field size of more than sixteen wouldn't have worked unless the cue sports disciplines were contested separately, and I think that having them together made the World Games a better event.

Absolutely. It's important to remember that the main point of the event is not to determine a champion, although that's important to the competitors. The main point is to present cue sports to as wide an audience as possible.

 

[8cree]

World Games had high cost, hard to measure returns for Birmingham

The games were costly to host and the benefits will be hard to measure.

www.al.com

Pretty good read.

 

[spartan]

I just returned from five days at the World Games in which I attended all sessions of the billiards events.

The venue was magnificent, with four tables side by side, one for each of men’s nine-ball, women’s nine-ball, carom and snooker. The tables were well spaced, the seating was ample, and most of the sessions were fairly crowded on the side of the room intended for fans, though not at all crowded on the side meant chiefly for media.

Great report as always. Good job

The final was a dandy. Pehlivanovic played something close to perfect pool on his way to a 6-4 lead. Neither player missed a ball in those ten racks. Filler, who wasn’t creating much with his break, clawed his way back to 8-8 and then found his strongest game to win the gold, but one had to walk away from the match thinking that the youthful Pehlivanovic, who settled for silver, has some big titles ahead of him. What a player!

I think Sanjin's mental game needs work. He famously celebrated hill hill before final ball in European Open against Filler to end up missing Yes Sanjin is due a big title. Sanjin is definitely member of the "Z-Pack" (Gen Z elite group comprising Gorst, Zielinski, Sanjin, Kaci led by Filler). Unless there is some new young phenom lurking somewhere or popping up soon, this Z-Pack is going to rule the pool universe after those old folks have retired.

Kelly outlasted Chou in the final and crowd favorite Yuki from Japan won bronze.

Have seen cutie Yuki Hiraguchi clowning around and hosting pool show on Youtube but had no idea she can play. Bronze medal, FR 715 not bad

An unexpected pleasure was meeting Shane Tyree, executive of the BCA, whom I’d seen before but had never met. He asked to have a chat and I was happy to comply. Shane came across as a conscientious and capable manager very dedicated to our sport and its future. Yes, he made a very nice first impression and I made a new friend.

Think I read/heard somewhere that this Shane guy is the presumptive WPA President after Anderson steps down very soon.

 

[JAM]

Absolutely. It's important to remember that the main point of the event is not to determine a champion, although that's important to the competitors. The main point is to present cue sports to as wide an audience as possible.

Do you think the World Games 2022 presented cue sports or "billiards" as they termed it to a wide audience, Bob? I thought the coverage was very poor for billiards.

How many world pool organization members were there on-site from around the world, starting with the WPA, if you know? I am curious.

 

[spartan]

I think unless there is a qualification stage, a field of 16 is too small.
Too bad did not get to watch any stream of these events

Results

Cue sports at the 2022 World Games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Brackets
Men's 3 cushion carom

Three-cushion billiards at the 2022 World Games – Men's 3-cushion carom - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Men's 9 ball

Nine-ball at the 2022 World Games – men's singles - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Women's 9 ball

Nine-ball at the 2022 World Games – women's singles - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Men's snooker

Snooker at the 2022 World Games – men's singles - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[sjm]

World Games had high cost, hard to measure returns for Birmingham

The games were costly to host and the benefits will be hard to measure.

www.al.com

Pretty good read.

Thanks for sharing, that was a most interesting article.

 

[sjm]

I think Sanjin's mental game needs work. He famously celebrated hill hill before final ball in European Open against Filler to end up missing

I'm already seeing progress since that fateful day in Sanjin. With the rarest of exceptions, he was very composed throughout the World Games. That said, both he and Wiktor Zielinski, the youngest rising stars in men's pool, can get a little negative at the table, and they need to rein that in. Seasoned opponents will feed off it when their adversaries display negative body language at the table. As the legendary Irving Crane used to say "never show weakness to an opponent" and these rising stars need to take note. I think they're both on a winning track.

Even though Josh Filler and Alex Pagulayan were always remarkably composed at the table even as teenagers, it's awfully uncommon for players as young as Pehlivanovic and Zielinski to have that quality. Let's give them a little time.

 

[telinoz]

I failed to mention the snooker, but with full respect for the medalists, the snooker was not "world class" and none of the pros were there. The highest break on my radar was 95 by the Egyptian silver medalist whose name escapes me and breaks of over 50 weren't very numerous in the event. Nonetheless, watching the snooker was entertaining.

