Pro9 - Europe's No.1 Pool Player Resource

The Mosconi Cup XVIII - Las Vegas
Matchroom Sport
Las Vegas
Nevada
USA
www.matchroompool.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Mosconi-Cup
www.livesport.tv/home

Thursday-Sunday 8-11 December 2011

All photography �Jean-Philippe Parmentier - used by Pro9 with permission.
USA right back in it

TEAM USA recovered from a first day hammering at the PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup as they put themselves right back into contention, winning three matches to Europe�s two at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Stellar performances from the Americans saw them level the match at 4-4, before the Europeans derailed their momentum to take the final two games and move into the fourth day with a two point lead.

There was plenty of Mosconi Cup drama as debutant Mike Dechaine overcame Ralf Souquet 6-1 and Rodney Morris had an outburst that he will be happy to forget in a hurry. However, coming into the day three points down, Team USA will be happy to have reduced the deficit.

Share this article on FaceBook

"Read More..." for the details.

Copyright Reminder: Whilst logos, photographs and original copy may be the intellectual property of the respective owners and authors, the tables, layout and editorial have been lovingly prepared, written, designed and edited by, and is the intellectual property of, the editor at Pro9 - and as with all our content at Pro9, straight copying and verbatim reprinting in this style is not permitted without specific authorisation.

The opening match of day two was a must-win situation for the Americans and win it they did as Johnny Archer and Shane Van Boening edged past the Dutch duo of Feijen and Van den Berg. With the racking changed from the opening day � a regular rack was used instead of the Magic Rack - the balls were spreading nicely and both pairs took advantage with succession of break and runs.

With the USA having won the lag, they reached the hill first and had a great chance to win 6-4 but Van Boening left Archer in the lurch with just the 8 and 9 balls left on the table and the Dutchmen eventually took the rack to make it hill hill.

Archer dropped four balls into the pockets from his break shot and himself and Van Boening went on to claim a nerve calming win.

�We're not doing anything different. Our execution yesterday meant we over ran a few shots and we've just tightened it up. We had chances to win matches yesterday," said Archer.

There was more USA joy in the second match as Mike Dechaine � a heavy underdog � put in a perfect performance to overturn Ralf Souquet by 6-1 and reduce the European lead to just one point.

The 24 year-old Dechaine looked a bundle of nerves and adrenaline prior to the match but he made it all work in his favour as he ran through his racks with precision and cashed in on a couple of errors from Souquet.

"This is definitely one of the best moments of my life. I'm having a great time and everyone has a positive attitude, even though we were 4-1 down after the first day,� said a delighted Dechaine.

"We had a couple of unfortunate events yesterday but today we've put up a good line-up and it's going to be a great day."

There was plenty of drama and controversy in the next match as Team USA drew level, winning their third consecutive match of the day as Rodney Morris and Shawn Putnam beat the English pair of Melling and Appleton.

6-5 was the score line as the US stole it at the last when Appleton left Melling a tough pink 4 ball and he overcut it to give the table and subsequently the match to the Americans.

The real drama came at the start of the sixth rack when Morris�s temper boiled over and he used some regrettable language. Some of the rowdier elements got to him and he told Darren Appleton, in no uncertain terms, to tell them to be quiet. It then escalated as Morris then audibly offered the Englishman to step outside.

Things calmed down as the Americans went on to take the match and afterwards Morris was highly embarrassed by his outburst as well as apologetic.

In the fourth match of the day, Nick Van den Berg put in a superb performance to beat Johnny Archer 6-1 and restore European supremacy. Similarly to Mike Dechaine�s defeat of Ralf Souquet, it was the underdog who came with all the shots, taking full advantage of a tired-looking Archer.

"Today's been awful - we wanted to go and win the session but we were 3-0 down. When it's like that you're just trying to give your best and I didn't make a mistake.

"Johnny Archer was probably the best American player so far but he didn't get a chance so I'm very happy with the way I played. We tried to keep our heads up."

In the final match of the session, Chris Melling and Ralf Souquet reinforced European supremacy as the played excellently to defeat the Shane Van Boening / Rodney Morris axis 6-2.

That left the Europeans with a two point lead going into day three of the event but the Americans still have every chance.

MOSCONI CUP 2011
THURSDAY - DAY 1 - ORDER OF PLAY
First to 11 points
---
Team USA	3	6	Team EUROPE
Johnny ARCHER Shawn PUTNAM	6	3	Chris MELLING Nick VAN DEN BERG
Rodney MORRIS	0	6	Niels FEIJEN
Shane VAN BOENING Mike DECHAINE	4	6	Darren APPLETON Ralf SOUQUET
Shane VAN BOENING	5	6	Chris MELLING
---
Team USA	1	4	Team EUROPE

FRIDAY - DAY 2 - ORDER OF PLAY
First to 11 points
---
Shane VAN BOENING Johnny ARCHER	6	5	Nick VAN DEN BERG Niels FEIJEN
Mike DECHAINE	6	1	Ralf SOUQUET
Shawn PUTNAM Rodney MORRIS	6	5	Darren APPLETON Chris MELLING
Johnny ARCHER	1	6	Nick VAN DEN BERG
Shane VAN BOENING Rodney MORRIS	2	6	Ralf SOUQUET Chris MELLING
---
Team USA	4	6	Team EUROPE

SATURDAY - DAY 3 - ORDER OF PLAY
---
Shawn PUTNAM Mike DECHAINE	0	0	Darren APPLETON Niels FEIJEN
Shawn PUTNAM	0	0	Darren APPLETON
Johnny ARCHER Rodney MORRIS	0	0	Niels FEIJEN Ralf SOUQUET
Shane VAN BOENING	0	0	Nick VAN DEN BERG
Mike DECHAINE	0	0	Chris MELLING
---
Team USA	4	6	Team EUROPE

SUNDAY - DAY 4 - ORDER OF PLAY
---
Singles MATCH	0	0	Singles MATCH
Singles MATCH	0	0	Singles MATCH
Singles MATCH	0	0	Singles MATCH
Singles MATCH	0	0	Singles MATCH
Singles MATCH	0	0	Singles MATCH
Singles MATCH	0	0	Singles MATCH
---
Team USA	4	6	Team EUROPE

2011 PARTYPOKER.NET MOSCONI CUP

MGM GRAND - LAS VEGAS

TEAM USA

Shane Van Boening (South Dakota)

Shawn Putnam (Pennsylvania)

Mike Dechaine (Rhone Island)

Johnny Archer (Georgia)

Rodney Morris (Hawaii)

Captain: Charlie Williams (South Korea/Florida)

2011 PARTYPOKER.NET MOSCONI CUP

MGM GRAND - LAS VEGAS

TEAM EUROPE

Chris Melling (England)

Darren Appleton (England)

Ralf Souquet (Germany)

Nick Van den Berg (Holland)

Niels Feijen (Holland)

Captain: Johan Ruijsink (Holland)

2011 PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup:

Live in its entirety on Sky Sports in the UK, the PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup features two five-man teams representing Europe and the USA doing battle in a series of singles and doubles matches. Now in its 18th year, the Americans hold an 11-5 lead following their defeat in London last December.

Enjoy the article? Now try this...

View Pro9's front page!
Chat about this article in our forums.
Visit The Pro Shop to see new cues and gadgets.
Check out the Pro9.co.uk calendar for details of more events.

Comments

"2011 Mosconi Cup Latest - Europe 6 � 4 USA" | Login/Create Account | 0 comments

The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.