US Open 08/18-23

skogstokig said:
no filler on the tv table. now i get that kaci v ko is the match for that time slot, but there definitely is a pattern here. the best player in the world has become "back table josh"
Click to expand...
I am sure some of this has been going on, but MR has put the focus on American players more than anyone else. Probably because U.S. viewers make up a large shar of their audience/WNT subscribers. Gorst also has a very big international following.

The second Filler match was on Table 3 in the first phase btw. None of his three matches were competitive, though. MR made the right call.

Heck, I seldom watch Gorst when I know he is going to win or he jumps out to a big lead over a a clearly inferior player. I prefer to watch more competitive matches.

Filler will get plenty of TV time. I would guess, starting in the round of 32. On paper, the Filler-Lo Ho Sum match doesn't see like one of the better ones in the early session today.
 
jbart65 said:
I am sure some of this has been going on, but MR has put the focus on American players more than anyone else. Probably because U.S. viewers make up a large shar of their audience/WNT subscribers. Gorst also has a very big international following.

The second Filler match was on Table 3 in the first phase btw. None of his three matches were competitive, though. MR made the right call.

Heck, I seldom watch Gorst when I know he is going to win or he jumps out to a big lead over a a clearly inferior player. I prefer to watch more competitive matches.

Filler will get plenty of TV time. I would guess, starting in the round of 32. On paper, the Filler-Lo Ho Sum match doesn't see like one of the better ones in the early session today.
Click to expand...

sure, he will get TV time, because eventually they go to a three table setup.
 
Frosty said:
There is none. This is just one of the several maddening things that have transpired with MR buying the rights to, and running the US Open. It used to be a true double elimination tournament until the Final, not getting it to 64 and then going to single elimination, quite unjust to those still on the winners side.

Then there’s the change from the once standard race to 11 being to 9 now until it goes to the round of 64, then I believe it becomes a race to 10. While many might not think the difference matters, it favors weaker players and alters the event. Sadly Barry’s family sold his legacy for filthy lucre, and were now at the mercy of however MR wants to run it.
Click to expand...
No advantages? Most of them had a day off to rest. And they're also guaranteed to draw a player in the round of 64 who did not have that luxury. I'd call that an advantage.
 
skogstokig said:
sure, he will get TV time, because eventually they go to a three table setup.
Click to expand...

I don't know how MR schedules all TV table times. It can be a bit perplexing. Just not sure they are majorly going out of their way to spite Filler. Earlier before the settlement, yes, but not so much now.

One issue with MR is the same with all sports broadcasters. They never want to start showing a match and jump away halfway through. Or televise a match starting when it is halfway over. Viewers have a right to see a whole match carried through.

As such they have to guess before the day starts when matches will end to schedule the TV tables. No easy task when matches are played without a clock. Some matches ran several hours. Others, like the Chua-Garcia match, was over pretty quickly. Both players shot every fast.'

They can do better and eventually they will have to if they want more viewers.
 
Half an hour to show time. Looks like Niels and Konrad on the YouTube channel.
 
Last edited:
jbart65 said:
I don't know how MR schedules all TV table times. It can be a bit perplexing. Just not sure they are majorly going out of their way to spite Filler. Earlier before the settlement, yes, but not so much now.

One issue with MR is the same with all sports broadcasters. They never want to start showing a match and jump away halfway through. Or televise a match starting when it is halfway over. Viewers have a right to see a whole match carried through.

As such they have to guess before the day starts when matches will end to schedule the TV tables. No easy task when matches are played without a clock. Some matches ran several hours. Others, like the Chua-Garcia match, was over pretty quickly. Both players shot every fast.'

They can do better and eventually they will have to if they want more viewers.
Click to expand...

it's not settled, from what i've heard. between MR and WPA, sure, but not between MR and josh. it's probably just fuel for him though
 
easy-e said:
No advantages? Most of them had a day off to rest. And they're also guaranteed to draw a player in the round of 64 who did not have that luxury. I'd call that an advantage.
Click to expand...
As for his other comments...

Matches run on time.
Worldwide TV coverage.
$500,000 prize fund that's mostly added money.
The prizes are actually paid.
Much stronger fields.

I think @Frosty is a victim of selective memory.
 
fedor must like his route.. no yapp, filler, kaci, ko, biado in that half.

then you look at the other half, in adding to above names are wojciech, jayson, maciol, lechner, wu kun lin, chang yu lung, capito.. brutal
 
skogstokig said:
it's not settled, from what i've heard. between MR and WPA, sure, but not between MR and josh. it's probably just fuel for him though
Click to expand...
Perhaps, but I think it is Josh just still being angry. He's been chilly to everyone since the WNT-WPA blowup. Doesn't do any interviews. Skipping lots of WNT events.