Its because the IBSF is that part of the WCBS.
No surprise the standard is lower.

 

[telinoz]

A shame the event had little online presence and streams.
Good intentions, but not significant really and I can't see it growing any time soon.

 

[bud green]

Jaspers wins gold and runs 40 points in 13 innings in the final. He's 56 years old. He has got to be in some serious all time great company to play this well, for this long, and still be at the very top of a billiard game at 56.

From Kozoom:

The supremacy of Jaspers, who before this final assured to feel in an event with the Olympic spirit, was unequalled in this World Games: the Dutchman crushed all his opponents with a big score: against Piedrabuena 40-11 in 16, against Blomdahl 40-20 in 21, against Merckx 40-16 in 14 and in the final against Garcia 40-18 in 13, a total score in four matches of 160-65, exactly 2,500 on average, an absolute record for the World Games.

 

[telinoz]

Jaspers wins gold and runs 40 points in 13 innings in the final. He's 56 years old. He has got to be in some serious all time great company to play this well, for this long, and still be at the very top of a billiard game at 56.

From Kozoom:

The supremacy of Jaspers, who before this final assured to feel in an event with the Olympic spirit, was unequalled in this World Games: the Dutchman crushed all his opponents with a big score: against Piedrabuena 40-11 in 16, against Blomdahl 40-20 in 21, against Merckx 40-16 in 14 and in the final against Garcia 40-18 in 13, a total score in four matches of 160-65, exactly 2,500 on average, an absolute record for the World Games.

He is awesome.

 

[sjm]

Jaspers wins gold and runs 40 points in 13 innings in the final. He's 56 years old. He has got to be in some serious all time great company to play this well, for this long, and still be at the very top of a billiard game at 56.

From Kozoom:

The supremacy of Jaspers, who before this final assured to feel in an event with the Olympic spirit, was unequalled in this World Games: the Dutchman crushed all his opponents with a big score: against Piedrabuena 40-11 in 16, against Blomdahl 40-20 in 21, against Merckx 40-16 in 14 and in the final against Garcia 40-18 in 13, a total score in four matches of 160-65, exactly 2,500 on average, an absolute record for the World Games.

Did you know that, in the gold medal match, Dick had 39 in his first 9 innings? Yes, he then stumbled briefly, needing four more innings to get his last point, but his grand average over his first 60 innings played at the World Games was a superhuman 2.65. It was really something to behold.

 

[jay helfert]

I just returned from five days at the World Games in which I attended all sessions of the billiards events.

The venue was magnificent, with four tables side by side, one for each of men’s nine-ball, women’s nine-ball, carom and snooker. The tables were well spaced, the seating was ample, and most of the sessions were fairly crowded on the side of the room intended for fans, though not at all crowded on the side meant chiefly for media.

Nine Ball- Men’s Division
Round 1 nearly brought a big upset in the Filler vs Styer match. Tyler played well and led most of the way, reaching 9-4 ahead in the race to eleven. As is often the case in big comebacks, the player chasing needs some luck along the way and Filler’s big roll came in rack 14 when he missed the seven-ball but left Tyler cushion-hooked. Josh then rallied all the way to 10-10. At double hill, Tyler hit a truly brilliant three rail safety off the one ball, leaving Josh hooked with a tough kick. It seemed this would be the match-winning shot, but Filler kicked it in and ran out for an electrifying victory.

Form seemed to hold most of the way and the men’s division featured two more truly superb matches. Yapp and Pehlivanovic had a match in which no player ever had a two-rack lead on the way to 7-7, but Pehlivanovic closed it out with superb play for an impressive victory. Yapp would continue his fine play to win bronze.

The final was a dandy. Pehlivanovic played something close to perfect pool on his way to a 6-4 lead. Neither player missed a ball in those ten racks. Filler, who wasn’t creating much with his break, clawed his way back to 8-8 and then found his strongest game to win the gold, but one had to walk away from the match thinking that the youthful Pehlivanovic, who settled for silver, has some big titles ahead of him. What a player!

