Team USA Still in the Lead at the End of Day 3

Team USA Still in the Lead at the End of Day 3 Europe 6 – 9 USAHotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee - Team Europe won the evening session 2 -1 to give themselves a glimmer of hope as the Mosconi Cup enters Day Four tomorrow. Stellar wins from Oliver Ortmann over Tony Robles and then Marcus Chamat, who won over Earl Strickland in a classic, were just the fillip the Europeans needed when the day could have turned into a total disaster following Rodney Morris’s superb win over Thomas Engert in the first game of the evening.Team America, who white-washed their opponents in the afternoon doubles, are still big favorites, but Oliver Ortmann’s boys will be sure to give them everything they can handle tomorrow.
Thomas Engert 1 - 5 Rodney Morris “Rocket” Rodney Morris piled on the misery for the Europeans in the opening singles match of the evening session as he coasted past Germany’s Thomas Engert, much to the delight of his watching USA teammates and fiancée Sheina.Engert won the lag, but with no pot available on the lowest ball, he left the yellow 1 behind the 6 ball. Morris could see half of it, and the pool gods were certainly on his side as he fluked it into the top left pocket and cleared the remaining balls to take the rack against Engert’s break. Morris was forced to push out in the second, and the German took full advantage to trap his opponent in a snooker. A safety exchange ensued before Engert lost position on the 5 ball and couldn’t make it safe enough. Morris grabbed the chance and ran out to go to 2 – 0.The German, who has looked good so far in the doubles despite failing to win a point, settled himself in the next with a top-grade break-and-run to narrow the deficit. Morris though, returned the favor in the fourth rack, as he ran out from the break to move into a 3 – 1 lead. There was no let-up for the German, as Morris moved to the hill and then rounded off the match with a relaxed clearance after Engert scratched on a jump shot attempt at the 2 ball.Afterwards, the ever-smiling Morris was delighted with his so far unbeaten performance, “I’m playing well, I’m happy with my game, and my concentration level is up. I’m getting beat up in tournaments in the USA, but the good thing is that those guys beating me are in my corner this time. A couple of the guys were a little relaxed, but Earl made it plain that this tournament is not over until that final 9 ball goes down. Things are rolling our way, but we’ve got to stay focused.”Oliver Ortmann 5 - 1 Tony Robles Oliver Ortmann showed his teammates the way to do it as he stopped the rot for Team Europe by dismantling Tony Robles 5-1. It was Europe’s first point of the day, and “The Machine” was in top form as he powered past his opponent to cut the deficit to four points.Ortmann won the lag easily but had to snooker Robles on the 2 ball, resulting in a run-out for Rack 1. Robles missed a double bank on the 1 ball in the next, but Ortmann's chances ended at the 4 ball when he left it hanging over the middle pocket following a tricky pot attempt, and the New Yorker leveled the game by clearing the table.The European captain looked set to run-out in Rack 3 to restore his lead but ran out of position on the 7 ball and had to snooker Robles. A safety exchange followed before Robles missed a pot attempt with his jump cue, and Ortmann capitalized to go up 2-1. He ran out to take the score to 3-1, and then, after Robles pushed out in the fifth rack, Ortmann succeeded when bravely taking on a tricky 1 ball, and he moved to the hill.Robles found himself snookered again in Rack 6, and a foul when attempting the 1 ball handed Ortmann the chance to clear and secure the victory Europe so badly needed.“We have to fight – we were 9-5 down,” Ortmann said. “Thomas and I lost three doubles matches, and I was so depressed because it’s a team event – we were losing because of little things. We sat down before the evening session, and last year we were down 8-4 and won five matches out of six, so I gave them the message that we can do it and we’re still in business. They’re great supporters, and it’s fantastic playing in Holland – they deserve great pool from the Europeans.” Marcus Chamat 5 – 2 Earl Strickland Marcus Chamat put on a magical Mosconi show to stave off Earl Strickland and win 5–2 to reduce the deficit to three points. Strickland made too many mistakes, but Chamat kept his concentration throughout to execute plenty of tough run-outs under pressure to claim victory.With the atmosphere reaching fever pitch following Ortmann’s win over Robles, Chamat and Strickland strode into the arena with the Europeans needing desperately to win. Chamat opened the proceedings and asserted himself early on with a long 1 ball off the rail that set him up for a difficult run-out that he completed to put Team Europe into a morale-boosting lead.Strickland found himself snookered on the 1 ball following his soft break but played an astounding kick shot to pocket it and leave himself perfect on the blue 2. He then played another shot, screwing back off two cushions to regain position on the 6 ball. The out from there was easy enough to take the score to 1-1. Unfortunately for Chamat, nothing dropped on the next break and, even worse, the 1 ball was sitting up for Strickland. Strickland floundered on the 3 ball as his long pot wobbled in the jaw. It stayed out and sat nicely for Chamat. He then held himself together to run out and go 2-1 ahead.Strickland pushed out in the next, potting both the 4 and the 5 balls, but Chamat declined, giving the American the table back. Strickland took on the 2 ball but over-cut it to miss, and, worse still, he scratched in the bottom pocket to give the Swede ball in hand. Chamat ran out to give himself a glorious chance of upsetting the odds.In the next, it was Chamat’s turn to push out, and, with Strickland declining, he attempted an audacious 2-7 combo that he missed to hand an open table to the American. He cleared to get back to 3–2. Strickland had a disaster, though, in the sixth as he drew the cue ball into the middle pocket from his break shot. With ball in hand, Chamat ran through the table to get to the hill at 4–2. The plucky Swede wrapped it up in the next rack when he seized the initiative to bank the 5 ball into the middle pocket and hang on to run the 7, 8, and 9 for a fantastic win under pressure. Chamat crowned the evening with a wild celebration that lasted for some time. Afterwards he could barely contain his joy. “I enjoyed every moment; that was something else, just unbelievable. I felt comfortable on that five ball, but I didn’t want to think about it too long. I’d played Earl a few times, and I was surprised he didn’t try and talk to me. But I know if he did I would have played even better. It’s 9–6 now, and we’re still in the game, and if we win three games in a row tomorrow it goes 9–9.”Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the Mosconi Cup.

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