One of the most intriguing and enjoyable things about the ease of global travel, the proliferation of pro events and the access to watch tournaments around the world has been the steady, predictable growth in young talent in pool. Opportunity abounds for young players to leap into the deep end of the pool and cross cues with the very best competition the sport has to offer. And that experience at an early age — many up-and-coming stars are competing in their mid to late teens — is exponentially speeding up their roads to success.
This month’s cover boy, Moritz Neuhausen of Germany, is just the latest example. Sure, we’ve all witnessed the mercurial ascent of generational talents like Fedor Gorst and Josh Filler. But the more traditional rise of players like the 22-year-old Neuhausen is equally impressive. This is no flash in the pan. Neuhausen’s rise has been steady and calculated. Coming up through the German pool federa- tion that helped develop the likes of Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famers Oliver Ortmann, Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, as well as guaranteed Hall of Famer Filler, Neuhausen has punched all the tickets along the way — Boys U17 Junior World 9-Ball Champion in 2019, and Boys U19 Junior World 9-Ball Champion in 2021. He’s done his time on the road, spending months at a time in the United States, working on his game and competing in every regional tournament he could play during his trips. Unlike the Fillers and Gorsts, Neuhausen has withstood his fair share of lumps along the way, taking his journey through major open tournaments step by step, learning from every painful loss along the way. But his commitment and belief in himself at such a young age has helped him reach the top 12 in the WNT over the past two years.
He’s certainly not alone. Both the men’s and women’s pro games are now littered with young stars champing at the bit and putting themselves into world-class competition to accelerate the learning curve. Spain’s Jonas Souto Comino is quickly emerging out of the shadows of Spanish legends David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz. Another junior world champion (Boys U19 champ in 2019), Comino has ascended into the WNT’s top 20.
After more than a decade of relative malaise, the Filipino pool scene is once again churning out young talent that may match the era that produced Bustamante, Luat, Lin- ing, Andam, Alcano and Corteza. From Bernie Regalario and A.J. Manas to Anton Raga and Jefrey Roda, the stable of talent in the Philippines is building.
Closer to home, American teen Sam Henderson, while not boasting the pedigree of Neuhausen, decided early on to bypass traditional junior tournaments and throw himself directly into the proverbial lion’s den. Since he was 16, Henderson has played exclusively in top regional and international competitions. Today, while his fellow stu- dents at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa, prep for graduation, Henderson is prepping for the World Nineball Tour U.K. Open in England. Lukas Fracasso- Verner, on the other hand, has taken a different route but is now starting to stick his toe in the world of international competition. The 23-year-old Connecticut native has been honing his game in the action segment of the pool world. But after a second-place finish in the recent Beasley Open WNT ranking event, Fracasso-Verner is suddenly in Team USA discussions.
On the women’s side, of course, 13-year-old Savannah Easton has proven to be much more than a social me- dia and marketing whiz. The Las Vegas “Road Runner” currently sits 11th in the Women’s Professional Billiards Association rankings and travels the country to compete in every junior and pro event she can reach.
The most encouraging part of this is that the growth in events through Matchroom, the WPBA, the World Pool Association and Predator have made the sport aspirational for young players. That’s a very good sign.
