Yes, except Efren is revered for his mystical powers and knowledge. Shane won't ever be as revered in this country or the world. In the Philippines Efren is as big as Michael Jordan.
WNT Florida Open 2026, August 4-9, Orlando, Caribe Royale
- Thread starter Bob Jewett
- Start date
There was nothing easy... Kaci played great the set prior as Kazakis won 11 racks in a row in his prior set.
I was thinking similarly.
Besides Efren's ability in 3C , those skills spilled over into the rest of the disciplines and were a key part of his flare.
Probably more than half of Efren's YT highlights feature his multi-rail prowess.
Oh, of course. Eklent is hard on himself. But he's also been very disappointed in his own performance. He has said it before.
The great news is, he has lost a lot of weight and gotten into excellent condition. He wants to be who he was, and he's trying to get there again. I don't know if he can, but I love the effort.
Kaci's break in this tournament was magnificent. It's super powerful, but relatively short and very repeatable. Shane breaks big and gets results, but Kaci's is simple and maybe a better model for other players not named Shane.
I was updating a spreadsheet I created to track all quarterfinalists to winners in all Matchroom majors in the WNT era (since 2022).
The last major 9-ball title for the players SVB defeated
*Josh Filler - 2026 UK Open, 2025 European Open
*Eklent Kaci - 2023 UK Open
*Albin Ouschan - 2022 European Open. He did win the 8-ball World Championship in 2025.
*Alex Kazakis - None. He did finish second in the 2025 World 10-ball Championship and the 2025 World 8-ball championship.
Again, not taking anything away from SVB. He was the most consistently top performer in the Florida Open. Excellent performance. He deserved to win, and it was a pleasure to watch.
Kazakis was great, too. He should not be underestimated. He is rock solid every time I see him play.
The last major 9-ball title for the players SVB defeated
*Josh Filler - 2026 UK Open, 2025 European Open
*Eklent Kaci - 2023 UK Open
*Albin Ouschan - 2022 European Open. He did win the 8-ball World Championship in 2025.
*Alex Kazakis - None. He did finish second in the 2025 World 10-ball Championship and the 2025 World 8-ball championship.
Again, not taking anything away from SVB. He was the most consistently top performer in the Florida Open. Excellent performance. He deserved to win, and it was a pleasure to watch.
Kazakis was great, too. He should not be underestimated. He is rock solid every time I see him play.
Au contraire, mon frère. Evidently you haven't been following the activities of some of the players.
I think the message of desperation, apocalypse, and final judgement is perfect for a pool tournament. And the repeated lyric of Power! Power! Power! is clearly Matchroom asking the players to break a little harder.
I hadn't heard the song before. Awesome. It is on my poolhall/bar's jukebox. I'll see if they let it play all the way through 10 minutes. For those who are puzzled over the lyrics -- about hiding and rocks and praying -- here they are:
If he grew up in today's era, he would be accustomed to 4 inch pockets
Au contraire, mon frère. Evidently you haven't been following the activities of some of the players.
I think the message of desperation, apocalypse, and final judgement is perfect for a pool tournament. And the repeated lyric of Power! Power! Power! is clearly Matchroom asking the players to break a little harder.
I hadn't heard the song before. Awesome. It is on my poolhall/bar's jukebox. I'll see if they let it play all the way through 10 minutes. For those who are puzzled over the lyrics -- about hiding and rocks and praying -- here they are:
it does have the power break urging..
"where you gonna run" can be about escaping a safety and these lines about the cb speak for themselves:what's the matter with you rock?
don't you see I need you, rock?
At first I thought this was a silly post, however I remember playing Efren at Sandcastle three days in a row during one of the make it happen 1P events. The first two days I got beat badly at 10-7 on a bucket table. Finally the last day I got to the room before anyone else and grabbed the 3 3/4” corner table. When Efren walked in he made a bee line to me. Well, he became human on that table and we broke out even before he quit to play a match. However I think that was a fluke and I believe the tight pockets wouldn’t effect Efren any more than SVB, who I’ve played a few times on his home turf.
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8intheside
Well-known member
Let me first say Efren has always been my pool hero. However (and just for fun) what accomplishments does Efren have that Shane doesn’t?
jax_joe
Well-known member
None, hence someone trying to bring in carom sports into the conversation.
jax_joe
Well-known member
LMFAO, not gonna happen. The guy bleeds eurohole blue.
In the post-tournament interview Shane mentioned that he had been playing a lot of 3-cushion and it has helped him with his cueball control. I've never heard him say that before.
Efren played all the games well but in todays game he'd be a weakling jumping the ball and breaking from the box. In tough defensive battles he might prevail on any size pockets but he simply could not put packages together and jump out of trouble. In fact many top Filipinos have difficulty jumping the ball. The younger generation has picked up that skill though. Efren still played OP and Banks well enough to be a force amongst the top echelon but not the favorite to win out. Like the rest of the world Father Time always prevails.
8intheside
Well-known member
it’s hard to compare styles from yesterday and today. Players back when Efren was in his prime hardly jumped, however I think Efren was an extremely smart player and would have adapted if he had to use the jump cue more often.
It is hard. If jumping were a thing back then, the players would have jumped, and the good ones would have jumped well.
In the future they'll say that Fedor and Josh couldn't compete in the new era because they hadn't mastered 3D zero-gravity patterns. It's always something.
Absolutely right. Shane beat a who's who of pool on the road to victory, with Filler in the round of 16, FSR in the quarters, and Kaci in the semis. Otutside of a WPM final a few years back, he has consistently annihilated Kazakis, and I felt certain he'd win the final.
As you note, Josh has worn SVB out over the years in the biggest spots, but Shane was the better man when they met on Saturday. Actually, if you read my posts, I am in the camp that feels that SVB is still playing the best pool of his life. There's absolutely no reason he cannot win another major soon. Wishing him the best and won't it be fun when SVB and Josh lock horns at the Mosconi a few months from now?
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You could say the same thing in virtually every sport.. that’s why it’s hard to compare past champions with current ones.
To me even though I love tiger woods Bobby jones is the greatest to ever play the game. Who knows what he could have done with today’s equipment.