will Taiwan dominate in WPC?
- Thread starter vagabond
- Start date
Does dominate mean when the final 8 are left 3 or 4 of them are Taiwanese? Or does domination simply mean someone from Taiwan wins? They are likely to do well but then so is the Philipino contingent, and you would be hard knocked to discount Europe with Hohmann, Souquet, Chamat, Immonen and others. And lets not totally discount the USA, Archer is not supposed to lose to anyone, Putnam is playing top notch atm, any match Schmidt can get a $500 side bet on is a cinch for him, and god forbid Earl feels good and gets in stroke.
I would say this Worlds is up in the air atm. It will be another 10 years before Asia dominates based on the younger players coming up.
I would say this Worlds is up in the air atm. It will be another 10 years before Asia dominates based on the younger players coming up.
Celtic said:
Celtic, with so many talents it will be hard to pick a winner but I do not agree with your statement about the Asian Players. This could be their year!
if i remember it right, last year, they had the most # of players/survivors in every round - from the group stage to the finals. among the prominent taiwanese players, i think chin shun yang is the strongest today. there are so many talents from there, i will not be surprised if a relatively unknown taiwanese guy will end up as champion. however, i agree with celtic that there are other strong players from europe, usa and the rest of asia, one can't count.
The WPC is a toss up and any player can win it because the pockets are massive and Joe Nobody can beat Efren by winning the flip. If they tighten up the pockets the cream of the crop will emerge on top. I still think Yang is going to win the tournament no matter what.
LastTwo said:
i read from the other forum (wpc) that they have tightened the pockets. i think taiwanese players are used to tight pockets so this will be to their advantage.
Alex, Efren and Francisco, all of whom played in the 2004 BCA Open, didn't show this year, and the US still only had four of the top 12 in the 2005 BCA Open and just one of the last four (Archer), with the other three being Europeans (Hohmann, Immonen, Roschowsky). So, in the absence of the most elite Fillipinos, what we learned at the BCA open is that Europe has closed the gap between themselves and the US.
Archer, a quarterfinalist a year ago at the WPC, certainly merits a lot of attention as a title contender, but I wonder whether any other American has been showing the kind of form to be taken seriously as a title contender. In my opinion, only a few Americans have what it takes to make a cinderella run at the WPC.
Asian dominance in 2004 was no fluke, and I suspect Asia will have five of the last eight this year. Until somebody shows otherwise in an event having an elite international filed, Asian pool will remain the standard.
Archer, a quarterfinalist a year ago at the WPC, certainly merits a lot of attention as a title contender, but I wonder whether any other American has been showing the kind of form to be taken seriously as a title contender. In my opinion, only a few Americans have what it takes to make a cinderella run at the WPC.
Asian dominance in 2004 was no fluke, and I suspect Asia will have five of the last eight this year. Until somebody shows otherwise in an event having an elite international filed, Asian pool will remain the standard.
sjm said:
I totally agree with this. Archer is the ONLY USA player I think has as good a chance of winning this event as anyone. He is in a class of his own in the USA as a true top pro of the highest form. Strickland has the skills but not the pro mentallity or approach. No other player in the USA has that top form when it comes to skills to be included in the elite top. Guys like Morris and Putnam are for sure great players, but it is tough to say they are even bets against Chao or Yang or Reyes or Busta or Hohmann or Souquet or Immonen or Pagulayan. The only USA player that can stand equal to the top echelon on a consistent basis is Archer. It is a shame because if you compare the states now to the states of the 1980's there is a major drop in top calibre players. Strickland was not a headcase and simply awesome, Sigel was probably the best player in the world, Hall and Varner were younger close to their prime and super dangerous complete pro's that were underdogs to noone. Back at that time there was a good 4 or 5 players the USA could send that were really dangerous and a chance to come home with the title, now the USA is sending 1 player like that and that is a tough thing to shoulder, the American hopes for the WPC lie on Archer's shoulders.
LastTwo said:
Apparently the pockets will be shrinked from 2.2 ball width to 2.0 ball width. There should be less of those sloppy shots going in this year. Players that are used to playing with tighter pockets or have better cue ball control will benefit most. Most Taiwanese pros practice with 1.6 to 1.8 ball width pockets, so I guess 2.0 will still be a big hole for them.
