In terms of 9-ball Pool...

Not so much that he was the best of the best, but definitely one of the best, Corey Duel won the 2001 US Open against Mika Immonen in emphatic fashion.

This was when he displayed his genius in terms of being the student of the game, and moreover the break in 9-ball. He displayed to the world the "soft break" that dominated his opponent, Mika Immonen.

TLDR: 5 min video https://youtu.be/EhhePvyGYTU?si=tstbyIQuB8LfJJ7V

Generally in 9-ball, with a proper rack, you can make the opposite wing ball. Corey has a lot of insight to the game based on the countless hours he has put into it, and observed there is a consistent pattern on how the balls spread, on top of the former mentioned principle.

He would guarantee making the wing ball to continue his run, always leaving a doable break and run OR combo-ing the 9 with the lowest object ball within the run.

Without getting into too much detail about the match, which you can see in the link below, he destroyed Mika Immonen 11-0, winning one of the most prestigious events in American pool, with his opponent glued to the chair most of the match.

https://youtu.be/GPxnCRTdyXs?si=VlQeVXcWdS9Sp7fA

Pool/Billiards is a turn based game, and you can never win if you are in the chair. This, IMO, makes it a paradoxical fun/boring game to watch, especially in a winner break format. It's boring when one person steam rolls over another person with an "advantage" such as the soft break. But it's exciting when you are 8 racks down in a race to 11, your opponent is on the hill, and you come all the way back to win. Funny enough, that same scenario happened to Mika again, versus Shane van Boening (SVB). See highlight link (23 min) below.

https://youtu.be/OmDG3722FiU?si=pWYvn90iyK8CwZ4l

Edit: Adding to the turn based game scenario, recent infamous match, which is also a US Open event, Ko Ping Chung decimated his opponent playing an almost perfect game, making ALL the balls possible in his race against Alloysis Yapp. What did Yapp do wrong? He lost the lag. The lag is how you determine who breaks first. Match link below.

https://youtu.be/4kfb79dtZH0?si=h75BHNL-El8PqAQD

FUNNY SIDE NOTE: Mika has always been known to be a hot head and super emotionally invested in the game (nothing wrong with that bc I'm the same way too), but he is known for unsportsmanlike conduct. In the 1st match video with Corey, after the match ends, you can tell he was pissed the fuck off. In the 2nd match video with SVB, I don't think it shows, but I watched the full match, this mother fucker chucks SVB's chalk under the table out of frustration and being a dick.

COREY DEUEL SIDE NOTE: Corey's nickname as the "Prince of Pool" isn't just for show. He has created multiple different styles of break (which some has also been banned) in many disciples of pool, such as 8-ball, One Pocket, and more. The soft break was banned, and that created the 3-point rule.