I would not be surprised if Filler got an automatic bid, or wild card, to the Mosconi and declined to attend.

MR, on the other hand, is in the money business. They know Josh in big matches is good for them. They seem quite ready to move on. The announcers certainly talk highly of him. Boyes and Yates especially.
 
Neils Feijin on fire.

Wish he was still a tour regular. His game might be better than ever, in no small part because of his coaching and all the YouTube videos he does. No current player knows more about the game than he does. Some are on par (SVB, Alex), but none better. And none teach as well.

Yet playing off and on means he's never totally sharp - he just screwed up an easy position play while winning 5-0.

Instead of 6-0, it went 5-1 vs. Konrad Juszczyszyn.

Neils should still win, but he seldom makes it easy for himself. Now up 6-1.
 
Neils has a series of drills on YT that build up to Bert Kinister's 6-pointed star. When he won his seventh game, the last three shots were all from one of his drills.

Couldn't help but laugh. I knew exactly how he would run out all three shots.

Wins 10-1. Might be the most flawless match I've seen from a player all week. Hope he keeps it up.
 
Last edited:
The young guns aren’t having a great week.

Young AJ Manas couldn’t even get to the US Open. Ongoing Visa problems suggest a lack of urgency or organization.

Kledio Kaci got knocked out in the first stage. His game has taken a step back lately.

Felix Vogel, gone. Yannick Ponges, gone.

Jonas Souto was having a breakout year, but he’s been mediocre since the Florida Open. Eliminated in the final 64 by Oi.

A few younger players are making steady inroads. Moritz Neuhausen, 21, and Mickey Krause, 24, come to mind. These guys have been more battle tested than most of the others I mentioned.

Just goes to show how hard it is for very good players, especially young ones, to become great ones.

There’s still only a dozen or fewer truly great players on the WNT Tour. And the big events are largely being dominated by them.

What the trend is a bunch of familiar names once we get to the quarters. Plus a random and rotating handful of very good players who have a breakthrough - breakthroughs that are seldom repeated.

Of course, there are upsets. Shane is gone. Now Biado too. But 26 of the 40 players with the highest Fargo ratings in the world are still in it.
 
jbart65 said:
I don't entirely agree. I think there’s a lot of very good players, but great ones? I'd count fewer than 10 truly elite players at the moment. Filler, Gorst, Yapp, Biado, SVB, Chua, one of both of the Ko brothers and perhaps Shaw.

Next up are the near-great category. I'd put FSR, Alcaide and Eklent Kaci (post injury) into that category, but a case can be made they are still elite.

Albin Ouschan has really fallen off in the past year, but I am not ready to punt him into just “very good” status.

In any case, the winners of the 19 Big Matchroom majors since 2022 - really the start of the WNT touring era - come almost entirely from the small group of players listed above.

The only exceptions were Dang Jin Hu, Robbie Capito and Mickey Krause.

Lots of new players, of course, are aiming for elite status. More than ever, it seems.But it takes tremendous effort to get there – and stay there.

Capito and Krause, for instance, have yet to break into elite status despite winning MR majors.

Krause is the more likely of the two to get there, but he’s been up and down since winning the European Open in 2024.

Beyond those two, there are plenty of potentially great players. They have yet to arrive, though.
Click to expand...
The question is -- how many players (good, great, elite, whatever) are there that can play a plus .900 level match under current WNT conditions? I think that number is pretty high, and it's growing every tournament as more players get the break dialed in. As a spectator, I don't mind it, but I would like to see more Filler vs Gorst matches.
 
jbart65 said:
Perhaps, but I think it is Josh just still being angry. He's been chilly to everyone since the WNT-WPA blowup. Doesn't do any interviews. Skipping lots of WNT events.

I would not be surprised if Filler got an automatic bid, or wild card, to the Mosconi and declined to attend.

MR, on the other hand, is in the money business. They know Josh in big matches is good for them. They seem quite ready to move on. The announcers certainly talk highly of him. Boyes and Yates especially.
Click to expand...
I wonder how the other MR/ WNT players interact with him. The discussion of what happened was a while ago, but put yourself in the shoes of a player who skipped the big WPA event. That was the closest thing to a union strike pool players have ever had I think. And Filler essentially crossed the picket line. I get why players wouldn’t like what he did at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top