Don't know the latest results but I'm really pulling for Keisuke Hanawa, and Naoyuki Oi of Japan. Both players I know well, and both in my opinion are the future of pool here in Japan. I've known Keisuke for nearly 7 years as he had always been the top amateur in my area until he turned pro. He turned pro about 3 years ago, and has been pretty consistent on the tour over here. He uses a Predator break cue (the first one) as his play cue, and swears by it. Two weeks ago, played with him in a ring game, and he says that for the past two months, he'd been practicing harder than he ever has, and was just starting to notice the difference.
Naoyuki just turned pro last year, and already on his first year on the tour has become the No. 1 ranked professional player in Japan. Just three years ago, I played him in a tournament and lost hill/hill in a short race to 5. What amazes me about him, was that three years ago, he played about even to my speed, and was just another kid I often ran into on the small house tournament scene. In the past three years, he's gone from an everyday 'strong' amateur, to Japans top pro player. He also has one of the most powerful breaks I've ever seen. Would like to see either one of these guys do well over there.
dave