A higher percentage of Filipino men than the percentage of men in other countries is all that's needed to explain a higher percentage of Filipino men in the top ranks worldwide. Are you claiming Filipino men have some genetic advantage over other men?
pj
chgo
Of course it isn't a matter of the percentage of Filipino men playing. The raw numbers of Filipino men compared to the raw number of other men or women are where the percentages should then be calculated from if figuring percentages. It wouldn't matter if 1% or 100% of Filipino men played pool as long as the raw number of Filipino men playing pool stayed the same. Likewise the percentage of women playing pool isn't relevant.
The men from the Philippines are far overrepresented in the top ranks of pool as compared to men from other countries. For every pro from the Philippines there are dozens from other countries. Of course being overrepresented to compare to men they are vastly overrepresented compared to women since the number of women playing at the same level as the top half-dozen or so Filipino men is zero based on current records.
There are several reasons I suspect go a long ways to explain the Filipino excellence but Alex and Francisco certainly suggest that genetics could play a factor! At a guess I suspect the major factors in the success of Filipino players today are genuine hunger and poverty, desire, and seeing their heroes play pool. They see pool as a ticket out. Some other things too but these are enough reasons.
Pool offers smoky pool rooms, alcohol, drugs, unsavory characters to associate with and a very sketchy future. What's not to love for an American parent? If I had a child with huge physical talents I would send them towards a sport with good pay and long careers.
Hu
More female pool players have fewer personal or mental or physical problems than the make pool players.
I can't recall how many females have broken a cue stick during a match.
That statistic alone puts them in an above average category than men.
Funny but True!