I hate to say it, but the US will be lucky to get 2 players to the quarterfinals. Taiwan and the rest of Asia have an incredible number of young players competing at a high level due to the number of lucrative tournaments in the region. It would not be unusual for all 8 players in the quarterfinals to be from Asia.
SplicedPoints said:
At least for the moment, tight pockets at the WPC is an unsubstantiated rumor, but.......
Tight pockets, in my opinion, would hurt the chances of the American players. On the forum, we often chat about how loose pockets make you sloppy and lazy over the glorious green felt. Professionals are not exempt from this. The UPA and other organizations behind the production of the most elite nine ball events in America have to answer for some of the slippage in the pedigree of the American professional nineballers. The consistent use of loose tables in pro nine ball events in the US, I believe, is hurting America's top players.
countessdracula said:
There is indeed alot of great unknown players over there, most of them don't play outside Taiwan so they get little or no exposure in North America and Europe. I wonder how many pool fans outside Taiwan had heard of Chang Pei-Wei or Kuo before last year?
Celtic said:
I totally agree with you. Back when the USA was dominating the top elite players were Sigel, Strickland, Davenport, Rempe, Varner, Hall, Archer, Hopkins and a few more I can't think of. All of these guys were the best the world had to offer. Now the USA has maybe three or four players who considered top top players.
sjm said:
Strickland, really feeds off this tournament like the US Open. I think he really loves the tension created between the fans and him. Strickland in other parts of the world is somewhat of a movie star over there. Please correct me if I am wrong, but Strickland is the only American to have won the WPC in the last 10 years and won it on foregin soil. Archer, seems not to thrive in tournaments which have alot of unfamilar faces in them especially the WPC.
As far a Deuel is concerned, it just depends where his mind is at. Putnam, starting to breakout as a pro player, but, is too unfamilar with playing in tournaments like the WPC. Mike Davis is too inconsistant. I really thought that over the last few years that, Morris or Archer (along with Strickland) would get near the finals or in the finals to represent the US.
JustPlay said:
Agreed, Strickland loves the event, and he still has the pedigree to make a run. i just don't expect it.
As for Archer, I disagree. Johnny came up one rack short of the semifinals at the last WPC, and was the only American that truly played like a champion. And, of course, he's in dead stroke right now.
sjm said:
I stand corrected about Archer, thanks. Archer, Strickland and Morris are probably the most familar with playing in a foreign country. Alot of Amercian players really haven't got that kind of exposure. Yes, some of them may have played a few of those players over here, but its a different atomosphere over there. Also, alot of those foreign players are just not afraid or don't really care how good the American players are. A few years ago before pool got big in other countries, some of these players were afraid of playing guys like Strickand and so forth.
I still think out of the Americans, Strickland is the one to beat. It would be nice to see Archer take the crown of WC again, its been many years since he was crowned world champion....It would be nice to see the WPC played on American soil....
Last edited:
I think we tend to overlook the homefield advantage thing in pool. I believe more Taiwanese qualified for the WPC in 2004, but certainly they had a better showing than in Cardiff the year before. Not to knock Chao, Yang, etc. because they definitely play jam up!
Remember only two non-Americans have won the US Open. While the field is mostly Americans, Busta, Immonen, Luat, etc. have never won it and even Efren lost three years in a row in the finals I think.
Remember only two non-Americans have won the US Open. While the field is mostly Americans, Busta, Immonen, Luat, etc. have never won it and even Efren lost three years in a row in the finals I think.
axejunkie said:
IMHO, because the same reason why so few Americans has won the WPC, not because Americans are superior to other countries in pool. There's a lack of wide field of foreigners despite the top cream is there, I'd estimate that 80-90% of US Open entries are locals. How many Taiwanese players have attended US Open for instance ? Also, it has to do something with US Open being very important to Americans, that's the one title they refuse to let go outside the borders of USA. And yes, Efren has a very bad stats in US Open finals.. probably the worst for him in.
My bet is that there are at least 4 Taiwanese players in the L16. From there on, it's a question of nerves in from of home crowd (= pressure) and a little bit of luck if they can go all the way. Personally, I think it's a time for another Philipino to win the title.