U.S. Still Leading Mosconi Cup

U.S. Still Leading Mosconi CupBy InsidePOOL StaffFriday’s matches have finished at the Mosconi Cup, and Team USA now leads by a three-game margin. The Mosconi Cup is being held for the first time in the U.S. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, and will conclude on Sunday, December 21, 2003.The first match of the day saw reigning U.S. Open champion Jeremy Jones meet Sweden’s Marcus Chamat. Starting off the day with a bang, Chamat won the lag and sank the 9 on his first break to the loud screams of the European contingent in the audience. The stoic Jones broke and ran the next rack to tie at 1 apiece and took advantage of a huge error by Chamat when he missed the 3 in the side in the following game. Jones ran out that rack and then the next to take a two-game lead on “Napoleon.” Each player scored one run-out, and when Jones fouled on the 4 ball, Chamat made a nice position shot on the 5 to bring the score to 4-3. With no shot after his last break, “Double J” was forced to play safe. Chamat kicked and hit the 4 ball but left his opponent a clean shot, which Jones took to win the match 5-3. Score U.S. 4, Europe 2.
Earl “The Pearl” Strickland and teammate Tony Robles were back in action in the second match, going up against Steve Davis and Nick Van den Berg in a tough doubles match. The first game saw Strickland make a two-rail kick into a 2-9 combo to start the match off with some excitement for the U.S. supporters. Van den Berg triumphed over safety battle in the second game to knot the score at 1 apiece, and then Davis slopped in a 9 ball in the following rack after a push-out by Robles to take the lead. A bobbled 7 in the corner pocket gave the U.S. another game. Strickland then broke and left a difficult 2-9 combo sitting in the corner, but when he missed the 1, Team Europe sprang up. A lengthy safety battle began, with the players trying to hit the carom and sink the 9 ball. After a safe by Strickland, Holland’s Van den Berg attempted to send the cue into the 2-9, watched with gleeful anticipation as it almost hit, and then his emotions went to the other end of the spectrum when the cue dropped into the pocket. Robles ultimately sank the 2-9, bringing the score to 3-2 U.S. Team Europe tied the score again when Robles missed a 3 ball and Davis ran the remaining balls. Robles came up dry on his next break, and Davis ended up being forced into playing safe on the 6 ball; however, he left Strickland a makeable shot, and after almost scratching on the 7 ball, Strickland brought the U.S. team to the hill. An empty break by the champion snooker player Davis left no shot for Strickland, who kicked and hit the 1. Van den Berg slopped it in but sold out on a safety attempt on the 2 by leaving it in front of the side pocket, and “The Silent Assassin” stealthily ran out the rest of the rack to win the match 5-3. Team USA 5, Team Europe 2.The last singles match of the day brought Finland’s Mika Immonen and UPA President Charlie Williams together. With a missed bank attempt on the 2 by Williams setting the tone for the match, “Iceman” quickly reached the hill with Williams at only 1 game with some truly superb play. Of all of Team Europe’s players, Immonen is probably playing the strongest at the Mosconi Cup as of yet. He missed a difficult breakout shot on a 7-9 cluster and opted to play safe by leaving the cue on the end rail, but Williams made the tough shot to get out and bring the score to 4-2. A run-out in the following rack brought “The Dragon” within a game of his opponent, and after Immonen left the 1 ball directly in front of the side pocket after a botched safety, Williams knotted the score at the hill. Both sides of the audience were going crazy with cheering, but when Williams came up dry on the break, Immonen made an intricate 1-9 combination off the back rail to win the match 5-4. Score 1 more game for Team Europe, making it U.S. 5, Europe 3. Of Team Europe’s 3 points in the race to 11, Immonen has been directly involved in all of them.Ralf Souquet and reigning world champion Thorsten Hohmann met their match in the team of Johnny Archer and “Rocket” Rodney Morris in the final match of the day. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, Morris lost the match to Hohmann and displayed disappointment, but Hohmann opted to push out after his break. Not caring for the leave, Morris gave the option back with a sarcastic smile, and after a scuffle over the 1, Souquet, tried to play safe but left Archer a challenging shot, which he speared and then ran out the rest of the balls to win the first game. When Archer broke and made the 9 ball immediately following, the crowd went wild with cheering. A break-and-run by “The Surgeon” brought down the house again, this time on Europe’s side, but when Souquet fouled on the 1 ball in the next rack, Team USA took a 3-1 lead. Hohmann, whose play so far has been erratic, hooked himself for the 2 ball after his next break and gave Morris the opportunity to reach the hill with an animated “Awww right!” after he sunk the 9. With no shot on the 1 ball, Archer pushed out in the final rack, and Hohmann played the two balls to opposite rails. Morris attempted a safety, but Souquet pocketed the 1 and then played safe on the 2. “The Scorpion” managed to hit the 2 but left Hohmann the opportunity to get out. Curiously, Hohmann got out of line on the 8 ball and chose to shoot the short-rail bank and went long, leaving Morris only two balls to sink in order to win the last match of the day 5-1. Team USA 6, Team Europe 3.Matches will resume on Saturday at 11 a.m. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest in the sport of billiards and pool.

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