Team USA Leads After Day 2 of Mosconi Cup

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Team USA Leads 6-4 After Day 2 of Mosconi Cup

It’s 6-4 Team USA at the halfway stage of the 2005 Mosconi Cup as they won the Friday session by 3 matches to 2, leaving themselves in the driving seat as they home in on their 12th Mosconi Cup.

Four of the five matches went hill-hill, and there were plenty of errors as both teams felt the nerves throughout. However, it was the USA who dug deepest, and they are now 2/9 prohibitive favorites with sports bookmaker Stan James.

Putnam/ Williams 5-4 Hohmann/Feijen

Team USA put some daylight between themselves and their European opponents as the Putnam/ Williams axis won an entertaining match as play commenced on Day 2.

The Americans were always ahead until the eighth rack in a game that contained its fair share of errors but was no less entertaining for it.

Putnam got off to the best possible start as the 7 ball kicked onto the 8 ball and then onto the 9 to record the first golden break of the competition.

Niels Feijen made an elementary error in the next as he scratched trying to hide the cue ball up-table, and with ball in hand, Charlie Williams played a 4-9 combination into the top left pocket.

The U.S. further increased their lead in the third as Putnam and Williams worked their way around the table with ease.

Following a safety from Feijen in the fourth, both teams had chances before a poor attempt on a bank went awry for Hohmann. The 1 ball locked behind the 9 ball, though, and although Putnam was able to make contact with it, he left an open table, and from there the Europeans ran out to go 3-1 behind.

Putnam scratched on the break in the fifth, and with ball in hand, the Europeans carefully worked their way through the table to get to the score to 2-3.

With no shot on the 1 ball, Hohmann elected to push out but left a chance on for the Americans. Williams missed the long cut, but fortune favored him as the balls fell safe. Feijen tried to jump out of trouble but missed the object ball completely to give Team USA ball in hand.

Williams badly ran out of position going from 8 to 9, but Putnam bravely rolled the final ball the length of the table to put Team USA on the hill at 4-2.

Williams again ran out of position in the next, and Putnam almost redeemed the situation with his jump stick. The 3-9 combo worked, but the cue ball cruelly dropped into the opposite pocket. The Europeans then ran the rack to further reduce the deficit.

The Europeans took it to hill-hill in the next in the most exciting rack of the match. Williams was again the culprit as he played a poor safety on the 6 ball. The run-out was tricky, but Feijen and Hohmann held themselves together well.

A terrific break from Putnam though saved the day for Team USA as he set them up for a match-winning run out.

“Me and Shawn played strong together. It wasn’t perfect, but we had a lot of heart,” said Williams.

“I hate doubles, but it’s a team effort, and no matter what you have to rely on your partner,” added Putnam.

Shawn Putnam 4-5 Raj Hundal

Raj Hundal capped his Mosconi Cup singles debut with a lion-hearted comeback to cut America's lead to a single point.

Hundal looked dead and buried at 3-0 down but responded with a calm, cool, and collected performance to collect a vital point for Team Europe.

But the early racks all went against the Londoner as he made a number of errors, starting by missing cut on the 1 after a cagey opening to the first rack and Putnam cleared against the break.

The big American took the second too with a clinical run-out and was soon back at the table when Hundal scratched from his break in Rack 3.

He ran out to move to within two racks of victory, but Hundal showed he wasn't done with a gutsy clearance in Rack 4 after Putnam left him a shot on the 1 following a careless safety attempt.

A poor positional shot resulted in Hundal missing the 3 ball in Rack 5, but he was saved by an equally bad effort from Putnam as he lost position on the 8.

However, Hundal attempted a table-length bank that missed by a good distance, and the rack looked over.

But Putnam's worst shot of the game left the ball on for his opponent, who gratefully deposited the last two balls to cut the deficit further.

Putnam came up dry in the sixth rack, and Hundal made a tough bank on the 1 before missing a cut on the blue 2, which rolled safe to the side rail.

