Spanish Open, June 2023, from Matchroom

Can someone smarter than me explain after a decade of controlling the cueball on standard 9 ball and 10 ball breaks, even playing the 1 up table for the first shot, that everyone of these guys is slashing the cueball 2 or 3 rails through the middle of the rack ?

If they make a ball. Then they are lucking shape on lowest ball, especially since the 1 is most often the ball made. No control at all.

I haven't broke with 9 on the spot enough to know the subtlety...
It's turned into 80s style breaking wide open.
 
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SBC said:
Can someone smarter than me explain after a decade of controlling the cueball on standard 9 ball and 10 ball breaks, even playing the 1 up table for the first shot, that everyone of these guys is slashing the cueball 2 or 3 rails through the middle of the rack ?

If they make a ball. Then they are lucking shape on lowest ball, especially since the 1 is most often the ball made. No control at all.

I haven't broke with 9 on the spot enough to know the subtlety...
It's turned into 80s style breaking wide open.
Click to expand...
It's a combination of 9B on the spot and the break box. The play is the 1B in the side with a cut break but it's difficult to control the cue ball on a cut break.
 
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SBC said:
Can someone smarter than me explain after a decade of controlling the cueball on standard 9 ball and 10 ball breaks, even playing the 1 up table for the first shot, that everyone of these guys is slashing the cueball 2 or 3 rails through the middle of the rack ?

If they make a ball. Then they are lucking shape on lowest ball, especially since the 1 is most often the ball made. No control at all.

I haven't broke with 9 on the spot enough to know the subtlety...
It's turned into 80s style breaking wide open.
Click to expand...
That's a very good analysis and your conclusion that it has the feel of 1980s breaking is valid. I think that's how Matchroom wants it and I'm OK with it. That said, Jin Hu Dang and Marc Bijsterbosch both possess very powerful breaks and will face off for the Spanish Open title in about an hour. Still, I suspect that nobody will ever dominate with their break the way SVB did from 2014-16, because the break is harder than ever.

I think that with the change in the break rule combined with the 64-player Stage 2, Matchroom is doing what it can to get a greater diversity of players into the late rounds. I can see why they might want things that way, but it sometimes delivers a less elite final four.
 
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sjm said:
That's a very good analysis and your conclusion that it has the feel of 1980s breaking is valid. I think that's how Matchroom wants it and I'm OK with it. That said, Jin Hu Dang and Marc Bijsterbosch both possess very powerful breaks and will face off for the Spanish Open title in about an hour. Still, I suspect that nobody will ever dominate with their break the way SVB did from 2014-16, because the break is harder than ever.

I think that the change in the break rule combined with the 64-player Stage 2, Matchroom is doing what it can to get a greater diversity of players into the late rounds. I can see why they might want things that way, but it sometimes delivers a less elite final four.
Click to expand...

Was just about to say both finalists have very hard breaks. Should be fun to watch.
 
SBC said:
Sky played really badly.....always something to learn from this game. Brutal.
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Yes, and Dang is a highly skilled cueist. Similarly, Kaci didn't bring his A game in the quarterfinals and Dang punished him.

Winning major titles is extremely difficult, because it requires a sustained excellence that few can manage to produce more than occasionally. The ones that win majors usually wind up in the BCA Hall of Fame.
 
Extremely entertaining pool. The pool gods always make sure that you have to play a rack like rack 24 on your way to your first major!
 
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