Skyler Woodward
Two down and three to go.
That, at least, is the current ‘official’ tally for selections to the 2024 USA Mosconi Cup team, though there are nuances in the selection process that suggest it could be ‘three down and two to go,’ or even ‘four down and one to go.’ The selections are based on a process that chooses three of the team’s members according to their current rankings on the World Nineball Tour (WNT)’s Mosconi Cup rankings (separate, though not by a lot from the overall WNT rankings). Fedor Gorst, based on his #1 USA-and-world ranking on the list and virtually uncatchable in that position, became team USA’s first official pick. Skyler Woodward, who is currently the #4 USA competitor on the list, has been chosen as Team USA’s captain, which sets up an interesting dynamic in what’s ahead for the remaining Team USA selections.
Both of those choices were official and have been announced by Matchroom Sports, to include the announcement that as a result of Woodward’s selection as team captain, the 2024 Mosconi Cup will feature two playing captains for the first time since 2005. It would appear that Shane Van Boening, as the #2-ranked, USA competitor will be the proverbial ‘shoe-in’ for the third ‘automatic’ selection to Team USA. This creates the ‘three down (Gorst, Van Boening, Woodward) and two to go’ scenario. According to Matchroom Sports, the remaining decisions will not be made officially until after the Hanoi Open, scheduled for Oct. 8-13 in (of course) Hanoi, Vietnam.
However, prior to this weekend, Tyler Styer was 3rd on the WNT’s USA Mosconi Cup rankings, which put him into ‘automatic selection’ territory for the top three. If Skyler Woodward is going to be captain and play, it means he’ll being choosing himself as one of his two discretionary ‘picks.’ That’s the ‘four down (Tyler Styer added), one to go’ scenario.
Either way, Woodward, as team captain, got to see and presumably assess the qualifications and suitability of four of them this past weekend (Sept. 13-15). He traveled to Philadelphia to compete in a WNT ranking event, the $10,000-added Pennsylvania Open, which, brought to you by the folks at PA ProAm Pool, drew 68 entrants to Bluegrass Billiards in Philadelphia. Woodward went undefeated to claim the event title, presumably liking what he ‘saw’ in that performance. Though he did not compete against any of the four other ‘potential picks’ that were on hand for the event, he did get a chance to watch and reportedly spoke to all of them.
Tyler Styer headed the list as the third highest-ranked US competitor in the Mosconi Cup points race, behind Gorst and Van Boening. Styer finished third in Philadelphia, behind Woodward and runner-up, Spain’s Jonas Souto Comino. Oscar Dominguez, fifth on WNT’s Mosconi Cup list, finished in the four-way tie for 5th place in Philadelphia. Lukas Fracasso-Verner, who’s #8 among US competitors on the WNT list, finished in the eight-way tie for 9th place this past weekend. Rounding out the list of ‘on-hand’ potential picks for Team USA was Jeremy Sossei, 10th among US competitors, who finished in the 15-way tie for 49th.
Rounding out the top 10 US competitors on the WNT ranking list going into this past weekend, though not in attendance in Philadelphia, were (in order) BJ Ussery, Jr. (#6), Shane Wolford (#7), and Billy Thorpe (#9).
It was a typical, two-stage, modified double-elimination bracket which advanced eight competitors from each side of a Stage 1 bracket, to a 16-player, single-elimination Stage 2. In a random draw of competitors competing in an Open event with FargoRates ranging from 427 to Woodward’s 812, Woodward got a few ‘softballs’ tossed his way in the Stage 1 proceedings. He opened against the ‘427,’ Bettyanne Mauceri and defeated her 9-1. In the three matches that it took him to qualify for single elimination, Woodward faced three opponents with a FargoRate average that was 212.6 Fargo points lower than his 812. Ms. Mauceri, 385 points below him, raised that average considerably; without her, the two remaining opponents had a FargoRate average that was only 126 points below his. Woodward went on to defeat the 148-point lower, veteran Atlantic Coast competitor, Steve Fleming 9-6 and in the final, qualifying round, beat the 105-point lower Kirill (Kenny) Rutman 9-5. Joining Woodward in advancement to Stage 2 from the same mini-bracket within Stage 1’s 128-player bracket was Georgi Georgiev, who’d made his way to Philadelphia from Seattle, WA where, on Labor Day weekend, he’d won the Seattle Open (another WNT ranking event), defeating Lukas Fracasso-Verner, double hill, in the finals.
