U.S. Takes Early Lead
On the heels of near perfection from the duo of Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris, and the cool play of Gabe Owen, Team USA took a 2-1 lead over Team Europe on the opening day of play at the 2004 Mosconi Cup at the Hotel Zuiderduin in the Dutch seaside resort village of Egmond aan Zee.
For the first time in the 11-year history of the Matchroom Sport produced event, the European squad was installed as a slight betting favorite by Gibraltar-based betting service Stan James. And the Europeans scored the opening salvo when Dutch hero Niels Feijen and Matchroom-managed snooker star Steve Davis squeaked past luckless Charlie Williams and Tony Robles, 5-4. The loss marked the sixth consecutive Cup loss for Williams, who took the collar in four matches in 2003, and his last match in the 2002 Cup.
But Owen, the 26-year-old surprise U.S. Open winner making his Cup debut, proved to be the steady hand with captain/partner Johnny Archer in a 5-3 win over the German duo of Oliver Ortmann and Thomas Engert. Owen rescued Archer on several occasions after the world’s No.1 player botched a pair of easy shots to allow the Europeans to stay in the match. “I wasn’t nervous at all,” said Owen. “I was a wreck in my television matches at the U.S. Open. But here we’re the underdog, and I love being the underdog. Always have.”
The Americans seized the lead in the final match on the first day when Strickland and Morris stomped Mika Immonen and Marcus Chamat, 5-1. The U.S. pair played flawlessly throughout the match.
The best-of-12 event continues Friday with three doubles matches in the afternoon, followed by three singles matches Friday evening.
Mosconi Cup Kicks Off
Matchroom Press Release:
16th December
D Day has arrived. Tonight at the Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee, Holland the two six-man teams representing the United States and Europe will enter the packed arena to contest the 12th annual Mosconi Cup.
Played out over four days, it features a series of singles and scotch doubles matches with the first team to reach 12 points lifting pool’s most prestigious trophy.
Team captains Johnny Archer and Oliver Ortmann are the men responsible for who plays and when and tonight’s order of play for the three doubles matches is:
Niels Feijen & Steve Davis v Charlie Williams & Tony Robles
Oliver Ortmann & Thomas Engert v Johnny Archer & Gabe Owen
Mika Immonen & Marcus Chamat v Earl Strickland & Rodney Morris
With the doubles pairings critical, both captains explained the reasoning behind their decisions:
“Earl and Rodney have both got that loose kind of style and I believe that they will mix well, said Archer.
“I think Gabe Owen needed to go out with one of the older more experienced players to settle him down early and Tony Robles and Charlie Williams are real good friends and have a similar style. If it doesn’t work we’ll change it but we’re all really excited!”
For Ortmann the pairings more or less picked themselves. “Myself and Thomas Engert know each very well; we’ve been playing together since we were juniors so that was the first decision, he said.
“Mika and Marcus have been friends for a long time so that was an easy choice. Steve Davis and Niels Feijen felt comfortable together on the practice table and we’ve put them out first because Niels can’t wait to get out there and it will be good for the Dutch crowd.”
Let battle commence!
For more information and match updates, visit www.mosconicup.com
Parica fills out Skins Semifinals
Jose Parica snared the final spot in the semifinal round of the Skins Billiards Championship late on Friday night and, in doing so, narrowly averted a playoff with at least two other opponents to reach the big-money rounds of the $130,000 tournament.
Parica will be joined in the semis – where $42,000 will be up for grabs – by Johnny Archer, Luc Salvas, Rodney Morris, Santos Sambajon, Ralf Souquet, Cory Deuel and Danny Basavich. The four players then advancing to the finals will play for an additional $54,000.
The Skins opening round kicked off Friday afternoon at the Resorts hotel and casino in Atlantic City, N.J., with 16 players divided into four brackets, playing for $500 per game. Each bracket consisted of 16 games, thus allowing a total of $8,000 in prize money per bracket. The eight players with the highest prize totals at the end of the round would advance to the semis.
By the end of play in the third bracket, it became clear that a player would need at least $2,000 to have a shot at the semis. When Basavich reached $3,000 late in the fourth bracket, all the pieces fell into place. If Parica could win one more game and reach $2,500, the final eight would be set. If he finished with just $2,000, he and at least two other players with $2,000 would have to duke it out in a playoff for the eighth spot
It came down to the 15th game, when the shooting order allowed Parica one final turn to break.
Charlie Williams and Mika Immonen, both with $2,000 from previous rounds, huddled in the back of the cavernous Superstar Theatre, rooting for Basavich to win the deciding game. But even on the ropes, Parica was too clever for his foe. Stymied by a safety, Parica decided to foul intentionally and sabotage Basavich’s runout by nestling the 5 next to the 8. Sure enough, Basavich’s runout stalled at the 5, and Parica nailed a tough cross-side bank on the 5 to take control of the table and eventually win the game.
“I’m more experienced than anybody,” the plucky Filipino said. “I think. I make the smart play.”
The Skins action will finish up Saturday evening. Check back for the final results.
Mosconi Cup Teams Announced
Promoters Matchroom Sport have announced the teams for this year’s Mosconi Cup. Johnny Archer captains the American team; he is joined by Rodney Morris, Gabe Owen, Tony Robles, Earl Strickland and Charlie Williams. Germany’s Oliver Ortmann heads up the European team, which also includes Marcus Chamat, Steve Davis, Thomas Engert, Niels Feijen and Mika Immonen.
The Mosconi Cup takes place December 16-19 at the Hotel Zuiderduin in Egmond aan Zee, Holland.
