York Hall, Bethnal Green
After last night's drubbing, it was imperative for Team Europe to get off to a good start in Saturday afternoon's double matches.
To the delight of another York Hall sell-out, the dynamic duo of Marcus Chamat and Mika Immonen obliged as they whitewashed the US pairing of Deuel and Williams 5 - 0.
Europe won the lag but with no shot on the blue 2, Immonen elected to play safe. Deuel came to the table and cracked home a full length bank shot which brought a roar from the US fans on the balcony.
However, with no great position on the 3 ball, Cory attempted a tricky cut that stayed hanging in the jaws. From there, Chamat calmly cleared the table to put Team Europe 1 up.
Another terrific bank shot by Deuel in the next rack got him out of trouble after the break. He ran out of position, though and another 2 cushion bank attempt failed to make contact with the 2 ball.
Marcus Chamat for Europe had ball in hand but he was forced to play safe after running out of position. Williams had a go in a difficult situation but he left the 3 ball on for Immonen. Cool as ever, Mika ran out to put Europe 2 up.
The diminutive Swede ran out of position again in the next after a tough cut on the 1 ball, but Williams himself ran out of position and an attempted cut on the 3 ball left it on for Mika.
Once again, Immonen calmly cleared the table to put Europe in a very strong position at 3 - 0.
Charlie Williams left himself no shot on the 1 ball but laid a superb snooker which Immonen got out of but left it on for Deuel. Cory though, rolled it dead weight off the rail to the corner bag but the ball stayed out.
Chamat, started to clear but left himself a nightmare table length cut on the 9-ball and the roof nearly came off the York Hall when he bravely burried it in the corner pocket.
In what was to prove the final rack of the game, Immonen looked superb as he broke and ran to take Team Europe over the line by 5 - 0 and reassert their superiority at 6 - 4.
Speaking afterwards, Immonen was thankful to get Saturday afternoon off to a winning start; "I am very relieved as it was very important to start this way. Cory and Charlie were their best players yesterday so maybe it is a nick in their armour to take this 5 - 0."
Chamat said,"They came to win and so did we. There is nothing fake about the Mosconi Cup and sometimes your feelings come out."
Ortmann / Souquet v Strickland / Jones
Earl Strickland and Jeremy Jones kept the United States of America in touch as they disposed of the German pairing of Ortmann and Souquet to leave the score at 6 - 5 to Europe.
The Europeans won the lag and Souquet broke but with no clear table, a safety battle ensued on the red 3 ball.
It was Strickland who eventually made a slight mistake, and Ortmann cashed in with a superb long pot, gaining perfect position on the pink 5. From there the German skipper dished to put the Europeans one up.
Strickland came up trumps with a high quality break and with all the balls in place, he easily ran out to level things at 1 - 1.
A good break from Ortmann left the balls out but a poor shot going from the 4 to 5 ball, left him too much to do to gain position on the green six.
Oliver scratched screwing the cue ball the length of the table, and Jeremy Jones gratefully accepted the ball in hand to put the US 2 - 1 ahead against the break.
Jones stayed at the table to break in the fourth rack and it was another good one for Team USA.
With the wing ball down on the break, Double J had no troubles whatsoever clearing the table to leave the US at 3 - 1 ahead.
Souquet had two balls down off the break in the next rack, but with the 4 ball stuck to the green 6, both teams relied on safety.
An unfortunate double kiss nearly saw Ortmann go in off but the pink ran safe, leaving Jones snookered.
Jeremy though, returned the compliment and Souquet fouled trying to escape, giving 2002 World Pool Champion Strickland ball in hand. From there Strickland dished to put Team USA on the hill at 4 - 1.
Strickland made two balls on the break but an attempted cannon onto the 9-ball for victory fell short. Earl though recovered with a great bank shot on the red 3.
>From there the Pearl cleared the table and theatrically pumped his fist
>as the US fans in the crowd celebrated.
Davis / van den Berg v Archer / Varner
In the most dramatic of finishes, Team America levelled the Mosconi Cup up at 6 - 6 after Nick Varner and Johnny Archer beat Steve Davis and Nick van den Berg 5 - 4.
That now completes doubles play for the tournament and with a potential eleven doubles matches remaining, anything can happen.
It all came down to the final rack as both teams had chances to seal victory and with the potential for Europe to finish two points ahead the nerves certainly showed.
Things started off calmly enough as Europe won yet another lag and van den Berg broke off and ran the table to draw first blood for the home team.
An Archer break in the next saw a ball drop but some safeties ensued before Johnny put Steve Davis in a snooker.
Steve escaped but left the red 3 on for Varner who made his first successful pot of the tournament. The US servicemen in the crowd gave a roar and Nick cleared up to level it at 1 - 1.
Davis was forced to push out in the next and Archer put him in real trouble, leaving the cue ball tight behind the orange 5.
Davis missed the tough escape, giving ball in hand to Nick Varner, but he jawed the pink 5. From there van den Berg made a courageous clearance having to make two blind cuts when he ran out of position.
Team America made it 2 - 2 in the next as Varner ran out from the break. In the following rack, van den Berg delivered a decent break shot but nearly ran out of position on the orange 5. He recovered though to clear and put Europe 3 -2 to the good.
Archer, who is starting to get up to his regular high speed at the table, broke and ran the next rack to level it at 3 - 3.
Disaster struck for Europe in the next as Davis failed to make a ball on the break and with the balls spread out, things looked ominous.
A terrible miss on the green 6 by Varner, though, let van den Berg back to the table with four balls left and he didn't hesitate to clear to put Europe on the hill at 4 - 3.
Fair play to Varner, though as he composed himself well and broke and ran out the next rack to tie the match up at 4 racks apiece.
Van den Berg broke in the final rack but a bad safety on the 1 ball left the table to Johnny Archer. In moments of high drama, he ran out of position on the brown 7 and missed a tight cut leaving a long pot on the brown 7 for Davis.
Davis came to the table and rolled in the 7 but missed a hard cut on the 9 ball with the white sitting awkwardly. Nick Varner then rolled the cue ball the length of the table to take the point and level up the 2002 Mosconi Cup at six matches apiece.
Archer new what the win meant , " We're definitely back in it that's for sure from being 5 - 1 down to 6 - 6 but it's not all over yet by any means. "
Tables for the Mosconi Cup are supplied by Brunswick, the balls are made by Aramith and the cloth is made by Simonis. Sardo provide the rack and Predator are the Official Cue of the 2002 Mosconi Cup.
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