Which country has the best pool players?

THam

THam

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have long slow nights at work so I have time to think. Just figured I'd start a post to see what other people think.

Where do you think the best pool players are? I could see the argument for several different European countries, Chinese Taipei, or the Philippines.

After looking for a bit I came to the conclusion I think it's Poland, there are a lot of top young players out of Poland. But I could also see if someone said Spain, Austria, or Germany (Though I think most of the German pool greats are getting older). If I were to pick an Asian country that is the best I'd bet it's the Philippines, there is a lot of really really good pool players that a lot of the world doesn't get to see even, but Chinese Taipei is also very strong.

Then I had a question that came to mind, why do you think everywhere else in the world is so much better at pool than the states? Do they take it more seriously/train more in Europe and Asia? It's a genuine question that I'm not sure the answer to. Is it a money thing?
 
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skogstokig

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
taiwan, in my opinion. europe as a continent has lots of great players but none of the individual countries can compete with taiwan or the philippines in that regard
 
sjm

sjm

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I'm interpreting the question as "what country has the best pro players?"

I'd go with Chinese Taipei. The Ko brothers, YL Chang, JL Chang, Kevin Cheng and others have all made their mark by medaling in the majors. Poland merits consideration, but its contingent of players hasn't yet captured the major titles in 9ball.
 
THam

THam

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yeah, I meant pros.

Hypothetically say a Mosconi style tournament with all countries, who wins?
 
sjm

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
SEB said:
Philippines…

They have 9 players over 800 FargoRate.

To put that in perspective…there are only 35 players in the world who have hit the 800 benchmark.

That’s a quarter of the best players in the world come from that country.
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Yup, Chinese Taipei vs Philippines is a near coin toss. I took a while before choosing.
 
S

skogstokig

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
MitchAlsup said:
Just exactly how far away from being a single country is the European Union ??
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very far, i would hope.

anyway, many east asian countries are coming strong now. SEA games was won by myanmar this year and vietnam is experiencing a pool boom. the asian open 9-ball will be very interesting
 
Dunnn51

Dunnn51

Whaddido now?? (Shrug)
Silver Member
I still wonder what a Mosconi cup would look like with an Asian and Middle east addition. MR should think about that as it has serious potential to open up the pool Industry/sport to a much wider audience. Honestly, USA and EUROPE would be in trouble.
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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Dunnn51 said:
I still wonder what a Mosconi cup would look like with an Asian and Middle east addition. MR should think about that as it has serious potential to open up the pool Industry/sport to a much wider audience. Honestly, USA and EUROPE would be in trouble.
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Matchroom already does a world pairs by country event and I think that's as close as they will get to your idea. You are asking them to discard their investment in the Mosconi Cup just as it has started to make money for them.
 
pt109

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
If you took the top thousand players from each COUNTRY, I think America gets the nod. China might get it if they only played pool.
 
erriep

erriep

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
don't forget Netherland, and Belgium.
Don't underestimate such small countries : when it comes to cue sports, Dutch & Belgians can play ...
 
Dunnn51

Dunnn51

Whaddido now?? (Shrug)
Silver Member
Bob Jewett said:
Matchroom already does a world pairs by country event and I think that's as close as they will get to your idea. You are asking them to discard their investment in the Mosconi Cup just as it has started to make money for them.
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I was unaware of world pairs by country event, thanks for letting me know.
I just thought the name recognition would attract interest in Asia and Middle East from spectators.
 
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