Archive for February 15th, 2010
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Pool Synergy: My Favorite Player
Everybody has one, but must it be only one person ?
Efren is the name you often hear when you ask about favorite players.
I think he is a man who loves the sport even after the long time he has been playing it.
I saw him practicing with Brendan Crockett and I will never forget the smile on his face when he showed Brendan how to stroke and gain position for the next shot.
But he is not my favorite player. It’s not easy for me to name a single person, because there are so many good players. He is clearly a man who loves this sport.
Johnny Archer played perfect in the last Mosconi Cup, Shane Van Boening was unstoppable at the Derby City Classic 2009, and seeing Corey’s caroms when playing One Pocket made me gobsmacked.
Jasmin played very well at the European Championship 2009.
Also, Mika, Thorsten, Darren, Niels, Chamat,Wu are great players to name just a few.
Here in Austria we have some youngsters who play very well. Mario He beat Ralf in the semis of a Eurotour event (He is currently ranked 48 of the WPA men’s list), Maximilian Lechner ran 150 balls at the Austrian open and 100 Balls in a league game, Jürgen Jenisy won about 5 or 6 major titles in Austria in a row.
Wow, these guys are awesome players, very young and it looks like they are unstoppable.
Also keep an eye out for the German Bundesliga team: Roschkowski, Hybler, Manuel Ederer or Nicolas Ottermann to name only four.
All of them are terrific players, but if I had to make a decision for myself about my favorite player, it would be Ralf Souquet.
He is a real professional, just watch his game. He focuses on every shot. Just watch his ritual. For me this is perfect pool. When he is on the table, it looks like anybody could play that game. He makes it look so easy. Don’t misunderstand me, I enjoy tough shots when they are done well. But Ralf’s position play is so good that he doesn’t have to do that kind of shot very often. If something goes wrong, you will maybe see it just in his face (you have to know him a little to notice when he is upset)No angry outbursts…nothing…just going back to his seat and waiting for the next chance to win that game.He is also a very straight person, he tells you what he thinks to face. I like that.With Ralf I see a man who takes his job very seriously.
He is (like many other players) a real sportsman.
Ralf’s name would spring to mind f you’re talking about perfect Pool.
As I mentioned above there are many players I admire but Ralf is my favorite.