Also advancing to single elimination from the winners’ side were Ukraine’s Vitaliy Patsura, Oscar Dominguez, Jonas Souto, Roland Garcia, Fracasso-Verner and Tyler Styer; putting three of the four possible Mosconi Cup ‘picks,’ upon whom the US Team Captain was likely paying particular attention, into single elimination. Like Woodward and Georgiev, the six who advanced from the original bracket from the winners’ side were taking swings at a few hittable ‘pitches.’ Dominguez, though, had to get by two younger and formidable opponents in Nathan Childress and Landon Hollingsworth, whose FargoRates (727 and 716, respectively) were in his 785 ‘league,’ so to speak.
All but one of the eight competitors who advanced from the loss side of the original bracket, did so with a single win on the loss side. Alex Bausch, who’d lost his opening round match to The Iceman, Mika Immonen, had to battle and win four matches on the loss side, including a 9-6 win over Jonathan Pinegar in the last qualifying round. Joining him in advancement were Kirill (Kenny) Rutman, who’d defeated Matt Krah in the final qualifying round, Shawn Bogutskie, Mhet Vergara, Mika Immonen, Nathan Childress, Rob Krull and Landon Hollingsworth.
Jonas Souto
Four matches to a title, doubling money through all but the final round
There is some truth to the idea that once you’re at the table, the money motive for advancement has a way of fading into the background of a player’s ‘process.’ There will be, noted the late Kenny Rogers, “time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.” By the same token, it’s not likely to have escaped the attention of the final 16 that each match win, with the exception of the finals, would double their money; from $700 to $1,400 and on through $2,800, $5,600 and $8,600. They knew, too, that for the most part, there weren’t going to be any more ‘softballs’ being pitched in the final four rounds.
Woodward opened against Mhet Vergara, downing him 9-4 and advancing to face The Iceman in one of the quarterfinals. Immonen had eliminated Georgi Georgiev, double hill, in his opening round and was then defeated, double hill, by Woodward, who advanced to a semifinal against Vitaliy Patsura, who’d defeated Oscar Dominguez in a double-hill quarterfinal.
From the other half of the 16-player, single-elimination bracket, Souto opened up with a 9-6 win over Landon Hollingsworth, eliminated Alex Bausch 9-3 and advanced to face Tyler Styer in the other semifinal. The Styer ‘thread’ from the opening round had eliminated one of the potential Mosconi Cup picks. In one of the quarterfinals, Styer had won a 9-5 match over Nathan Childress, who’d defeated Fracasso-Verner 9-7 in the opening round.
The semifinal match between Styer and Souto was one of four double-hill battles among the 15 matches waged among the final 16. Souto edged Styer out that way and advanced to the finals. Woodward ousted Patsura 11-7 to join him.
Though their FargoRates were only 22 points apart (812/790), FargoRate odds calculations gave Souto only a 35% chance of winning the final race to 13, which might have seemed low to a lot of people, who might easily have given it odds similar to a coin toss. That said, Souto only won 30% of the match’s racks, as Woodward claimed the event title 13-4.
After this weekend, Woodward’s win and Styer’s 3rd place finish narrowed the difference between their positions on the Mosconi Cup rankings list, by just a little less than $1.5k (it’s measured by total money-earned at WNT ranking events). It elevates the importance of the next event to the make-up of the 2024 Mosconi Cup team in general and Woodward/Styer in particular. That event will be the $35,000-added Battle of the Bull, scheduled for Sept. 23-29 at Wolf’s Den in Roanoke, VA. Woodward and Styer are expected to compete and dependent on how they finish, they could switch places on the rankings list, making Woodward third and Styer fourth, which would, in turn, put Woodward into the automatic selection category, allowing him, as USA Team Captain, to make two ‘discretionary’ picks instead of the one he would have if he were 4th on the list and both captain and player.
PA ProAm Pool’s Frank Maialetti thanked the ownership and staff at Bluegrass Billiards for their hospitality, along with sponsors Integrity Cues, Crossroads Cues, The League Room, Marty Magee’s, Dunkel Custom Cues, digitalpool.com, InTheBox Sportswear, Cue Pocket, Trophy Smack, GameOn Sportswear, and Fast & Loose Design. The next PA ProAm event, in collaboration with the JPNEWT Tour, will be the $2,500-added, PA State Women’s 8-Ball Championships, scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 5-6 and hosted by Blue Grass Billiards. JPNEWT.
0 comments