Hundal missed the 3, though, and Putnam capitalized with a difficult run-out, almost every shot made with the cue ball on the rail or tough position.

Hundal broke and ran in Rack 7 to keep his hopes alive, and then drama ensued in Rack 8 when Hundal left the 1 ball hanging over the pocket only for Putnam to send the cue ball 'through the gate' between the 1 and the 5 and leave Hundal ball in hand.

The layout wasn't favorable for a run-out, though, and both players were forced into safety shots – one of which saw a jump shot from Putnam hit the top of the 2, which didn't move.

Hundal eventually cleared and then completed his remarkable comeback with a 3-9 combination down the rail straight into the bottom pocket with his first shot after the final rack break.

"I always dream of winning from behind, that's a lot more enjoyable,” Hundal smiled. "I was worried when I was three-to-zero down, because Shawn is a great player, but you can't sit there and be scared.

"There was a lot of pressure on the last shot, and if I'd have missed it I would have had to face my teammates, but I had to shoot it.

"I've been in a lot of situations in my life, but there's a lot of heat here – teammates, family, the whole of Europe all want us to win!"

Archer/Jones 5-4 Immonen/Chamat

In the third consecutive 5-4 result of the day, Team USA restored their two-point lead as captain Johnny Archer, partnered by Jeremy Jones, squeezed past the European duo of Mika Immonen and Marcus Chamat.

The lead changed hands several times, but the critical turnaround came in the final rack when the Europeans had a great chance to snatch victory but let it slip from their grasp.

With nerves starting to tell, it was Chamat who made the first mistake of the match as he missed a long 5 ball to leave it on for Archer. He rolled it nicely into the bottom left pocket, and from there Team USA cleared up to go into an early lead.

Archer had the misfortune of seeing the cue ball kicked into the corner pocket from his break shot in the next, and with ball in hand, Immonen and Chamat ran out to level things.

In the third rack, trying to force position from 1 to 2, Immonen came up short and was forced to play a safety. Archer reached for the jump cue, and although he made contact, he left the 2 ball out in the open. The tricky ball on the table was the 4, but Immonen played a delicate carom off the black 8 to set up the clearance.

Team USA restored parity in the fourth as they executed a nice break and run, and a poor safety from Chamat allowed the Americans to steal the next rack against the head.

The sixth rack became bogged down in safety play as the balls found themselves stuck to the rails. It was Jones who cracked first as he played far too loose of a safety on the 2 ball. That gave the Europeans the opportunity they were looking for, and they grabbed it with both hands to square the match at 3-3.

Another difficult run-out by Team Europe put them in the lead for the first time before Jones made amends with an immaculate break shot that saw three balls drop and the remainder spread out across the table. A 6-9 combo from the Texan sealed the rack to put the match at hill-hill.

To heighten the drama, Immonen had no shot on the 1 ball following the final break of the match and elected to push out. Archer took on the shot, and a lengthy safety battle ensued. In the end it was Immonen whose nerve failed first as he left the 1 ball in the jaws of the pocket following an attempt on a tough pot.

With the balls in the open, the Americans made no mistakes as the cleared up to win 5-4 and take the overall score to 5-3.

“There were some tough shots, and I’m trying to get loose. It’s four days, so hopefully I’ll get better and better. All the Europeans are playing really well coming into the tournament, and it’s a new look team. It’s a bit of a changing of the guard and a new generation is coming, through,” said Jones.

“You can’t help but get nervous – there’s a lot of pressure, and we’re trying hard, but we hung in there,” added Archer.

Jeremy Jones 4-5 Thorsten Hohmann

Thorsten Hohmann played his “get out of jail free” card as he edged past Jeremy Jones in an error-strewn encounter in the fourth match-up of the Mosconi Cup.

The 2003 world champion kept himself in contention by making the most of Jones' mistakes, and the final miss from the American proved the decisive point as Hohmann held his nerve to again cut the gap to a single point.

