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.
Engert Masters Another Field
Thomas Engert can’t explain why, after years of playing in the shadow of his internationally successful countrymen Oliver Ortmann, Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, he’s suddenly title-prone, but he’s not arguing.
“I can’t explain it,” said the 38-year-old German after coming from behind to beat Ortmann, 8-6, in the finale of the World Pool Masters in Egmond aan Zee, Holland. “But it’s okay with me.”
Engert, who picked up $50,000 in August at the International Challenge of Champions, earned another $20,000 at the Matchroom Sport-run World Pool Masters. The reigning European 9-Ball Champion may even have earned a spot on Europe’s 2004 Mosconi Cup squad with the win.
Engert led most of the match against Ortmann, but trailed 6-5 before rattling off the final three racks for the title in the 16-player international field.
Engert Wins Challenge of Champions
Thomas Engert, one of Germany’s most decorated pro pool players over the past 25 years, finally made his presence felt on the international stage by beating countryman Thorsten Hohmann in straight sets, 5-2, 5-2, to win the Challenge of Champions at the Mohegan Sun Hotel & Casino in Uncasville, Conn., Thursday night. The 38-year-old from Duren picked up the $50,000 as champion in the 14th running of the $50,000 winner-takes-all tournament.
Engert, the holder of more than 30 German national titles and a dozen European championships, controlled both sets with crisp shot-making and several fortuitous kick shots. Engert led from the start in both sets, forging a 4-1 lead in the first, and winning the last three racks in the second.
Hohmann, the 25-year-old former world champion, never got untracked against his longtime friend and frequent rival.
With Hohmann, Oliver Ortmann and Ralf Souquet all claiming world crowns for Germany, the Challenge of Champions title finally gave Engert hardware and a payday that matched his compatriots.
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.
All German Challenge Final
Thomas Engert will meet countryman Thorsten Hohmann in a $50,000 winner-takes-all shootout in the finale of the 2004 International Challenge of Champions at the Mohegan Sun Hotel in Uncasville, Conn. Engert dispatched luckless Hiroshi Takenaka in straight sets, 5-2, 5-3, to reach the title match in the international eight-player event.
Struggling to make balls on the break, Takenaka repeatedly turned over open tables to Engert in their semifinal tilt The 32-year-old, ranked No. 1 in Japan, did manage to hold a 3-2 lead in the second set, but Engert responded with two flawless run-outs to regain command of the match.
Engert, 38, and Hohmann, 25, have met numerous times in Europe in the past two years, with the pair splitting title-match battles at the 2004 European Championships. Hohmann emerged victorious over Engert in the Euro 8-ball final, while Engert prevailed in the 14.1 title match.
Going For Gold
American Jeanette Lee and Taipei’s Ching-Shun Yang captured the 9-ball divisions of the 6th World Games in Akita, Japan, Aug. 16-26. Lee took home the Gold Medal after beating Ireland’s Karen Corr, 9-3. Lee’s finish gave the United States a second-best 15 total Gold Medals during the Games, and a combined 31 medals to place third overall behind leader Russia (44) and second-place Germany (35) in the medal count.
Yang knocked off Germany’s Ralf Souquet, 11-8, in the final to claim the Gold Medal. Despite Souquet’s defeat, Germany’s medal count was boosted when Souquet’s countrymate Thomas Engert topped American Jon Kucharo to claim the bronze medal.
Belgium’s Bjoern Haneveer edged Filipino Marlon Manalo, 4-3, to take the snooker Gold Medal, while Spain’s Daniel Sanchez upset Dick Jaspers, 40-30, to earn the Gold in carom.
Mexico’s Ismaez Paez, who suffered a heart attack before one of his matches early in the 9-ball tournament, underwent heart surgery and is currently recovering.
Snippets… Euro stars in nookie ban
In a desperate attempt to regain the Mosconi Cup, European Team Captain Ralf Souquet has slapped a sex ban on his team for the duration of the Mosconi Cup which starts on Thursday.
In a strongly worded letter, hard-line Souquet, dubbed ‘The Kaiser’, warned his teams against the perils of carnality.
Order for all members of the European Mosconi Cup Team: “There is a strict prohibition for having sex and/or sexual activities with effect from December 11th 2000. This rule applies particularly to the German player Thomas Engert, who is bringing his wife with him. There have even been some thoughts, whether to book two single rooms for him and his wife!”
“As captain of the European Team, it is my first and utmost priority to take care of the players and prepare them for optimal performance at the tournament. Not only from my own experience I know that having sex at an inappropriate moment can paralyse body and soul of a player. Concentration, mental force and attitude towards the game could be weakened and negatively influenced.”
“Remember there is only one goal – to win the Mosconi Cup!”
Finnish ace Mika Immonen learned of the ban on arriving in London this morning and was reported to be “gobsmacked”.