US Open, odd results lately.

hang-the-9

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
For about 30 years only one player won two in a row.

The last 6 years there were 3 back to back winners, all in a row.
And Shane won it in 2007 before Mika won his two in a row.

Last 7 years only had 3 winners.

Another odd thing is that Efren, who is widely regarded as the best player to ever hold a cue, only won one US Open.

Anyone have any theories about this?

Are there are just less great players out there that can win major events than a decade ago and the rest are just playing for second?
 
hang-the-9 said:
For about 30 years only one player won two in a row.

The last 6 years there were 3 back to back winners, all in a row.
And Shane won it in 2007 before Mika won his two in a row.

Last 7 years only had 3 winners.

Another odd thing is that Efren, who is widely regarded as the best player to ever hold a cue, only won one US Open.

Anyone have any theories about this?

Are there are just less great players out there that can win major events than a decade ago and the rest are just playing for second?
Click to expand...

Idk LVC shoots a 972 and SVB was shooting close to that until the very end
It could be the opposite but again idk
 
I think we should throw a "World" in front of the US Open title.

All these foreign players come to this torney and Shane goes undefeated 2 years in a row for a total of 3 US open wins

How can he not be the best in the world?

This is my humble American opionion ;)
 
Just a theory, but perhaps it is precisely because there are so many world beaters now, they tend to pick each other off, leaving a few to be "on" and close out the tourney...and those who are truly playing at their peak, at the right time tend to be those "few".

Maybe? :p
 
Because that's 9-ball! If you held the same event next week with the same players you will have different results! 9-ball, its a flawed game!
 
Just my opinion, but the WPA rankings are not worth the paper they're written on. You get points for just a very few events, most of them in Asia, and if you don't play in those events, then obviously you will not be ranked very highly. How many WPA events are in North America? One? How many in Europe? I know this will fire some people up, but I look at the rankings, and Earl Strickland is 118? SVB is 7th? Get real.
 
liakos said:
Because that's 9-ball! If you held the same event next week with the same players you will have different results! 9-ball, its a flawed game!
Click to expand...

Well...thats one way to look at it..lol..Imo its the hicups between ones ears that are flawed...have a good day.
 
Apocalypse2013 said:
I think we should throw a "World" in front of the US Open title.

All these foreign players come to this torney and Shane goes undefeated 2 years in a row for a total of 3 US open wins

How can he not be the best in the world?

This is my humble American opionion ;)
Click to expand...

With your theory about the US Open winner being the best in the world, where would you have rated Tommy Kennedy?

The US Open 9 Ball is just one event. If there were four or five events of that stature in the US; all withing several weeks of each other, with payouts similar to the Open,you might see a bigger contingent of the best foreign players at the Open. With most of the best players then in attendance, a multi-time repeat winner would then really mean something :rolleyes: . JMHO.

Lyn
 
Winning any major tournament is an accomplishment. Aside from having a high level of ability there must be a lot of other factors that come together, you must be mentally strong, you must get some rolls, your opponents must make more mistakes, you must remain healthy and feeling good etc...

Winning the same event consecutively is a great feat because of all those factors. Only a few times in history has there been a player so dominant that literally everyone else was playing for second place. That time is not right now. Right now there are many players capable of winning any pro event they enter. So it's a battle to win pro events. Winning does breed confidence though so it often happens that players who win one also go on to win more events right after the first big one.
 
If you watched SVB play he was just dominant. He simply played the best pool consistently. I believe he had a slight advantage in the final because he had time to rest when LVC had an extra match on Saturday. Both players did not play their best in the final and I blame some of it on fatigue. Earl won the Open 5 times but never in consecutive years. I guess luck has a little to do with it all. I was amazed at Corteza rebounding from an 11-1 trouncing by Archer to make it all the way to the finals. :smile:
 
cardiac kid said:
With your theory about the US Open winner being the best in the world, where would you have rated Tommy Kennedy?

The US Open 9 Ball is just one event. If there were four or five events of that stature in the US; all withing several weeks of each other, with payouts similar to the Open,you might see a bigger contingent of the best foreign players at the Open. With most of the best players then in attendance, a multi-time repeat winner would then really mean something :rolleyes: . JMHO.

Lyn
Click to expand...

I would rate Tommy as having the best winning percentage, if you added up the stats in all tournament he enters. Has anyone won as many tournaments as Tommy? Based on Tommy's speed, he might be the best tournament player ever.
 
Mole Eye said:
Just my opinion, but the WPA rankings are not worth the paper they're written on. You get points for just a very few events, most of them in Asia, and if you don't play in those events, then obviously you will not be ranked very highly. How many WPA events are in North America? One? How many in Europe? I know this will fire some people up, but I look at the rankings, and Earl Strickland is 118? SVB is 7th? Get real.
Click to expand...

Dude that's how it works - you will have to travel, participate in the events and play your best if you want to be on top. Lucky for the Americans, there's always US Open every year, which is held in their country. Ultimate 10-ball this year was also held in the US. Half way across the globe, the Filipino players would have to travel to the US, China, Japan and Qatar this year because there was no WPA event in PH. Lee Van for example, just came from London a couple of weeks ago after winning for the WCOP with Dennis. I dont know if he had to go back to the Philippines before going to the US for the Open, or went straight to US from London. But i guess that's how it works - you have to travel.

As for Earl, he is on 118th because he only participates in the US Open. Shane only got 9th place in All-Japan, 7th in Ultimate 10-ball, and got eliminated early in top-32 during the World 9-ball Championship after losing against Biado. That puts him on 7th in the world rankings.
 
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cardiac kid said:
With your theory about the US Open winner being the best in the world, where would you have rated Tommy Kennedy?

The US Open 9 Ball is just one event. If there were four or five events of that stature in the US; all withing several weeks of each other, with payouts similar to the Open,you might see a bigger contingent of the best foreign players at the Open. With most of the best players then in attendance, a multi-time repeat winner would then really mean something :rolleyes: . JMHO.

Lyn
Click to expand...

Lyn -

I agree. Most events now ARE international.

Ken
 
backplaying said:
I would rate Tommy as having the best winning percentage, if you added up the stats in all tournament he enters. Has anyone won as many tournaments as Tommy? Based on Tommy's speed, he might be the best tournament player ever.
Click to expand...

From what stats? I know he played a lot in the Seminole tour, but even just that he did not win many of those.

Are you talking about local tournament where there are a bunch of C and B players that don't get reported?
 
Apocalypse2013 said:
I think we should throw a "World" in front of the US Open title.

All these foreign players come to this torney and Shane goes undefeated 2 years in a row for a total of 3 US open wins

How can he not be the best in the world?

This is my humble American opionion ;)
Click to expand...

This is not a world championship quality field.

The top four Fillipinos were not there (Orcullo, Biado, Pagulayan, Bustamante) and the fifth best Fillipino reached the final. Ko Pin Yi and Wu Jiaqing sat it out and so did JL Chang. About half of the top fifteen players in the world weren't there. Three of the top four finishers from last year's US Open were absent.

The US Open 10-ball event at the Rio in July had a way, way, way, way, way, stronger field than the US Open 9-ball event just completed. Rodney Morris' win over that field is far more impressive than Shane's win this past weekend.

To be the best, you have to beat the best, and Shane isn't winning when all the top internationals show up. One day he will, but until then, he is just one of the big three, along with Appleton and Orcullo.
 
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