Mosconi Cup

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Logo of the Mosconi Cup

The Mosconi Cup is an annual nine-ball pool tournament contested between teams representing Europe and the USA since 1994. The trophy is named after American player Willie Mosconi, and is modelled on and compared to the Ryder Cup in golf.[1] As of 2011, USA has won the tournament 11 times against 6 victories for Europe and one tie.

The defending champion going into 2012 is Team Europe.

Contents

[edit] Player selection

The tournament has featured some of the most famous players in the sport, including Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer, Jimmy White, Alex Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ralf Souquet, and Steve Davis.

In its earliest days, the Mosconi Cup was created by Sky Sports and Matchroom Sport as an exhibition event to increase public awareness of pool in the UK. In the first year of competition some of the WPBA's top players played alongside the men in their respective teams. These included Franziska Stark (Germany), Allison Fisher (England), Jeanette Lee (US) and Vivian Villarreal (US).

As time progressed, the event evolved from its exhibition nature into a much more serious and professional tournament, and earning a place in the event has acquired a great deal of prestige. Of the snooker players, only Steve Davis remained into the event's more serious era, bowing out when the event began to clash with snooker's UK Championship (for which he appeared as both a player and a BBC commentator).

After Davis' withdrawal, all players had to earn an invitation through their performances at other events, meaning that no more snooker players appeared until 2007, when Tony Drago earned a place by virtue of his performance on the European Pool Tour, and won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award for his unbeaten run in the singles matches.

[edit] Player appearances

The players to have appeared in the Mosconi Cup:[2]

[edit] European players

Appearance Name Country
P NP
15 0 Ralf Souquet  Germany
14 0 Mika Immonen  Finland
11 0 Steve Davis  England
8 1 Oliver Ortmann  Germany
7 0 Niels Feijen  Netherlands
6 0 Marcus Chamat  Sweden
5 0 Nick van den Berg  Netherlands
4 0 Steve Knight  England
3 0 Darren Appleton  England
3 0 Thomas Engert  Germany
3 0 Thorsten Hohmann  Germany
2 2 Alex Lely  Netherlands
2 0 Tony Drago  Malta
2 0 Ronnie O'Sullivan  England
2 0 Daryl Peach  England
2 0 Tom Storm  Sweden
2 0 Jimmy White  England
1 0 David Alcaide  Spain
1 0 Tommy Donlon  Ireland
1 0 Vincent Facquet  France
1 0 Allison Fisher  England
1 0 Mark Gray  England
1 0 Alex Higgins  Northern Ireland
1 0 Raj Hundal  England
1 0 Lee Kendall  England
1 0 Imran Majid  England
1 0 Fabio Petroni  Italy
1 0 Andy Richardson  England
1 0 Franziska Stark  Germany
1 0 Konstantin Stepanov  Russia
1 0 Lee Tucker  England
1 0 Karl Boyes  England
1 0 Chris Melling  England
0 4 Johan Ruijsink  Netherlands

[edit] American players

Appearance Name State
P NP
15 0 Johnny Archer  Georgia
13 0 Earl Strickland  North Carolina
8 0 Rodney Morris  California
7 0 Jeremy Jones  Texas
7 0 Corey Deuel  California
5 1 Charles Williams  South Korea1
5 0 Shane Van Boening  South Dakota
4 4 Nick Varner  Kentucky
3 1 Kim Davenport  Oklahoma
3 0 James Rempe  Pennsylvania
2 0 Lou Butera  Pennsylvania
2 0 Michael Coltrain  North Carolina
2 0 Shannon Daulton  Kentucky
2 0 Mike Gulyassy  Ohio
2 0 Dennis Hatch  Michigan
2 0 Robert Hunter  Michigan
2 0 Mike Massey  Tennessee
2 0 Reed Pierce  Mississippi
2 0 Shawn Putnam  Pennsylvania
2 0 Tony Robles  New York
2 0 Dallas West  Illinois
2 0 Mark Wilson  Missouri
1 0 Mike Davis  North Carolina
1 0 John DiToro  Florida
1 0 Paul Gerni  New Jersey
1 0 Roger Griffis  Texas
1 0 Danny Harriman  Maryland
1 0 Allen Hopkins  New Jersey
1 0 Jeanette Lee  New York
1 0 John Schmidt  California
1 0 Vivian Villarreal  Texas
1 0 C.J. Wiley  Texas
1 0 Óscar Domínguez  California
1 0 Bobby Hunter  Michigan
1 0 Gabe Owen  Kansas
1 0 Mike Dechaine  Maine
  • 1 Born outside the United States
Legend
P Playing team member
NP Non-playing captain