Nine-ball: Women’s Division
There were two excellent matches in Round 1. Jennifer Barretta and Brittany Bryant reached double hill when Jennifer seemed to bet the match on a tough bank of the seven-ball. She made it but had to run into the eight and wasn’t left with a shot, which cost her the match. Another dazzling match was Pia Filler vs Rubilen Amit, which also reached double hill. At double hill, Pia won the race to the first good shot, earning ball in hand on the one, but failed to run out and Amit prevailed. Pia’s game is developing very nicely.

Kelly Fisher was clearly best at the World Games, but she had one scare along the way against Brittany Bryant in the quarterfinals. Brittany led 7-5 and had a shot at a seven-nine combination that I’d guess was a 60% chance. When she missed, the tide of the match turned and Kelly advanced.

Kelly outlasted Chou in the final and crowd favorite Yuki from Japan won bronze.

A Quick Note on the Carom Event
I saw several three-cushion matches, the best of which was Daniel Sanchez vs Eddie Mercxx , which reached 38-38 in the race to 40 before Eddie closed it out. Dick Jaspers was by far the best and easily won the gold medal.

Socially
I was not very busy socially but met some new people in both the tournament room and at breakfast. I got to chat at great length with the Federation Presidents of both Poland and Germany and met the Federation President of Austria one morning when I breakfasted with Albin Ouschan. I also met Josh Filler’s coach, as well as Thorsten Hohmann’s coach. I ran into some friends, but not as many as I normally would at a pool event. I went out to dinner just once, with a group that included SVB, John Morra, Jennifer Barretta, Hunter Lombardo and Ivan Lee, and we all had a grand old time.

I caught up on a few occasions with WPA president Ian Anderson, and I complimented him on the superb production of the World Games billiards events and applauded the lift of the ban on Russian players. He seemed every bit as happy about it as I was.

An unexpected pleasure was meeting Shane Tyree, executive of the BCA, whom I’d seen before but had never met. He asked to have a chat and I was happy to comply. Shane came across as a conscientious and capable manager very dedicated to our sport and its future. Yes, he made a very nice first impression and I made a new friend.

In Conclusion
The World Games billiards events were really a treat and I’m so glad I went.

Thanks for another wonderful report Stu. Glad to see you out there enjoying your life!

 

[jay helfert]

Jaspers wins gold and runs 40 points in 13 innings in the final. He's 56 years old. He has got to be in some serious all time great company to play this well, for this long, and still be at the very top of a billiard game at 56.

From Kozoom:

The supremacy of Jaspers, who before this final assured to feel in an event with the Olympic spirit, was unequalled in this World Games: the Dutchman crushed all his opponents with a big score: against Piedrabuena 40-11 in 16, against Blomdahl 40-20 in 21, against Merckx 40-16 in 14 and in the final against Garcia 40-18 in 13, a total score in four matches of 160-65, exactly 2,500 on average, an absolute record for the World Games.

Amazing play by Jaspers in the toughest cue sport of them all.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I think unless there is a qualification stage, a field of 16 is too small.
Too bad did not get to watch any stream of these events ...

Since the World Games is primarily a demonstration of the sports, providing 16 matches in each billiard discipline is more than enough actual play. The selection of athletes for cue sports was by rankings rather than qualification events, although some regions may have had special qualification tournaments. The BCA proposed having a qualification tournament for the US women, but it didn't happen.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Do you think the World Games 2022 presented cue sports or "billiards" as they termed it to a wide audience, Bob? I thought the coverage was very poor for billiards.

How many world pool organization members were there on-site from around the world, starting with the WPA, if you know? I am curious.

I think that all 64 matches should have been streamed although it would have been impossible to do full production on that many. I did not try to see the streamed matches live except for once, but I heard that only three or four were available at all.

I think in all there were about ten board members from the WPA/UMB/IBSF present. Several of them had actual functions running the events.

 

[hasu]

As for the forfeit, it was by Omar Al-Shaheen, whose luggage did not make it to Alabama, and he ended up having to borrow a cue from another player just to play. At 7-3 down, he decided that he just couldn't compete any further without his own equipment, so he unscrewed. Sad story for sure.

Stuff of nightmares. Hopefully his luggage turns up and isn't lost.

I finally bit the bullet and invested in a Longoni hard case + travel bag for checking my cues, but it still makes me nervous as hell. No matter what precautions you take, your equipment can still be stolen or broken or lost. I don't know what the actual chances are of losing a cue during travel, but I know they're higher than I'd like. The day when you can once again carry on cues can't come soon enough.