Mika Immonen
Mika Immonen (born 17 December, 1972 in Helsinki, Finland) is a professional pool player, especially of nine-ball, and nicknamed "the Ice Man."
He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales in 2001. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deuel in the US Open Nine-ball Championship, and was also a runner-up in the Gran Canaria Open Nine-ball Championship in 2001, to upcoming player Ryan Shand of Scotland.
He has represented Team Europe on eleven occasions in the Mosconi Cup, most recently in 2008. During this event Mika was crowned MVP, forever banishing bad memories of a costly miss in the final game of the 2006 event.
He is the current (2008) Men's Division title-holder of the $250,000 33rd Annual US Open Nine-ball Championship, where 237 billiards players competed in Chesapeake, VA. Mika claimed the 13-7 victory and pocketed the first-place prize of US$40,000 on October 26, 2008 against runner-up Filipino Ronato Alcano, who settled for $20,000.[1][2][3]
Immonen nearly won his second world title at 2009 World Straight Pool Championship. Apparently, he was defeated in the finals by Stephan Cohen of France.[4]
Titles
- 2000 Sudden Death Seven-ball Champion
- 2001 WPC 9-Ball Champion
- 2002 LG Flatron Challenge Champion
- 2003 On Cue; Philippines vs. Europe
- 2003 Philippine Open Champion
- 2004 Atlanta Open Champion
- 2004 UPA Pro Tour Champion
- 2007 Derby City Straight Pool Champion
- 2007 Korean Pro Tour Champion
- 2008 US Open 9-Ball Champion
- 2008 IPT Pro-Am Champion
- 2008 Mosconi Cup MVP
- 2008 All Japan Champion
Instructional Releases
In late 2008 Mika teamed up with Intrinsic Media to produce MASTERING POOL[5], a 3-part pocket billiard instructional series. The DVD series is packed with tips, techniques, systems, 3D animated diagrams, and expert commentary by Immonen himself.[6]
External links
- Mika Immonen interview at Club Capo, Quezon City
- Mastering Pool Instructional DVD Series
- 2008 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship Double Elimination Tournament Bracket
- 2008 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship image gallery
References
- ^ insidepoolmag.com, Immonen is New U.S. Open 9-Ball Champion
- ^ gmanews.tv/story, RP's Alcano loses to Finn Immonen in US Open 9-ball final
- ^ billiardsdigest.com, Big Win for Finn: Immonen Clobbers Alcano to Break U.S. Open 'Curse'
- ^ AzB Staff (August 30, 2009). "Cohen wins Predator 14.1 Championship". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ mastering-pool.com, Mastering Pool Instructional DVD Series
- ^ azbilliards.com, Immonen's Secrets Revealed in Mastering Pool Instructional DVDs
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