The first rack was fraught with error: first Jones, after a dry break, fouled on the 1 when Hohmann missed his shot but left it snookered.

After being allowed back at the table, he missed the 6, and the rack seemed lost before Jones scratched when potting the 8, handing Hohmann a simple 9.

Jones ran the second rack to level, but he missed the 1 ball in Rack 3, and Hohmann cleared to re-establish his lead.

The fourth rack was again scrappy, as Hohmann left Jones a half-chance with a 5-8 combination, and he restored parity.

Hohmann sank the 2 ball at the start of Rack 5 after a Jones push-out left the pot on, but he lost position on the red 3 and played safe.

The ball proved troublesome for both players, but Jones eventually engineered a rack-winning situation.

He was in pole position again in the sixth rack after a jump shot by Hohmann left the 1 ball on.

But Jones made his second crucial scratch of the game, as the white sank to add insult to injury when he missed the 7, and Hohmann was handed a second simple clearance.

A killer break from Jones downed four balls at the start of Rack 7, but even though he couldn't clear, Hohmann fouled when failing to hit a rail after inadvertently connecting with the red 3 following the cue ball hitting the rail, rather than before.

Jones finally cleared to move to the hill in a match he should have had sewn up long before.

Hohmann broke and ran to continue the day's record of every match going to a final rack decider, which saw Jones come precariously close to scratching in the centre right pocket.

He made the 2 and 3, but the second shot was unconvincing, and he missed a straightforward 4 to gift Hohmann the match.

"I was a bit lucky, something felt wrong for me today,” Hohmann admitted. "A voice in my head was telling me it wasn't a good day and I didn't play my best pool.

"It was a very important point for my team, and I'm glad I won to make the scores closer.

"I love Vegas, and this has been my most successful year as a pro, so I'm hoping to get another event win here.

"I always give my best, this is the most exciting tournament in the world, and we have a fantastic team – I want to try and win for my continent."

Strickland/ Morris 5 – 2 Lely/Hundal

The American pairing of Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris completed their second victory of the 2005 Mosconi Cup as they came from 2-0 down to win five consecutive racks as they overcame the lackluster European team of Raj Hundal and Alex Lely.

The win restored Team America’s two-point lead as the day closed at 6-4 in favor of the Americans in the first-to-11-points competition.

Team USA won the lag, but Strickland, who seemed to have recovered from yesterday’s outbursts, came up dry on the break.

Neither side could assert themselves as the errors crept into the game. Hundal scratched for Team Europe before Strickland made a bad miss on the 7 ball to present the rack to the Europeans.

Team Europe looked good in the next rack as they broke and ran out to increase their lead to 2-0. However, Lely missed a straight 2 ball into the center pocket in the next, and the Americans recorded their first rack of the game. It was to prove the turning point in the contest.

The fourth was full of drama as Hundal missed a straight 5 ball into the top pocket but fluked it into the center bag. With just the 7 and 9 on the table, Hundal missed a cross-bank on the 7, and as Morris downed the 9, his relief was palpable.

Another dry break from Strickland gave the Europeans the initiative, but Hundal fouled on the 1 ball after Strickland played a poor safety. With ball in hand, the Americans cleared to go into the lead.

There was more misery for Lely in the next rack as he completely lost control of the cue ball as it rolled up into the top pocket. Strickland and Morris made no mistakes to win their fourth rack on the run and put themselves on the hill.

The final rack was a formality as the dynamic American duo made light work of an open table to win the match 5-2 and restore their two-point overall lead.

“The way it’s been going, everyone out there is nervous,” said Morris afterwards.

“I think we’re smart enough to realize that we haven’t played that well, but we can knuckle down for the last two days,” he added.

Strickland continued, “I have to maintain my composure so I don’t disrupt my teammates, because Rodney started playing poorly yesterday because of all that stuff with the crowd.

“They’re never going to see another guy like me, though. We can’t be happy until we’ve won the event, and if we don’t keep up a high standard of play, we’ll lose.”

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