SSCam Season 5/2011 Playoffs B

Top half of the bracket was prediccted by myself and Kerry did the bottom half (thanks).

Finals

#17 Mr_Goodman vs #7 sampler_43 - Ok so we're onto the last finals of the year with the 5th div B season of 2011 wrapping up with an intriguing final set. Both of these guys have seemingly been playoff players for a while in this competition but this is definitely the first sign we've seen that either could really win it all. Starting with Niks, he was the last player to make it into the playoffs and barely had a group stage to speak of when you really look at it. He's always been good enough to qualify for the playoffs but not much more. His win in the preivous round against Naveen was fairly impressive and his run might not end there. He's been an underdog for so many rounds but this is it and if he can pull off one more upset he'll be the champ. Brad has been one of the stronger players the last couple of seasons and seems to be playing at his best of late. It's not as much of a surprise to see him here but it says a lot about how far his game has come as well with being able to find ways to win against strong opponents. Brad is the more dynamic player in my opinion and he can definitely run tables better than Niks. If this ends up being a bit more of a sloppy set though and sometimes finals tend to go that way then the title is really up for grabs. Despite all of the wins so far by Niks, this is really his toughest opponent and the run should end here.

9-6 Brad

Semi-Finals

#17 Mr_Goodman vs #5 ml2_wolverine - Ok well neither of these guys received predictions in their previous round matchups so its time to revisit with both. This is foreign territory for both of these guys in a cam comp making it so far but maybe it shouldnt be such a huge surprise. Niks had to win 3 close sets to get here taking out the top seed in Nigel and probably the favourite in Sergio in the previous round. Naveen is making his best run in the playoffs after taking out Bubba and Kerry in his sets. This is a rematch from the group stage where Naveen did win with a fairly comfortable cushion. These guys are fairly familiar with each other and that should lead to a fairly close set. Niks has shown that he can raise his level of play with the quality wins he has pulled off so far but Naveen is going to be gunning for a rematch with Brad and that is how I see it playing out.

9-6 Naveen Result - 9-5 Niks

#7 sampler_43 vs #3 lol_lmfao_rofl - no pred

Result - 9-4 Brad

Quarter-Finals

#17 Mr_Goodman vs #9 o0_GoKu_0o - no pred

Result - 7-5 Niks

#4 xl_bankqueen_lx vs #5 ml2_wolverine - no pred

Result - 7-5 Naveen

#2 sa_c_h_a vs #7 sampler_43 - This could be a bit of a polarizing set for many reasons. First it's important to talk about the pool. And both of these players have had to win a set to get here with Sacha taking out Adam and Brad dispatching of Chris. So no huge surprises there as they took care of business against weaker opponents. So who is the stronger opponent in this matchup. Sacha is the #2 seed and had his most impressive group stage in his history in the competition. Normally I'd say Brad definitely has the more refined game but Sacha has been really active lately and he might be playing well enough to live up to that high seed. Brad also had a great season with his only loss coming against Nigel. Brad got down pretty far in the last set and had to rely on a pretty big comeback to get through. I don't see that working against Sacha as he'll be more likely to capitalize on any mistakes. This is a really tough one to call but I'm going with Sacha making his first semi-finals.

8-6 Sacha Result - 7-5 Brad

#3 lol_lmfao_rofl vs #11 shelle4461 - While this is definitely the farthest Shelle has gone in any competition Bryan really hasn't gone that much farther so both players are wandering into unknown territory. There shouldn't really be too many nerves as Shelle and Bryan are definitely familiar with one another as they've had many encounters in tournaments over a long span of time. Shelle is coming off her biggest win in the competition, beating Jon in the last round and her game is looking stronger than ever. Bryan had a little trouble but was able to handle Prakash in his previous match. There are going to be a lot of chances for both players in this set and it's going to be important to keep a level head throughout. Bryan probably has a little better skill set as far as finishing tables is concerned but Shelle has improved a ton and this set will be close.

7-4 Bryan Result - 7-5 Bryan

Rd 2 Matchups

#1 en_dk #17 Mr_Goodman - Ok so Nigel went deep into the playoffs last season but I don't think anyone really expected him to come off that and have the best group stage out of everyone in div B. However here we are and the last player to get involved in this season's playoffs is Nigel. He's coming off a perfect 5-0 season and that earns him the right to play the lowest seeded player left in the tournament. Niks is coming off a marathon 12-10 win over Jordan where staying online was only half the trouble he was having. Definitely Niks will go into this set as an underdog based on how well Nigel has been playing lately but if this matchup came a few months ago it would have been more debatable. Just to illustrate that Niks definitely has a chance to compete here and possibly even pull off the upset. Niks has some skills but he'll need to play his best and get some help from the top seed curse to advance here.

