Nice thread, sjm! With all the talk about pro pool being "dead," this thread is certainly evidence that, for spectators at least, that is not the case.
In this post, I'll just make comments about a few of the matches you listed. If other posters don't mention some other matches of note, I'll do so later.
They even tied on the first lag and had to re-do it. Then they were tied at 1 game apiece and tied at 2 games apiece. And at that point it was 23-23 in total point scores! But Shannon prevailed in Game 5 for the 3-2 win.
By my counts, they both ran a 6 while everyone was still in it, and then they both ran a 6 and a 5 while it was head to head in Games 7 through 11. During the head-to-head portion, Woodward took 31 shots and made 22 of them (71%) while Bustamante took 28 shots and made 20 of them (71%). Just remarkable.
Shane also beat another 14.1 monster in that event -- Mike Immonen -- by a score of 200-115. Shane had runs of 77, 47, and 48 & out in that game. In the finals, Darren's runs were actually 70 and 131 -- he scratched on the break shot after running the 70, giving him 69 points at that stage.
Mike actually trailed 7-5 in that match, then he won 3 in a row to take it to 8-7 in his favor. It was tied at 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Quite a match, and an historical one -- 3 US Open titles in a row. The final TPA's were .953 for Shane and .948 for Dennis. They were playing with an illegal-break rule, and in nearly 600 streamed games only 4 illegal breaks were called; Orcollo committed 2 of those 4 in the championship match!
Even though I do not play bank pool at all, and generally think of the DCC ring game as an unnecessary side show, I think I'd vote this year for your #3. Bustamante led by $400 after 8 games, but Woodward then beat him 14 banks to 6 in the next 2 games to lead $8,000 - $1,000. After Woodward made the first two banks in Game 11, he had all the money.
In this post, I'll just make comments about a few of the matches you listed. If other posters don't mention some other matches of note, I'll do so later.
They even tied on the first lag and had to re-do it. Then they were tied at 1 game apiece and tied at 2 games apiece. And at that point it was 23-23 in total point scores! But Shannon prevailed in Game 5 for the 3-2 win.
By my counts, they both ran a 6 while everyone was still in it, and then they both ran a 6 and a 5 while it was head to head in Games 7 through 11. During the head-to-head portion, Woodward took 31 shots and made 22 of them (71%) while Bustamante took 28 shots and made 20 of them (71%). Just remarkable.
Shane also beat another 14.1 monster in that event -- Mike Immonen -- by a score of 200-115. Shane had runs of 77, 47, and 48 & out in that game. In the finals, Darren's runs were actually 70 and 131 -- he scratched on the break shot after running the 70, giving him 69 points at that stage.
Mike actually trailed 7-5 in that match, then he won 3 in a row to take it to 8-7 in his favor. It was tied at 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Quite a match, and an historical one -- 3 US Open titles in a row. The final TPA's were .953 for Shane and .948 for Dennis. They were playing with an illegal-break rule, and in nearly 600 streamed games only 4 illegal breaks were called; Orcollo committed 2 of those 4 in the championship match!
Even though I do not play bank pool at all, and generally think of the DCC ring game as an unnecessary side show, I think I'd vote this year for your #3. Bustamante led by $400 after 8 games, but Woodward then beat him 14 banks to 6 in the next 2 games to lead $8,000 - $1,000. After Woodward made the first two banks in Game 11, he had all the money.
