Atlanta Open Belongs to Immonen

Atlanta Open Belongs to ImmonenBy Bill RosenbergerMika Immonen didn't lose heart when Ralf Souquet knocked him to one-loss side on Saturday 11-9 in a tight, emotional match. Instead, he dug down and told himself that he wanted it more than anyone else did.Immonen pulled off the improbable on Sunday in the Third Annual Atlanta Open, winning three straight hill-hill contests to reach the finals and force the rematch with Souquet. Immonen not only faced elimination, but he stared it down the throat in his first west-side match against defending champion Johnny Archer. After sneaking by Archer, he pulled the same feat against Cliff Joyner. Finally, in the semifinals, he ousted former U.S. Open champ Jeremy Jones, who had fallen to Souquet 11-6 in the hot seat match.
Immonen says that while each match was close to the end, they all had unique qualities. "Johnny and I were on the hill and he broke, but he left himself a tricky shot at the one ball. He masséd around to hit the one but didn't make it. He left me a long one-ball shot, and I made it and ran out."He won his match against Joyner in a similar fashion, making a tough shot in the decisive match and running out. Against Jones, though, he had a chance to avoid the hill. "I was up ten to nine, but I didn't close it out, and I had to come back to win."His rematch with Souquet was anything but close. Immonen jumped out early and played extremely smart but also aggressive. He took home the $10,000 first-place prize by winning 13-3. "I think I had the advantage," said Immonen. "I think I wanted it more. I hadn't won a tournament since January. But you can never expect to (rout) anyone like that in the finals."Now that the win is starting to sink in, Immonen realizes that his feat on Sunday was truly unbelievable. "It is pretty amazing to win three straight like that," he said, "especially when three of them broke in the last game." Results:1st Mika Immonen $10,0002nd Ralf Souquet $4,4003rd Jeremy Jones $3,0004th Cliff Joyner $2,3005th Charlie Williams, Johnny Archer $1,6007th Danny Medina, Danny Basavich $1,3009th Charlie Bryant, John Schmidt, Mike Davis, Young-Hwa Jeong $1,00013th Neil Fujiwara, Thorsten Hohmann, Rodney Morris, Gabe Owen $55017th Fabio Petroni, T.F. Whittington, Luc Salvas, Joey Landi, Chris Lynch, Robb Saez, Dan Lavoie, Alan Rolon $200 Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the sport of billiards and pool.

Pool Balls and Billiard Balls at LOW PRICES!!!

About the Author:
Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.