Finals
#9 __Trav__ vs #2 mr_camtasia - Ok so even though its 9am on Monday morning I felt compelled to write this prediction right away just in case it were to get played in a hurry... like every other set in the last few days. Well a lot has happened over the past few days here with both these players. Starting with Trav getting his set in just past the deadline and knocking off Ant with a couple games to spare in the quarter-final round. That made him the player to beat on this side of the draw and he managed to take out Kenny comfortably just a day later. On the other hand Chris had been waiting for his semi-finals matchup for a few days and as soon as he found out his opponent he played and defeated Kevin in one of the closest sets so far in the tournament. Trav appears to be on fire with his game but this will be the ultimate heat check. It's one thing to beat Ant in an elimination set but to knock both Ant and Chris out in the same bracket will be tough. Obviously half of the feat is complete but I think Chris is probably less prone to have an off set and will be running lots of tables in a race to 9. Its hard to bet against Trav because of the great tournament he's having but it's even harder to bet against Chris because I've never seen him lose in this competition to anyone yet. Clearly two great players I but I think Chris will show that he is greater.
9-7 Chris
Semi-Finals
#9 __Trav__ vs #4 the_pool_professor - no pred
Result - 9-1 Trav
#2 mr_camtasia vs #6 aka_hero - no pred
Result - 10-8 Chris
Quarter-Finals
#1 underdogg_ vs #9 __Trav__ - Things are definitely heating up in this bracket as the first of our quarter-final matches has been set with Ant vs Trav. Ant's top seed means he hasn't really been tested much yet so far but with Trav he's facing a legitimate chance at a loss. This should be a really good set I expect it to be pretty competitive. Trav has definitely had quite a few great results lately but I haven't seen him be able to knock off Ant in a couple tries. Under normal circumstances I think I'd be leaning towards picking Trav for the upset just because I feel like he's overdue, but I think the money on the line will force Ant to play disciplined and even if its close he should win in the end.
9-7 Ant Result - 7-4 Trav
#4 the_pool_professor vs #5 black_stallion009 - Well so far between the two of these players there has only been one set won and it was a pretty shaky won by Kenny vs AJ. So pretty much its hard to tell how these guys are playing right now so we'll have to go mostly based off reputations. We've talked about Kenny already a bit... Irfan is also a former champ having won the season previous to Kenny's and has gained a solid reputation making deep runs in other competitions and knocking off top players while doing so. If Irfan goes unconscious and starts making runs appear out of nowhere he can't be stopped but the same could be really said for Kenny. I doubt his shaky performance against AJ really means too much as soon as the first table gets run in this one it'll be game on. Not much to pick really between these two guys but I just feel like Kenny's game could wear down Irfan a little bit over the long set.
8-6 Kenny Result - 7-3 Kenny
#2 mr_camtasia vs #7 l3_lvl_x - no pred
Result 7-4 Chris
Round 2
#1 underdogg_ vs #17 fv_arctic - Well for Chip's sake I hope his 7-4 win against Jack was well played and helped to shed a little rust because the next up is a nightmare at the best of times. Ant is the top seed in this tournament based on his two titles and two runner ups in a 4 season time frame. Ant actually has been dropping a few sets surprisingly in a couple competitions lately and I think the fact this is his only competition left going means maybe a little extra focus. Chip showed some good stuff by winning and advancing for this opportunity but another round in this tournament seems unlikely.
7-3 Ant Result - 7-3 Ant
#8 ta.lent vs #9 __Trav__ - Well if they have byes to round 2 then there's probably a good story behind it. Matt is a two time semi-finalist from the 4 seasons he's played including last season. Has absolutely crushed it in every group stage getting high seeding every time. Like I always say...Matt can keep up with anyone. Trav played a couple sscam seasons last year earning a #1 overall seed for the playoffs one time and losing a semi-final to Ant the other time. He's done great in competitions like MCC and 8brcam while he's been on sscam hiatus and those results have been pretty impressive. Not too sure really who is the favourite in this one but I think if things go bad then Matt has the mental edge so I'll say he moves on.
