Souquet And Immonen Overpower Rookie Duo

Souquet And Immonen Overpower Rookie DuoFormer world billiard champions Ralf Souquet and Mika Immonen pulled the score back to 2-2 with a comfortable victory against newcomers John Schmidt and Mike Davis.Souquet and Immonen triumphed by 6-2 in the opening doubles match on Day Two of the PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup at the Cruise Terminal, Rotterdam.Discuss the PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup
“We had a bad start but fought hard and when we had our chances we took them," said Souquet. "The most important thing is to enjoy it and have some fun and not put yourself under too much pressure."We've all been playing for 20 years or so and at the Mosconi Cup is the best time to show what you’ve got. The Americans were very unlucky today but yesterday so were we."After the first day America had led 2-1 and captain Johnny Archer called on his two debutants to try to extend that lead.Schmidt and Davis knew they would have to be at their best to secure a point and Schmidt won the lag but there was no shot available for Davis so he was forced to push out. However, Europe could not build on that opportunity and America were soon at the table before they gained a 1-0 lead as Schmidt sunk the 9-ball to put Europe under immediate pressure.The Americans quickly doubled their advantage but a mistake by Schmidt, when he scratched in the third, brought Europe back to the table and Immonen made it 1-2.Europe broke in the fourth and Souquet pocketed both the 1-ball and 6-ball and gave Immonen a shot at the 2-ball. From there the frame was a formality and for the second successive rack Immonen dispatched the 9-ball to bring the tie all square at 2-2.The fifth rack was an error-filled one as Davis scratched trying to make the yellow 1 safe but Immonen left the red three hanging over the pocket. Schmidt sunk the same ball but then drew back too far and scratched into the left centre pocket to give the Europeans ball in hand and they ran out the rest of the rack to go 3-2 in front. It soon became 4-2 as Souquet and Immonen began to turn up the heat on the American duo. Schmidt and Davis were now struggling and the Europeans were gifted the seventh rack.Davis pocketed six balls off the break, but this included the cue ball and, with ball in hand, Europe gratefully accepted this early Christmas present and moved to the hill at 5-2.Souquet's break in the eighth rack saw the 1-ball disappear with a shot at the blue two for Immonen and this was the chance the Europeans needed to win the point and make it 2-2 overall.

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