Three 9-ball sports experts – Steve Davis, Chris Merlin and Phil Yates – gave their opinion on Judd Trump's participation in the U.S. Open 9-ball Tournament.
Matchroom Multi Sport announced on Wednesday that Trump will compete in the 9-ball US Open, the biggest tournament of the 9-ball tournament, at the Harrah Resort in Atlantic City from September 13 to 18.
Trump said: "I think the U.S. Open is the most historical and heritage event, and for many American billiards players it is the only title that must be won. That's exactly what drew me to the time-honored traditional competitions and see how I performed. I didn't come to the U.S. Open just to participate in one event, I wanted to try to win the tournament. ”
Here are the opinions of three experts:
Steve Davis
Six-time World Snooker Champion Davis has also crossed the border to nine-goal tournaments, including 11 in the Mosconi Cup between 1994 and 2007.
"For Judd, the two hurdles in front of him will be tactics and positioning. In snooker, we often try to leave ourselves an angle to get off the ball because that makes it easier for the mother ball to move, and we use the high and low bars to control the position of the mother ball. It's very different on 9 goals, it gets easier to score goals, not to mention that you still need to leave angle to play the next goal. All you have to do is score a goal and the rest is much easier. He doesn't have to play red balls like snooker, he can actually surprise everyone with some unusual strokes, but he has to make sure he cleans the balls on the table all at once when he gets started. ”
Judd may be at a disadvantage when neither side has scored a goal after kick-off from a game to start a tactical defence, and his opponent may try to take advantage of that and sit back and wait for him to make a mistake. For example, after being made a snooker, using a library to solve the ball and so on, these techniques and tactics are very good at 9-ball players. I especially like to use some of the 9-goal unique techniques when playing 9 goals and try to learn from more experienced players. He may send a strong shot when attacking consecutively, but sometimes it is more effective to hit the ball with a small force on the new tablecloth. ”
"These are the things he has to adapt quickly. How far he can go in the game depends on how far he will practice preparing with experienced 9-ball players, and he can learn from them, I can't predict. One thing is for sure – when there's a ball, it's not necessarily a good thing. ”
Chris Merlin
Merlin played professional snooker for five seasons as a professional, but most of his billiards career successes, such as being the former British eight-goal world number one and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2012 Mosconi Cup, were achieved in non-snooker.
Chris Merlin said: "It's a good thing to have Judd try it at the 9-ball table and I think he'll take the 9-ball well, which is a good thing for both the 9-ball sport itself and the Matchroom Pool. Snooker players always think that if you can play snooker well, you can play any other sport of billiards. This is correct in a way, the bag mouth of the 9-ball table is relatively large, but the large bag mouth does not mean that it is easy to score, and there are many technical things in the 9-ball table. There will be different stroke techniques such as passing, punching and jumping, there will be some balls that Judd is not used to, but it is quite good to have his involvement, and obviously he will bring a lot of attention to the sport. ”
"He's going to love the 9-goal, matchroom's tournament operations are second to none. Judd is a natural winner and he's won a lot of snooker titles, so he has a winner mentality. But for a 9-goal, it's a different mindset because you might not win a game with a single shot. 9 goals is not like snooker, whenever the opponent makes a mistake you can come up and play, in the 9 goals the opponent played well you may sit for forty minutes without any way. ”
"When he faces top players from the Philippines, the United States and some Europe, Judd will find out how skilled they are. They'll take advantage of Judd's weakness and take turns attacking, but when it comes to the consistency of the play, there's probably only one or two people who can compare to him, like Joshua Feller and Jason Shaw. ”
"He may be able to go all the way, after all the nature of the game allows people who don't play regularly to do that, as long as he's lucky enough." If he gets a good pick and takes the opportunity to win two or three games, then he will pose a threat to the players behind. ”
Phil Yates
As a commentator and journalist, Yates (pictured above left) has accumulated decades of experience in both the 9-goal and snooker areas.
"There's a lot of crossover from snooker to 9-goal male players, including Steve Davis and Tony Drago, and they're all doing well. Of course, there are also cases where female players cross borders. Many of the top women's 9-goal players over the years have been former snooker players, such as Alison Fisher, Kelly Fisher and Karen Cole. You still need time to adapt between the two sports, Judd may not have enough time to adapt to the 9 goals, but I think he can still win a few games. ”
"Only by looking at previous games can we discern which way of hitting the ball is the best. He had no experience in that. Professional 9-ball players will enter the arena to watch the game and see which way of hitting the ball is the most effective, after all, the table will be different in each game. All of these subtleties need to be considered. In terms of goals, he will be outstanding. One of the mentalities that snooker players need to overcome across borders is that they don't need to be so precise about the position of the mother ball. Sometimes they lose games because they try to be too precise without necessary. ”
"The 9-ball players have a great performance in terms of K-balls and demystifiers. They don't just play the ball, they do it in a way that allows them to get the ball safely. They are excellent at this. Judd also won't get used to tricks like jumping balls. I talked to Alison Fisher and she said that was the technical aspect that she really focused on adapting to when she went to the U.S. in the '90s to play 9 goals. ”
"Judd's participation in the U.S. Open is a very good attempt for both 9 goals and snooker. Snooker sports have had some sporadic introductions in the United States, but there are no well-known snooker players in the United States. Judd coming to the game could be a great way to play, and snooker stars crossing over to play 9 goals will also arouse the interest of local Fans in the United States about Snooker. ”
"He has to respect the sport. The professional 9-ball players are pretty good players, they make a living playing 9 goals, he can't take the opponent lightly. It's a different sport, and you need to be bypassed between different ideas. Of course, at this point, solid snooker technology will be one of his strengths, and his amazing accuracy will also help. ”