8-6 Matt Result - 8-6 Trav
#4 the_pool_professor vs #20 ItsAJ - Ok well first off going to have to recognize AJ for upsetting Craig. Wasn't watching too closely and Craig probably didn't shoot well but AJ wasn't his normal choking self to come away with some of those wins. No disrespect to Craig but AJ's next test is much tougher. Kenny was a winner when SSCam was just starting to get some better fields and was quite impressive doing so. AJ is going to need to shoot just as well against Kenny to have any kind of a chance here but I think Kenny just has too many shots and is too consistent to have much trouble here. He's already been back practicing a little bit and he really doesn't get rusty much anyways. I can almost guarantee this one won't be close.
7-3 Kenny Result - 12-10 Kenny
#2 mr_camtasia vs #18 m4tt_th3_p0ol_pl4y3r - Looking at the seeding really tells the story here. Matt might have had some familiarity with the likes of Nish but Chris is on another level. Chris earned this second seed by winning in probably the strongest field sscam has had taking out some big names including Ant in a final set that went extras. He's back playing ypool just on time to play in this tournament and I'm pretty sure he's in it to win it. Matt definitely showing some good stuff and potential to be a good div A player but Chris is arguably the best player because of his ability to hit spectacular shots while keeping things simple.
7-2 Chris Result - 7-0 Chris
#7 l3_lvl_x vs #10 hp_king22 - Here we have an up and comer against one of the better players to play in the competition. Hard to tell from the seeding but Don's semi-final run in the season he played last year was probably a little more impressive than David's finals appearance this year. Should be a great matchup because at this point David has seen a lot of good players and he seems to be hanging with them all. I've seen Don putting up some pretty good set results in other competitions so I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him come out with guns blazing on top form. Its too bad that one of these players has to lose so early but this competition is stacked and I'm going with Don.
7-4 Don Result - 7-0 David
#3 leafed_leafs vs #19 TlNO_NICA - I dont know much about Tino's game but from what I have heard while asking around, he's a solid complete player with no glaring weaknesses, much like Jon. I think this match will be close, but Jon is playing with a lot of confidence right now after winning sscam in grand fashion, taking out Ant in the finals. Combine that with some rust from Tino as he's only in Round 2 through a DQ and I think Jon wins this in a semi-close fashion.
7-4 Jon
#6 aka_hero vs #11 safdarbandali - Pretty good matchup here.. lets get into the story on these two guys. Kevin has played in a couple sscam seasons with his best being a runner-up finish in a very close finish last year. I personally think that Kevin is one of the better shooters out there. While he can be susceptible to an upset performance from an inferior player, most of the time he wins. Kevin might be the most creative player out there with some of the shots he can hit... you really never know its your shot until the miss actually occurs. Safdar has had some pretty good performances in sscam with a couple semi finals appearances to get here. Right now I think Safdar sort of tries to be the same kind of player as Kevin with his run first style but he really can't pull off all the same shots to finish off his runs. Safdar can definitely be very impressive at times and he won't be overwhelmed in this set but I think Kevin should have his eyes on the prize and manage to go at least past this test.
7-4 Kevin Result - 7-4 Kevin
Round 1
#16 dx.fanatic vs #17 fv_arctic - Ok so here is the first matchup. Jack is really lucky to be here. He's actually one of two players who managed to advance to the semi finals of the competition without playing a set. Having said that he did compete in div A and did manage to qualify for the playoffs which says a lot about how he's improved in his game and developed some kind of consistency. On the other hand we have Chip who was a div B champ to earn his ticket here. Chip never really belonged in div B and managed to impress in his followup div A season making the playoffs. This one is pretty tough to call mostly because I think Chip could have some rust but I think his overall game was much more solid and probably still is over Jack. I'm picking Chip to show us he still has it.
