Saturday, June 18th, 2022 (11:28pm) – My head is spinning with the road to this finals paved in vanquished nations, and their respective top two picks per country – one of the favorites of mine and others, Spain having Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide, then you have team USA, with SVB (Shane Van Boening) and Skyler Woodward, two seasoned pros of anyone's 9 ball hit list, beyond that, you have Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung with Chinese Taipei, and closing it out, you have Singapore and Aloysius Yapp, with Toh Lian Han. With what began as 64 of the world's top players, you have eight remaining, and then it will be down to the final four in just a few hours, most likely while I'm asleep – two nations remaining after the dust is settled, then ultimately one to take it all and the World Cup title.
Yapp is a good friend I feel, really cool, and a great player, and so, in a way I'm rooting for him, always, but then there is team USA, so I gotta go with SVB and Woodward. Also, Spain, and David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz are both great champions, but I just feel like Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung will win on a close contest, and I feel like it will be a close contest.
Singapore as a team has run through some tough opposition, beating Qatar the first round 7-3, cruising, then you had the Netherlands against returning champion Germany, Joshua Filler and Thorsten Hohmann 7-4 they fell to the Netherlands. But then Singapore round 2 coming through the nail-biting-thriller, hill-hill 7-6 win against Kuwait, taking their battle scars and close calls, but coming through nonetheless. Then, in the quarter finals, Singapore won 9-6 against Finland, securing their spot against USA in the Semifinals. What a run so far. Strong 💪 team.
Then, you have team USA that has put some best beat-downs on teams, and appears to be relatively unscathed, winning the opener 7-1 against Canada, then 7-2 smackdown on Poland round 2, then the quarter finals USA won 9-5 against Switzerland, cruising into the Semifinals relatively uncontested thus far. Will anyone be up to their mettle? I hype it up a bit, but hopefully much of it is accurate information that informs pool players, billiards aficionados, fans of the game, league players, readers everywhere – we at SPM seek to report these events in ways few could ever – would ever – conceive. These billiards matches will live on throughout pool history. Hopefully. 😎
What I wanted to add is Spain came through some good strong teams as well. First round: Spain 7-1 Australia. Second Round: Spain 7-1 Albania. Quarterfinals: 9-2 against Great Britain B…cruising along to face billiards embattled Ko brothers of Chinese Taipei, ready to throw down on that cloth-covered – 4" pockets, tight.
Then you have Chinese Taipei and the Ko brothers, putting KO's on other teams, double hill-hill-thrillers, and showing a tenacity, grit, and mentalist side of the game, as unparalleled in recent modern times. Spain, Chinese Taipei, USA, or Singapore?
Who will reign supreme? We will soon see. All top teams. Kudos one and all.
Well played.