Europe Continues to Dominate On Day 2

After an historically bad day for the U.S side, they needed to come out of the gate strong today. However the tone for this session was set right from the start as the European side of Neils Feijen and Karl Boyes won the lag then broke in a nine immediately, 1-0. Before Rodney Morris and Johnny Archer could blink its 3-0. Unlike yesterday the Americans were able to stop the bleeding and fought back to 3-3. Shortly there after some solid play insued and a few good rolls and it was over 4-6 for Europe and up 0-6.

To the Americans credit they took it in stride and looked to take the next match. It looked good for the U.S as Denis Hatch came out strong and established a 4-1 lead against Ralf Souquet, then the stoic veteran began to show his class and play some exceptional safeties and took control of the match with a 4-5 lead. After Hatch broke in a 9 to get to 5-5, Souquet broke then with a difficult rack began a kick safety clinic until he had a chance to run out for the win.

Finally it was SVB and Strickland time to pair up and try and get a point for the U.S. The Americans seemed to have the edge in skill however the rolls kept this match close as Mika Immonen and Darren Appleton could do no wrong. Earl missed a 1 ball at 5-3 up and the whole mood of the arena changed as if they sensed doom. However at 5-5 Immonen planted on the side rail tried to cheat the pocket a bit and rattle the 7, giving SVB a bank and perfect shape on the 9. Finally the U.S get one.

Their hopes were quickly dashed however as Feijen blanked team captain Johnny Archer 0-6. Then the Americans edged out a 6-5 win in the final match of the day between SVB/Morris and Immonen/Boyes.
It was evident again today that the Americans are outclassed in this team event. The Europeans seem too play flawless as one continual threat, while the Americans do not seem to be gelling as a team at all. Down 2-8 lets see if the Americans can win a session tomorrow and bring this to day 4.

Mosconi Cup Day 1: Disaster For Team USA

Team USA pulled out all the stops and brought on paper what was supposed to be the strongest U.S. side in years and they fail to register 1 point on day one. The Mosconi Cup is scheduled to be a 4 day event but that looks unlikely after today.

The biggest surprise to me was how average Shane Van Boening looked. As pool fans, we are used to seeing SVB almost robot like in how he breaks and runs rack after rack. However with the no 'breaking from the side rail' rule in place Shane looked lost trying to figure out the break. Each break I witnessed on Sky Sports 2 seemed to be either a scratch or a dry break - very unlike Shane, who under normal rules, is one of  the best breakers in the game.

It might be a bit unfair to put so much responsibility on SVB but he is the 3 time U.S Champ from this era. He might be the least experienced team member but he is the best player on paper America has and is the only one who is currently winning major tournaments. With his shaky start it seemed to throw the whole team for a loop. Another surprise would be that most people would think Earl would be the reason for most of their troubles. However he has been the strongest player on the team up to date and he and Rodney Morris were a victim of some bad rolls in their match against Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes. I believe Appleton even pocketed a 9 off the snap; on a race to 6 that can be devastating.

Perhaps it is now a foregone conclusion that Europe will once again be the Champs. But what is unclear is whether or not the U.S. will be able to make a showing of this. There was a time when people feared the end of the Mosconi Cup because the lack of competitiveness from team Europe.The 20 year Anniversary of the Mosconi Cup could reignite this argument except now Team USA has been the team unable to compete for several years in a row. Hopefully the U.S. will get their act together and make a go of this, because an 11-5 blow-out does nothing for pool at this time especially on American home soil where the game has been waning as of late.

Maurice Herne SGA 55+ District Champ

This past Friday Rack-M-Up Billiards played host to the inaugural SGA 55+ Disctrict 8, 8ball Championships. It was clear that that Herne was coming into this tournament an early favourite. He seemed to thrive under the pressure as he did not drop one set during the day. Another Local Player Mike Bergeron took second place.

The SGA was founded in 1982 and is dedicated to helping keep seniors active. They have games at the regional, provincial and national level. This was the first year for pool to be introduced in this region and will hopeful catch on and continue to grow in the future. More information on the SGA can be found at their website http://www.ontarioseniorgames.ca/page.asp?id=9