7-4 Nigel Result - 7-4 Niks

#8 TlNO_NICA vs #9 o0_GoKu_0o - Two former div A players meeting up in the first round of the playoffs. A little surprised that these guys are having to play each other so early on as I'd have called both of them top favourites to take this half of the competition. Should be a fairly entertaining set to say the least and the winner will like their chances at making a run all the way to the finals. Tino and Sergio had one loss apiece throughout the group stage putting together pretty nice 4 wins seasons. Sergio is coming off a late season loss against Shelle which was a bit of a surprise after he dominated all his other opponents. Sergio probably has the stronger game at the moment still based off those earlier results but Tino will definitely stick around in this set and it wouldn't be much of a surprise to see him win.

7-5 Sergio Result - 7-5 Sergio

#4 xl_bankqueen_lx vs #13 oh.talent - Another pretty interesting matchup here in round 2. JJ is pretty lucky to be here because he's only played 2 sets but at least both of them were wins to put him into a tie for second place in his group. Kerry is coming off one of her more impressive seasons in a while where she was able to go 4-1 and get this high seed. She hasn't really been given any favours with the seeding having to play JJ first. Last season they did meet in the group stage where Kerry took a close 5-4 win. JJ hasn't really been heard from in a little while so it's possible that this set might not even get played, but if it does then Kerry definitely has the edge to advance to the quarters.

7-5 Kerry Result - DQ win for Kerry

#5 ml2_wolverine vs #12 lawbubba - Did Bubba really qualify for the playoffs this season? Well after you've gotten over that shock it's important to give him a pat on the back for a pretty solid season. Naveen's season was about proving that the last one was no fluke and he did a fairly admirable job coming out of the most inactive group to get a few wins and another high seed. Bubba managed to win a couple sets but he might be a little in over his head in a set against Naveen. Bubba has definitely shown some improvements throughout the seasons but Naveen has simply established a higher level of play. No first match upset for Naveen this season.

7-3 Naveen Result - 7-2 Naveen

#2 sa_c_h_a vs #15 dr_papsmear_at_your_cervix - Well Sacha didnt disappoint in the grouping. I had him predicted to be in the top 3 and he came First with a very good 5-0 record. Adam did pretty much what i expected and went 2-2 in his games, DO i think you can beat Sacha here ? No i dont sorry. Sacha is the much stronger player here and while he can run a good table and can play some good snookers i dont see it even comparing to adams game. Adam rushes more and bangs more and i think he might win a few games here but certainly not enough to take the win. I hope you can win some here adam and vgl.

7-3 Sacha Result - 7-5 Sacha

#7 sampler_43 vs #10 SideShot - Well in group preds i had Nigel to win the group and Brad to come 2nd and thats exactly what happened. Chris did pretty well in his group going 3-2 and taking out some good wins. Going by stats here you would think ok there pretty even. 4-1 vs 3-2 but when you look at the players i think you really have to give the edge to Brad here. Brad has a pretty good run and snooker game and chris just seems to improve every set he plays, and even though i think chris is getting alot better im still going to have to give brad this win.

7-4 Brad Result - 8-6 Brad

#3 lol_lmfao_rofl vs #14 ActiveKC - Bryan had a great season going 5-0 and certainly deserves to win this set. Prak went 2-1 and even though didnt do that good, when you look at the set between him and bryan in the group stage there really wasnt that much in it . Bryan got that game over prak 5-4. Do i think score will be this close again in this playoffs set ? Hmmm i think will be close but i wont say that close this time. Both are good players but i do have to give the edge to bryan here and i hope prak can keep this close.

7-4 Bryan Result - 8-6 Bryan

#6 dead.bang vs #11 shelle4461 - Jon did very good going 4-1 and got first place in his group. Shelle went 3-1 and even beat the predicted winner Sergio and she came 3rd. The set i watched shelle play vs sergio was a very good set and if she can take that same game into this set she could easly win. She seems to have some good seasons and not so good seasons but vs jon here im not sure if she will keep up with him. In my opinion jon had a time where he was having problems winning sets but that time seems to have gone now and hes back to playing how he used to and thats very good pool. I always said hes a hard one to beat when on his game and i dont see it being any differnt now.

7-3 Jon Result - 7-5 Shelle

Rd 1 Matchups

#16 JordanPunk vs #17 Mr_Goodman - The only first round matchup happens to feature the two lowest seeded players in the div B bracket. Usually there's a little luck involved in getting into these seeds as was the case again this season. Jordan picked up a couple pretty good wins to finish towards the top of his group butthe inactivity from the rest of the group definitely helped. Niks only had one win but happened to be one of two players from his group with points which gave him the winning ticket. Both of these players have been into the playoffs before but usually their runs have ended early. Pretty good opportunity for both of these guys to make a little noise in the playoffs. It's a tough one to call because Jordan can definitely play well but Niks probably has a little more experience and should take this one.

7-5 Niks Result - 12-10 Niks