Hohmann Advances to Challenge Final
2003 World Champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany steamrolled Finland’s Mika Immonen in straight sets, 5-3, 5-1, Thursday afternoon in the first semifinal at the 14th International Challenge of Champions at The Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino in Uncasville, Conn. With the win, Hohmann advances to the finale in the $50,000 winner-takes-all event.
Hohmann never trailed in either set. In the opening set, Hohmann capitalized on an Immonen scratch and ran out on his first two breaks in the alternating break format match to forge a 3-1 lead. Immonen fought back to tie the score at 3-3, but an unfortunate break on a safety attempt when the 2 ball caught the side pocket tip and caromed into the open allowed Hohmann to regain the lead. Hohmann then ran out from the break to seal the first set.
The second set was all Hohmann, as the former world champ used machine-like precision to forge a 4-0 lead. Immonen scratched on one break, and came up empty on another to give Hohmann ample opportunities at the table.
The second semi will feature European 9-ball champion Thomas Engert of Germany against Japanese champion Hiroshi Takenaka.
World Pool Championship Underway
The top 128 9-ballers in the world are furiously breaking, banking and watching the brackets at the World Trade Centre in Taipei City, Taiwan, in hopes of pocketing the coveted title of “World Champion” and its $75,000 prize. Play at the 2004 World Pool Championship began on Saturday, July 10 and will continue through the white-knuckle finals on Sunday, July 18.
Former champions Mika Immonen, Earl Strickland, Fong-Pang Chao and Oliver Ortmann are acing the group rounds and will be heavy favorites once the field is narrowed to 64 men on Wednesday, July 14. Check out http://www.billiardsdigest.com/tournaments/index?tournament_id=11 for BD’s on-the-spot coverage starting July 15, or check out the event’s Web site at http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com
Schmidt wins Firecracker Open
John Schmidt came back from a long stay on the one-loss side to avenge his only loss to Mika Immonen and won The Florida Firecracker Open at Capones Billiards in Springhill, Fl.
The tournament, a stop on the Seminole Florida Pro Tour, drew a field of 62 players to Capones for the two day affair. Schmidt had a perfect Saturday with wins over Rick Croney, Eric David and Robb Saez. Sunday was a different story though, as Schmidt lost a 9-4 match to ‘The Iceman’ Mika Immonen.
After the victory over Schmidt, Immonen cruised into the hot-seat relatively untested with a 9-2 win over Capone’s housepro Rodney Morris and a 9-4 win over ‘The Korean Dragon’ Charlie Williams.
Schmidt took the trip to the one-loss side and landed on his feet. A 9-3 win over Jimmy Wale got a five match winning streak started on the left side of the board. Schmidt beat Ray Martin 9-3, Danny Harriman (who won at Capones last year) 9-7, Buddy Hall 9-4 and Charlie Williams 9-4 to get to the finals.
Schmidt was not content with just a trip to the finals though, as he quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead over Immonen in the final set. The players traded games until the 7-3 mark when Immonen put on a run and tied the match at 7-7. With the match tied at 7-7, both players knew it was a straight race to four for the title and Immonen was breaking. Immonen may have reached back a little too far looking for a strong break as he knocked the cue-ball off the table in rack 15 and was forced to watch Schmidt take control of the match again. From that point, Schmidt won the next four games to score the 11-7 victory.
Schmidt pocketed $3500 for first place, while Immonen was forced to settle for $2000. Charlie Williams and Buddy Hall filled out the top four spots. The Seminole Florida Pro Tour will be at Planet 9 Ball in Tampa, Fl on July 31st – August 1st for their next event. That event is limited to the first 64 players who pay their entry so players should get their entry in soon. Players can contact Planet 9-Ball owner Ken Miller at 813-891-1450 to sign up.
Japan Cup Day 1 complete
Shuji Nagata
After the first day of play, Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Ralf Souquet, Thorsten Hohmann and Mika Immonen are joined by Antonio Lining, Ramil Gallego, Young Hwa Jeong, Charlie Williams, Hiroshi Takenaka, Shintaro Sugaya, Terukazu Mukai, Go Takami and Syuji Nagata on the winners side.
Warren Kiamco and Dennis Orcullo did take early trips to the one loss side, but are still playing. Mike Massey has been eliminated.
Japanese players are performing well on their home turf. Go Takami upset Warren Kiamco 9-6 and Shuji Nagata beat Antonio Gabica 9-1 on day one.
The tournament runs until June 13th with a wheelchair event beginning Thursday and a Women’s division beginning June 12th.
Further information from the event is available on the official website at http://www.ibcjapancup.com/
Archer Takes Players Championship
Johnny Archer won the Brunswick Men’s Professional Players Championship, held March 25-28 at the Super Billiards Expo in Valley Forge, Pa.
Archer took a surprise second-round loss to Frankie Hernandez, 10-2, and then charged through 10 straight matches in the left bracket for the win. Notable victories included a hill victory over Charlie Williams, plus wins over Mika Immonen and Ralf Souquet.
In the final against Jose Parica, Archer dominated, 10-4, collecting $10,000 for the title. Parica took home $5,000 while Souquet and Jose Garcia took home $3,500 and $2,500 for third and fourth places, respectively.
Mika Immonen Crowned UPA Champion
Mika Immonen scored a 13-2 win over Charlie Williams and won the UPA Pro Tour Championship held at The Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, Ca.
Immonen survived two hill-hill matches on his way to the finals, one with Jose Parica and another with Ralf Souquet for the point.
Immonen earned $10,000 for the win, the first major event of the new year. Williams won $5000 for second.