U.S. OPEN 2026, Frisco, Texas, August 25-30

[dquarasr]

if MW is mark wilson, that wasn't mark wilson. the third guy is scott frost

Wasn’t it Mark White?

I guess it was Scott Frost. Thanks for the correction.

 

[TwistedTexasStyle]

Ok, thanks for the info.

But I must ask - what shade of grey? Or is there only one shade of grey by CPBA cloth?

Haze gray, deck gray, machinery gray..... I know them all it it is definatly machinery grey!

 

[TwistedTexasStyle]

Not sure I’d want to be taking stimulants playing pool, but if there were something scandalous here, we would have heard from other players by now.

When pool makes it into the Olympics there will be testing.

 

[Bob Jewett]

When pool makes it into the Olympics there will be testing.

Any WPA-sanctioned event is currently subject to possible testing. That's part of the requirement for recognition of cue sports (WCBS) by the IOC.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... I am extremely disappointed that a hill-hill match wasn’t anticipated and too much fluff at the beginning of the show precluded finishing the match in the allotted time. I had recorded the broadcast so I had to watch the highlights video on YT (thank heaven it was available!) to see who had won. Truth is that highlights videos aren’t all that bad to watch. ...

Doesn't ESPN offer a replay on the ESPN-U coverage of the last six racks?

If you subscribe to WNTTV, you can see all the streamed matches from a lot of events, including the whole US Open finals. I think it's about $10/month.

 

[sjm]

There is no one dominant player today. That much is obvious. Any one of 25-30 guys now capable of snapping a big one, and they know it!

Absolutely right.

We live in a world where only the greatest can ever win 3+ majors in a year. There are a few who seem to do it every year, such as Filler and Gorst, but the guys at the top can all beat each other, even in a big spot. The globalization of the game about a decade ago ensured that this will remain the case. A year like Varner's 1989 or Immonen's 2009 is starting to look just about impossible.

Today's crop of cueists is just scary good, and for every crazy-straight shooter of ten years ago, there are four today. As we have seen in WNT play, it takes a lot more than four inch pockets to slow down this generation of cueists. As a fan, that is how I like it. It is because almost anyone can emerge at a moment's notice that I keep coming back for more. Although the first two WNT majors in 2026 were both won by Germans, the last five WNT events were won by an Albanian, an American, an Estonian, a Serbian and a Spaniard. That's how we like it.

As you say, nobody is truly dominant today, but a few players seem to outperform the rest when the biggest titles are up for grabs.

 

[straightline]

Corporations, conglomerates, consortiums, one pool champ.

 

[jbart65]

Interesting FB comments from Duong Quoc Hoang:

ONE MONTH IN AMERICA. FIVE TOURNAMENTS.
Vice City Classic - 5th
Florida Open - 9th
Arizona Open - 17th
Phoenix Open - 17th
US Open - 33rd
Not the results I came here hoping for.
This month was a struggle for me, probably more mentally than physically.
There were days when I felt like I could play my best pool. And then there were days when I simply couldn’t find myself at the table. I tried to push harder, concentrate harder, fight harder… but sometimes, the harder I tried, the heavier everything became.
At some point, I could feel my mental health going downhill.
But when I looked around, I realized I wasn’t the only one.
Five tournaments in one month. Long matches, long days, flights, hotels, pressure, wins and losses. I saw many players exhausted too. Everyone was fighting their own battle, but everyone kept showing up, picking up their cue and trying again.
And I respect that.
There have been many discussions and different opinions surrounding tournaments and organizations during this period. As a player, however, I also want to acknowledge something: having this many tournaments available for us to compete in within one month does not happen by itself.
Behind every event are people working, organizing, investing, taking risks and trying to create opportunities for professional pool.
Things may not always be perfect. We may disagree. There will always be problems that need to be discussed and improved.
But this sport is still fighting to grow.
Promoters, organizations, sponsors, players, media and fans, everyone contributes something to that journey. I hope instead of spending too much energy fighting each other, we can find more ways to support each other, fix what needs to be fixed, and keep moving this game forward together.
As for me, I leave America without the result I wanted, but with many lessons I probably needed.
Thank you to everyone behind these five tournaments for giving us the opportunity to compete.

 

[sjm]

Interesting FB comments from Duong Quoc Hoang:

ONE MONTH IN AMERICA. FIVE TOURNAMENTS.
Vice City Classic - 5th
Florida Open - 9th
Arizona Open - 17th
Phoenix Open - 17th
US Open - 33rd
Not the results I came here hoping for.
This month was a struggle for me, probably more mentally than physically.
There were days when I felt like I could play my best pool. And then there were days when I simply couldn’t find myself at the table. I tried to push harder, concentrate harder, fight harder… but sometimes, the harder I tried, the heavier everything became.
At some point, I could feel my mental health going downhill.
But when I looked around, I realized I wasn’t the only one.
Five tournaments in one month. Long matches, long days, flights, hotels, pressure, wins and losses. I saw many players exhausted too. Everyone was fighting their own battle, but everyone kept showing up, picking up their cue and trying again.
And I respect that.
There have been many discussions and different opinions surrounding tournaments and organizations during this period. As a player, however, I also want to acknowledge something: having this many tournaments available for us to compete in within one month does not happen by itself.
Behind every event are people working, organizing, investing, taking risks and trying to create opportunities for professional pool.
Things may not always be perfect. We may disagree. There will always be problems that need to be discussed and improved.
But this sport is still fighting to grow.
Promoters, organizations, sponsors, players, media and fans, everyone contributes something to that journey. I hope instead of spending too much energy fighting each other, we can find more ways to support each other, fix what needs to be fixed, and keep moving this game forward together.
As for me, I leave America without the result I wanted, but with many lessons I probably needed.
Thank you to everyone behind these five tournaments for giving us the opportunity to compete.

This is wonderful and I, too, have praised the wonderful five-week WNT pool fiesta, which brought out so many of the greatest players of the world. We all hope that there is more and more scheduling of this quality, for it serves the players well.

Hoang has my fullest respect for sharing these thoughts. He is right, for this does not happen by itself.