vapros
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The far, far East
The far, far East
There are few sights in the world of pool as pleasing to the eye as Pan Xiaoting, and I don’t like to go more than a week without watching her play, at least for a few minutes. Yesterday I picked up on her match with Liu Shasha, another fine little Chinese player, but sort of cute rather than as beautiful as PX. On youtube, of course. I’m quite certain that I weigh more than the two of them combined. The commentary was all in Chinese, of course, but in nine ball that doesn’t matter very much, ordinarily. However, in this instance, I had only my eyes and my imagination to prepare this entry in my journal. I suspect that the oft-used word, inscrutable, is no longer PC, so I won’t use it here. Instead, you will have to take my word for the difficulty in recognizing the various moods I saw in the various Chinese folks involved. Here we go.
Leading 5-3 in the match, LS was at the table pondering the difficulty of getting from the 8 ball to the 9 ball. She called for an extension, which was granted by the referee. At that point, PX complained that LS had already taken an extension, and was not entitled to another. Anyway, that’s what I picked up. This halted the referee in his Chinese tracks, and his response to PX was obviously not acceptable, so they both appealed to a tournament official at a nearby table. Lo and behold, he did not know what to do, either, and the three of them consulted a fourth party, at great length.
LS waited patiently in her chair for the decision. She could have gone out for chop suey, with time to spare. PX was rejecting the arguments of all three officials, and ultimately the game was scrubbed, and the balls were re-racked and the game was replayed. By this time, not a stroke had been struck for maybe twenty minutes. Both players managed small polite smiles, and that was the only emotion I could see. Assuming my impressions were correct, I think the referee was at fault for granting the extension, rather than LS for asking.
With tranquility restored and the young referee no doubt much relieved, only a couple of games were played before he was back in hot water. Following a dry break, PX found herself without a shot, and pushed out the cue ball. LS came to the table for her option, and guess what? She complained to the referee that PX had failed to announce the push out, thus fouling when she failed to hit the one ball. I could tell that, as I was already learning to speak a little Chinese. PX wasn’t having any of that, and she and the referee and the official and the other official again had a long and heated discussion, without changing their expressions. LS again cooled her heels in her chair, rotating her head and massaging the back of her neck and occasionally looking up at the ceiling, but not participating in the argument. Without any visual clue, I believe I could tell what she was thinking, but it isn’t important to the story. She was getting even as she sat.
Ultimately, the foul was called, and LS was given ball-in-hand. PX, still poker-faced, returned to her seat. I didn’t stay for the end, but it was mostly LS as I watched. That child could play some nine ball, lemme tell you. The poor referee, whatever he was paid was not nearly enough. Seemingly, his duties were only to rack the balls and polish the cue ball with his white gloves, before putting it down on the table against the head rail.
I tried to imagine the same events in a tournament in this country. My mind’s eye could not picture Ken Shuman asking a third party to help him make a ruling. How about Earl Strickland calmly negotiating for a half hour over one rule, and then another? Would Scott Frost be able to abstain from taking part? Dr. Bill, what would you do with thirty minutes of dead air? None of these parallels seem to be quite parallel.
That’s about it, the end of my story. I’m pretty sure there is a moral here, but I can’t think of it. If I had drawn a conclusion, I would write it now. This would also be the logical place for a punchline. Having none of these, I guess I will wind it up the same way it began. Pan Xiaoting is a very handsome lady.
The far, far East
There are few sights in the world of pool as pleasing to the eye as Pan Xiaoting, and I don’t like to go more than a week without watching her play, at least for a few minutes. Yesterday I picked up on her match with Liu Shasha, another fine little Chinese player, but sort of cute rather than as beautiful as PX. On youtube, of course. I’m quite certain that I weigh more than the two of them combined. The commentary was all in Chinese, of course, but in nine ball that doesn’t matter very much, ordinarily. However, in this instance, I had only my eyes and my imagination to prepare this entry in my journal. I suspect that the oft-used word, inscrutable, is no longer PC, so I won’t use it here. Instead, you will have to take my word for the difficulty in recognizing the various moods I saw in the various Chinese folks involved. Here we go.
Leading 5-3 in the match, LS was at the table pondering the difficulty of getting from the 8 ball to the 9 ball. She called for an extension, which was granted by the referee. At that point, PX complained that LS had already taken an extension, and was not entitled to another. Anyway, that’s what I picked up. This halted the referee in his Chinese tracks, and his response to PX was obviously not acceptable, so they both appealed to a tournament official at a nearby table. Lo and behold, he did not know what to do, either, and the three of them consulted a fourth party, at great length.
LS waited patiently in her chair for the decision. She could have gone out for chop suey, with time to spare. PX was rejecting the arguments of all three officials, and ultimately the game was scrubbed, and the balls were re-racked and the game was replayed. By this time, not a stroke had been struck for maybe twenty minutes. Both players managed small polite smiles, and that was the only emotion I could see. Assuming my impressions were correct, I think the referee was at fault for granting the extension, rather than LS for asking.
With tranquility restored and the young referee no doubt much relieved, only a couple of games were played before he was back in hot water. Following a dry break, PX found herself without a shot, and pushed out the cue ball. LS came to the table for her option, and guess what? She complained to the referee that PX had failed to announce the push out, thus fouling when she failed to hit the one ball. I could tell that, as I was already learning to speak a little Chinese. PX wasn’t having any of that, and she and the referee and the official and the other official again had a long and heated discussion, without changing their expressions. LS again cooled her heels in her chair, rotating her head and massaging the back of her neck and occasionally looking up at the ceiling, but not participating in the argument. Without any visual clue, I believe I could tell what she was thinking, but it isn’t important to the story. She was getting even as she sat.
Ultimately, the foul was called, and LS was given ball-in-hand. PX, still poker-faced, returned to her seat. I didn’t stay for the end, but it was mostly LS as I watched. That child could play some nine ball, lemme tell you. The poor referee, whatever he was paid was not nearly enough. Seemingly, his duties were only to rack the balls and polish the cue ball with his white gloves, before putting it down on the table against the head rail.
I tried to imagine the same events in a tournament in this country. My mind’s eye could not picture Ken Shuman asking a third party to help him make a ruling. How about Earl Strickland calmly negotiating for a half hour over one rule, and then another? Would Scott Frost be able to abstain from taking part? Dr. Bill, what would you do with thirty minutes of dead air? None of these parallels seem to be quite parallel.
That’s about it, the end of my story. I’m pretty sure there is a moral here, but I can’t think of it. If I had drawn a conclusion, I would write it now. This would also be the logical place for a punchline. Having none of these, I guess I will wind it up the same way it began. Pan Xiaoting is a very handsome lady.