Raistlin said:
We'll see. It sounds like you are basing your entire assessment of European pool on two tournaments. Little bit harsh don't you think? It would be like me basing my entire assessment of US pool on their performance in the last WPC.
IMHO a European player has more chance of winning than an American this year. Big call? Maybe.
I owe you a beer if I am wrong sjm!
No doubt, Raistlin, I am guilty of doing just that. I've only had the pleasure of attending two me's tournaments over the past year in which Europe had a large contingent. In those two events, I spent many hours watching the European players. Guess all I'm saying is that the European players haven't shown me much on the occasions I've been lucky enough to see them.
Two tournaments may not seem like much, but the truth is that it's a rarity that a large European contingent faces off in a field inclusive of the best Asians and Americans. One time it happens, and without question the best field of the pool year outside of the WPC, is at the BCA Open.
The only reason that the Big Apple Nine Ball Challenge had a stellar field inclusive of so many great American, Asian, and European players was that, as it took place just days after the International Challenge of Champions at Mohegan Sun (not far from New York City), several European stars were "in the neighborhood" anyway.
As I've noted, these two events were both nightmare for European players.
So, by the way, was the Iinternational Challenge of Champions, an eight player invitational single elimination event. The three players from Europe, namely Souquet, Peach, and VanDenBerg, all lost in the first round.
If you (or anyone else) can name even one other tournament since the last WPC in which, in the presence of top American and Asian players, a European contingent (aside from Immonen and Souquet, both of whom I called forces to be reckoned with in my post) made a good showing, please do.
I'm actually European born, and would love to see Europe perform well in the WPC. But I still maintain that my opinion was arrived at objectively and that I have based it on players that I myself got to watch at length.
