Well I wasn’t expecting that! Sometimes that’s all it takes. Grind. Grind. Grind. Grind. And then suddenly all the stars align and you catch an untouchable gear. Well deserved.
Might well be. Shutouts in major event finals are very rare. As painful as it is to think about the 2001 US Open 9-ball final you referenced here, something good came out of that match, as it was surely the beginning of the end of the soft break in our sport.Wow I just saw the last rack replay on FB. I have not been following. Can't believe Kazakis won 9-0. Is this the first time since Corey shut out Mika of a shutout in a major event final amongst two top pros?
It's not QUITE half a billion: Kazakis beat Shane at both the 10-Ball Challenge and the 9-Ball Challenge CSI events in July 2017Hooray for Shane. I think he's beat Kazakis the last 500,000,000 times in a row, so he should prevail, but I guess you never know. Alex will have to execute at a much higher level than he did against Kaci to earn the title.
Yes. All those things.The semifinals and finals were fantastic. Congratulations to Alex! He was a different player in the finals than he was against Kaci in the semifinals.
Does anybody think that because Shane Van Boening did not have a break between his match with Joshua Filler in the semifinals and the finals, as Alex did, had anything to do with the outcome, or was it just in the stars that Alex played beautifully and Shane never had a chance, remaining benched the majority of the match?
I think this one is over.
SVB will at least take home some consolation knowing he got the Filler monkey off his back. I would imagine he felt like the title was his once he got through that match, given his history with Kazakis. But Alex is playing like World No. 1 right now.
The semifinals and finals were fantastic. Congratulations to Alex! He was a different player in the finals than he was against Kaci in the semifinals.
Does anybody think that because Shane Van Boening did not have a break between his match with Joshua Filler in the semifinals and the finals, as Alex did, had anything to do with the outcome, or was it just in the stars that Alex played beautifully and Shane never had a chance, remaining benched the majority of the match?
Surely, those aren't the only matches you have between them. Shane beat him time and time again at the Mosconi, including in the match that ended the 2018 event and ended the US losing streak. More recently, Shane also beat him in the final at Turning Stone in January 2020 -- I think it was 13-7 or 13-8.It's not QUITE half a billion: Kazakis beat Shane at both the 10-Ball Challenge and the 9-Ball Challenge CSI events in July 2017
lol. You said "I think he's beat Kazakis the last 500,000,000 times in a row." I was acknowledging the other 499,999,998.Surely, those aren't the only matches you have between them. Shane beat him time and time again at the Mosconi, including in the match that ended the 2018 event and ended the US losing streak. More recently, Shane also beat him in the final at Turning Stone in January 2020 -- I think it was 13-7 or 13-8.
Nice to see Alex get past his woes with Shane, which had been going on for years now.
Agreed that 1/2 a billion was a slight exaggeration, but I've been present for so many of Kazakis' failures against Shane, that it felt like that many.lol. You said "I think he's beat Kazakis the last 500,000,000 times in a row." I was acknowledging the other 499,999,998.
Yes Jan 2020 Turning Stone Final was 13-6, and that followed a 9-2 earlier in the same tournament.
I think Alex poked the bear a few months earlier, when he got to hill-hill against Shane at the Steinway Classic (9-8 score, Oct 2019)