7-4 Chip Result - 7-4 Chip
#13 gg_7balled vs #20 ItsAJ - I thought about changing the seeding only because I figure the table banter for this matchup would be pretty pathetic. Speaking of another player who qualified without having to play a playoff set... here we have Craig. Ok well Craig probably would have qualified for this sooner or later he's no slouch. Craig can either be really good or just average making a lot of mistakes. Unfortunately for AJ he's prone to making those costly mistakes towards the ends of games quite a bit. AJ is just coming of his div B runner up season where he walked through the field until the finals where he took a seat. AJ really has nothing to lose in this set so I think he'll probably keep it close enough but Craig should pull away in the end.
7-5 Craig Result - 7-2 AJ
#12 Lewissss vs #21 king_hustler2002 - Battle of the rust is on here. Lewis has so nicely graced us with his presence taking up the 12th seed in this tournament. His only showing in the competition was a fairly solid semi-final appearance in one of the more competitive fields we've had. Not sure how much he's been playing lately... did see his name pop up in 8brcam but not sure all sets got played. He's proven over the years that he's always a solid opponent. On the other side we have King Ass Waxer who has been in the competition quite a few times. After coming up short in div A one season he went on to be the div B runner up to Hani last year. King definitely used to show us a while ago that he could hang with the big boys but who knows if that skill will still be there. This race will be a matter of who finds their stride first and I think that should be Lewis.
7-3 Lewis Result - Double DQ
#15 nish_is_my_name_choke_is_my_game vs #18 m4tt_th3_p0ol_pl4y3r - Here we have a solid matchup between the previous two div B winners. Matt is last season's div B champ and he managed to pull off the feat much to my surprise taking out some pretty good players along the way. For his one and only season in the competition the sample was a pretty good one. Nish was the div B winner from the first season this year and managed to follow that up with a div A playoff appearance in the previous season. In experience I would definitely have to give the edge to Nish just because he's been in important sets before so often in so many different competitions. I think in this matchup Nish will be giving that extra effort to make sure to avoid the choke.
7-5 Nish Result - 8-6 Matt
#10 hp_king22 vs #23 nick_ownzz - Hold up, we have a late entrant into the prize tournament. Always happy to make an exception in the rules for Nick who is a former champ in the competition. Haven't seen Nick play in a really long time but the last time we saw him consistently he was pretty impressive and really able to knock off top players when he was on his game. Don would be the favourite in this matchup either way I think but that doesn't necessarily mean he wins. Both of these players can get on a roll running not letting your opponent shoot is always a good strategy. Bit of a surprise last second matchup here and I guarantee that it'll be appreciated by any viewers. A Nick win wouldn't surprise me but I have to pick Don here.
7-5 Don Result - 7-5 Don
#14 sin-e vs #19 TlNO_NICA - In this matchup we have Ashton, who brought some new blood to the competition last season against Tino, who has probably been in every competition since we started. Last season Ash was very impressive with his run into the semi-finals before taking a pretty big loss there. In this bracket the competition should be quite a bit tougher to manage to get that deep anyways. On the other side we have Tino who is always a great competitor. His consistency isn't always that great but he definitely has a wide variety of shots and can do some damage when you're not expecting it. Tino's qualification for this tournament came a long time ago and he hasn't been back to the playoffs in a while so I think Ash should come out on top in this one.
7-4 Ashton Result - 7-5 Tino
#11 safdarbandali vs #22 xl_bankqueen_lx - Sorry to say but this is probably the most lopsided matchup of the first round. Kerry earned her qualification by being the runner up in div B in the first season of the year. She definitely showed some good stuff in that season, pulling off some good results against good opponents. Unfortunately after coming off a poor showing last season, the opponents get tougher x5 here. Safdar has always had strong showings in this competition consistently qualifying for div A playoffs. I know that after a little time off he's back playing quality pool again and that's bad news for Kerry. There's always the chance with Safdar that he gets into a slump with his running so Kerry could pick up a few wins and make it close but not sure that it's likely.
7-2 Safdar Result - 7-1 Safdar
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