UK Open 2025 Telford, UK, May 6-11

Watched the entire Styer-Filler match in a hot tub on vacation in OBX. Best I’ve ever seen Tyler play. Virtually flawless after the first few racks. Filler was damn near flawless too.

Styler went up 7-4, hit the one ball in on the break, then suffered a fluke scratch. Filler ran the next four, but the pool gods evened the score. Filler scratched on the break up 8-7.

Styler almost hung a 3 ball in the jaws of the pocket in the final game by babying the shot. But it dropped and he firmed up his final few shots.

Oi is playing the best of his career, though. Tough match.

Funny. Tyler lost his second match of the tourney and went to the loser’s side. I thought he’d flame out early again. But he’s played superb since then.

The best players this week have been Oi, Souto, Labutis, Yapp, Duong and Krause.

Three Viet players is a bit of a surprise, but only because of Pham. Have seen very little of him. Tuan isn’t a surprise. Playing Fedor sharpened his game to give it the best edge ever. He’s also had an easier path than most, though. So , caveat.

Souto would be my pick at this stage. Break is on, more confident than ever after two tournament wins and he has been extremely consistent in 2025. Blossoming into an elite player.
 
skogstokig said:
i hadnt heard of him either, outside 9-ball. it's about time UK produces another competitive 9-ball player. post- darren, gray, melling, boyes, there hasn't been much..

i watched a little from the scottish open with various local 9b players commentating, and they were enthusiastic and knowledgeable. seems to be a great scene for american pool in glasgow. so maybe the next big UK player will be a scotsman
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Gareth Potts could probably make a big impact if he switched over. Problem is uk pool players play mainly 8 ball and then if they want to make big money it’s more lucrative to go to Chinese hey ball comps. They have great payouts, Mellings is there now instead of playing uk open.
 
I follow snooker fairly closely. I've heard of Fraser Patrick on the snooker scene but "heard of" is where it starts and ends - I haven't had time to watch until now this week and I wouldn't recognise him if I saw him. If he does really well in this event then all credit to him - realising that you will never quite make the big time in one discipline and then putting the work in in another takes real dedication. (It is of course possible that he got lucky rolls and layouts and his superior potting skills did all the work, but I'm more inclined to guess that he has played really well).
 
Souto made more mistakes in his first four games vs. Sniegocki than I’ve seen all year. Nerves. Fortunately for him, Sniegocki made even more.

Then Souto settled down. Won the next nine or 10 in a row to take the match 10-2. Sniegocki only got back to the table a few times near the end to try to handle safeties Souto threw at him. Souto potted a ball on every break and hit everything in at warp speed. Impressive.
 
jbart65 said:
Souto made more mistakes in his first four games vs. Sniegocki than I’ve seen all year. Nerves. Fortunately for him, Sniegocki made even more.

Then Souto settled down. Won the next nine or 10 in a row to take the match 10-2. Sniegocki only got back to the table a few times near the end to try to handle safeties Souto threw at him. Souto potted a ball on every break and hit everything in at warp speed. Impressive.
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Here's a condensed version of the match I found on YouTube. Really impressive and a near-flawless performance. Souto's playing with supreme confidence.

 
I came in on Tyler-Naoyuki when it was 4-3 Styer. 50 minutes later it was 10-3, and Styer hadn't missed a ball the entire time. He put on a clinic of cue ball control that was worthy of Buddy Hall. If he can somehow keep it up he's going to be tough for anyone to beat.
 
Taxi said:
I came in on Tyler-Naoyuki when it was 4-3 Styer. 50 minutes later it was 10-3, and Styer hadn't missed a ball the entire time. He put on a clinic of cue ball control that was worthy of Buddy Hall. If he can somehow keep it up he's going to be tough for anyone to beat.
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It was a continuation of his match with filler.

Commentators said something about how Styer felt he had gone as far as he could with his old equipment. Predator, I think. I was a bit skeptical. But Styer seems to show more control with his new Meucci, which I think is a fiber/wood hybrid. He doesn’t overpower or overdraw as much as he used to. He seems better able to put the CB precisely where he wants.
 
skogstokig said:
that's exactly how i see him. his break is top notch, excellent fundamentals, he can play perfect pool, but the next match he hits the OB straight into the rail.

but maybe his inconsistency is a thing of the past? to me it never made sense that the most methodical player was so inconsistent
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Monti said:
Yeah, agree with this. He needs help on his mental game.
However, after just watching the game, wow did he play well, he di one 3/4 table draw and hit so sweet .
Anyone know what he plays with now , I think he was cuetec cf, but now he is wood with someone else?
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He played great and maybe this helps him over the top. I feel like him and sky are right there for one of the big titles just can’t get over the hump.

On the other side of that he played all but a perfect match and he STILL went hill hill with killer filler to win lol
 
Tyler is playing well. New equipment is important for sure.

On the other hand, married life must be agreeing with him as well!
 
Following Styer over the past few years reminds me of Mississippi State University baseball. Playing like National champs one year then the next 🙁🤷
 
FrankieD said:
Tyler's break was on! He ran a 3 pack to send Filler packing.
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Because you mentioned 3, how about that 3-ball in the last rack?! It hit the long rail, then the facing of the pocket on the short rail, then the facing of the pocket on the long rail, then hung on the lip for an instant and dropped in. Tyler's heart must have stopped for a beat on that shot.
 
i listened to mike and mike a little this morning, interviewing tyler after L32:


i like how he's embraces playing filler, on the tv table. it's not aw shucks i drew joshua. now it's wiktor next, a clash of styles. i kind of like tyler odds wise there, but rooting for wiktor
 
sjm said:
Mark Gray is the most obvious
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And because of this post, Tony Drago just deleted his AZB account ;)

But I agree, while Drago had some big success, especially at the MC, I always considered Gray the best player coming from a snooker background.

Edit: ...or maybe Chris Melling...but he never really got his snooker career going.
 
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WNTTV rewind function never works for me when it's live. sometimes there's a shot you want to see again, but it doesn't work
 
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