[edit] Player representation

[edit] European nations

The total number of nations who have represented Europe is twelve (in order of total representatives, alphabetically in the case of ties):

Number of players by country
15:   England 5:   Germany 4:   Netherlands 2:   Sweden
1:   Finland 1:   France 1:   Italy 1:   Malta
1:   Northern Ireland 1:   Republic of Ireland 1:   Russia 1:   Spain

[edit] American states

The total number of states who have represented the United States is 20 (in order of total representatives, alphabetically in the case of ties, Charles Williams was born outside of the USA):

Number of players by state
4:   California 4:   Texas 3:   Michigan 3:   North Carolina
3:   Pennsylvania 2:   Kentucky 2:   New Jersey 1:   Florida
1:   Georgia 2:   New York 1:   Illinois 1:   Kansas
1:   Maine 1:   Maryland 1:   Mississippi 1:   Missouri
1:   Ohio 1:   Oklahoma 1:   South Dakota 1:   Tennessee

[edit] Tournament modifications

There have been rule changes and format changes throughout the tournament's brief history. These include, but are not limited to: "Non-playing captain" roles were introduced in the 2003 event; however these were removed in the 2004 tournament. In 2004 the doubles matches were re-formatted to be scotch doubles. In 2005, a 30-second shot clock was introduced, and caused controversy due to timing malfunctions. The 2006 tournament started with a team-versus-team match followed by two trebles matches. That year also saw the reintroduction of the non-playing captain role.

The 2009 tournament included several new features:[3]

  • No pairing in the doubles matches could be repeated.
  • The event included four blocks of consecutive matches, organized so that five slots were available for each side, in which every player was required to play exactly once.
  • In two singles matches, each player was selected by the opposing team captain.

