Alcaide Puts Europe Into The Lead at Mosconi Cup

Alcaide Puts Europe Into The Lead at Mosconi CupSpanish pool player David Alcaide put Europe in front for the first time of the 2006 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup with a fine singles victory against U.S. Open billiard champion John Schmidt. Alcaide, at 27 years old the youngest player in the tournament, recorded a 7-5 win to put the European side 4-3 in front.Discuss the PartyPoker.com Mosconi CupThis was the first match of a vital session with both sides looking to stamp their authority on the tournament.
Schmidt won the lag but then lost position and that enabled Alcaide to take a shock lead. However, it did not last long as Alcaide overhit a planned safety on the 4-ball but left a long pot, which Schmidt did well to convert and that led to him making it 1-1.The American then ran through the third rack to take a 2-1 lead, in this race to seven match. But Alcaide was holding his own and showed it would be a close tie as he ran out the fourth rack for 2-2.Both players were making very few mistakes and, considering this was their first individual match in the Mosconi Cup, it was an impressive performance from both men.Schmidt clinched the fifth rack but then scratched in the sixth and that enabled Alcaide to level the score at 3-3.In the seventh rack, Schmidt downed the 1-ball, 4-ball and 5-ball from the break and with a shot on the blue two and just like the early part of this match, made no mistakes to edge his way back in front.Schmidt tried a 1-4 carom in the next but missed and left a possible 1-4 combination, which Alcaide made to set him up to run through the rest of the balls as, once again it became level.After eight near-perfect racks, both players made some errors in the ninth as Alcaide scratched and left the 1-ball over the pocket. But Schmidt later failed to take a chance at the pink four and Alcaide went in front for the first time since the opening rack.He broke in the tenth rack and sunk the 7-ball and left himself a shot on the one. A 3-9 combination gave him a two-rack advantage and took the Spaniard to the hill at 6-4.Schmidt kept his hopes alive by winning the next after Alcaide scratched after a jump shot on the 1-ball. But the American could only watch as Alcaide broke and had a shot at the 1-ball and then ran out to seal the victory.

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