[edit] Results table

Year Venue Victors Score Losers MVP Ref
1994 Romford, London, England  USA 16 12  Europe [4]
1995 Basildon, Essex, England  Europe 16 15  USA [5]
1996 Dagenham, London, England  USA 15 13  Europe [6]
1997 Bethnal Green, London, England  USA 13 8  Europe [7]
1998 Bethnal Green, London, England  USA 13 9  Europe [8]
1999 Bethnal Green, London, England  USA 12 7  Europe [9]
2000 Bethnal Green, London, England  USA 12 9  Europe [10]
2001 Bethnal Green, London, England  USA 12 1  Europe [11]
2002 Bethnal Green, London, England  Europe 12 9  USA [12]
2003 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA  USA 11 9  Europe Finland Mika Immonen [13][14]
2004 Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands  USA 12 9  Europe United States Rodney Morris [15][16]
2005 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA  USA 11 6  Europe United States Earl Strickland [17][18]
2006 Rotterdam, Netherlands  Tied 12 12  Tied United States Corey Deuel [19][20]
2007 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA  Europe 11 8  USA Malta Tony Drago [21][22]
2008 St. Julian's, Malta  Europe 11 5  USA Finland Mika Immonen [23][24]
2009 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA  USA 11 7  Europe United States Dennis Hatch [25][26]
2010 Bethnal Green, London, England  Europe 11 8  USA England Darren Appleton [27]
2011 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA  Europe 11 7  USA Netherlands Niels Feijen [28][29]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Mark Prepares for Pool's Biggest Test". Rutland & Stamford Mercury. Stamford, Lincolnshire: Johnston Pr. 27 November 2008. http://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/deepings/Mark-prepares-for-pool39s-biggest.4740455.jp. Retrieved 3 March 2010. 
  2. ^ "History", MosconiCup.com, Matchroom Sport, 2006; retrieved 5 April 2007
  3. ^ "Mosconi Cup Event Information: Format". Matchroom Pool. 2 December 2009. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/MosconiCup/Format/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 7 December 2009. 
  4. ^ "Europe 12–16 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup1994/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 21 December 2010. 
  5. ^ "Europe 16–15 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup1995/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 21 December 2010. 
  6. ^ "Europe 13–15 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup1996/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  7. ^ "Europe 8–13 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup1997/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  8. ^ "Europe 9–13 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup1998/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  9. ^ "Europe 7–12 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup1999/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  10. ^ "Europe 9–12 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup2000/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  11. ^ "Europe 1–12 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup2001/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  12. ^ "Europe 12–9 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup2002/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  13. ^ "Europe 9–11 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup2003/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  14. ^ "U.S. Surge, Regain Mosconi Cup". Billiards Digest. http://www.billiardsdigest.com/new_news/display_article?id=368. Retrieved 24 December 2011. 
  15. ^ "Europe 9–12 USA". Mosconi Cup 2004. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5vAVa85LR. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  16. ^ ""I'm So Proud Of The Guys"". Mosconi Cup 2004. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20070808040331/http://2004.mosconicup.com/article_detail.asp?article_id=2120. Retrieved 24 December 2011. 
  17. ^ "Europe 6–11 USA". Mosconi Cup 2006. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20070808040301/www.mosconicup.com/staticPage.asp?article_id=20. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  18. ^ "Archer: We Showed Our Heart". Mosconi Cup 2005. Archived from the original on 20 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070920075105/http://2005.mosconicup.com/article_detail.asp?article_id=31. Retrieved 24 December 2011. 
  19. ^ "Europe 12-12 USA". Matchroom Pool. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup2006/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 21 December 2010. 
  20. ^ "Archer: We Showed So Much Heart". Mosconi Cup 2006. Archived from the original on 15 February 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20080215190726/http://2006.mosconicup.com/article_detail.asp?article_id=45. Retrieved 24 December 2011. 
  21. ^ "Europe 8-11 USA". Matchroom Pool. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup2007/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 21 December 2010. 
  22. ^ "Delight for MVP Drago and Europe". mosconicup.com. Matchroom Sport. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/63DJBF0jp. Retrieved 15 November 2011. 
  23. ^ "Europe 11-5 USA". Matchroom Pool. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup2008/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 21 December 2010. 
  24. ^ "Mika: Victory banishes ghosts of 06". Archived from the original on 23 July 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5iUHPcqr2. Retrieved 5 July 2009. 
  25. ^ "Europe 7-11 USA". Mosconi Cup. 13 December 2009. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/mcup2009/0,,12660,00.html. Retrieved 10 December 2009. 
  26. ^ "USA describe their pride at regaining Mosconi Cup". Matchroom Pool. 14 November 2009. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/MosconiCup/NewsDetail/0,,12660~1904052,00.html. Retrieved 24 December 2011. 
  27. ^ "Europe win the 2010 Mosconi Cup". Matchroom Sport. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/MosconiCup/NewsDetail/0,,12660~2242880,00.html. Retrieved 21 December 2010. 
  28. ^ "Feijen brings it home for Europe". Inside Pool. http://www.insidepoolmag.com/201112/billiard-news/feijen-brings-it-home-for-europe.html. Retrieved 11 December 2011. 
  29. ^ "Europe hit the jackpot in Las Vegas". matchroompool.com. Matchroom Sport. http://www.matchroompool.com/page/MosconiCup/NewsDetail/0,,12660~2544842,00.html. Retrieved 11 December 2011. 

[edit] External links

Mosconi Cup
Full results by year
1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000
2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010
2011
Winners and statistics
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