Mika Immonen 3 – 5  Rodney Morris

Rodney Morris took Team USA to within two points of Mosconi Cup success after a 5-3 win over European heavyweight Mika Immonen.  The jovial Hawaiian joked his way around the table, with his relaxed manner proving crucial – as were the number of chances Immonen missed in racks that could have been won against the break.  The all-important lag was won by Morris, but he snookered himself o­n the 2 ball from the break. Morris pushed out and, after being put back in, left Immonen a shot o­n the blue, which he took.

However, slackness saw him miss the 3 ball, and Morris took advantage of the reprieve to win the rack.   Immonen ran out from the break to level and was handed another chance in Rack 3 when Morris scratched from his break shot.  Immonen cleared to the 6 ball, where he missed a full length-table bank, and Morris produced an amazing shot to generate the required power to bring the cue ball around the table to find position o­n the 7 ball, which was o­n the top rail. 

Behind again, Immonen’s luck ran out from the break o­n Rack 4 when he left himself a tough shot o­n the 3 ball, which he missed.  After a cagey exchange, Morris looked back in the driving seat but again scratched, this time o­n the 6 ball, and Immonen leveled again to go 2-2.  Morris left Immonen an open shot o­n the 2 ball, which he took – but then scratched o­n the 3 ball, handing play back to America, and Morris claimed the fifth rack.

A quick run-out in the sixth rack clawed the Finn level again, but Morris kept up his banter with the crowd as he cleared from the break to move to the hill.  And Morris sealed the win when Immonen left a carom o­n for him, and he downed the 8 ball off the 3 before sealing the win in style.

“I’ve been playing well, and I’m happy with my performance,” Morris said. “The tone of our team is confidence – Mika played well, and it’s tough o­n him to lose, but that’s the way it goes.  I’m enjoying every moment, and that’s the way it should be, because I won’t be playing like I do now when I’m fifty.”

Niels Feijen 5 – 2  Johnny Archer

A performance out of the top draw by Holland’s Niels Feijen kept European Mosconi Cup hopes alive as he took out Team USA skipper Johnny Archer 5-2.  Feijen found himself 2–0 down after a nervous start, but from then o­n, he kept the pressure o­n “The Scorpion,” always controlling the table and taking advantage of a couple of unlucky break shots from Archer.

The opener saw a dry break for Feijen, and, worse still, he left the 1 ball hanging for Johnny Archer.  The American, though, missed a tough long pot o­n the 2 ball to hand the table back for Feijen, who tied his opponent up in a tight snooker that he could not escape from.  The layout was tough for Feijen with the 5 ball tied up with the 6 and 9, and he failed to make a 5-6 combo, and that gave Archer his chance.  He ran out of position o­n the 7 ball but left Feijen in an impossible snooker, and the resulting miss gave Archer ball in hand, and he made the simple clearance to take the first rack against the head.

Archer made two balls o­n the break in the next, and from there he ran out to go into a 2–0 lead.  Feijen made a confident break in the third and cleared the table to get his first point o­n the board. Feijen had a great chance in the next when Archer messed up a relatively easy cut o­n the 1 ball into the middle pocket. Feijen pushed it in and left himself a tight 2-9 combo, which he speared home to get right back into contention.

With no shot o­n the 1 ball from the break, Feijen tied Team America in snooker behind the blue 2. Archer extricated himself superbly to leave Feijen reaching for the jump stick.  Full credit to the Dutchman, though, as he played a tremendous jump shot to pocket the 1 ball and get o­nto the blue 2, which he banked cross-table into the middle pocket.  Another blinding shot this time o­n the 3 ball saw the white run off three cushion and land perfect for the 5 ball. From there, he completed o­ne of the run-outs of the tournament.

Archer o­nce again couldn’t get o­n the 1 ball from the break and was forced to push out. Feijen put him back in, but the American captain missed the 1 ball and left it hovering near the pocket.  The problem ball was the red 3, but Feijen tucked it nicely behind the 8 ball. Archer fouled trying to bank his way out of trouble, and with ball in hand, the flying Dutchman cleared up to get to the hill at 4–2.  Feijen made it five games in a row to complete a wonderful 5–2 win to keep European hopes alive.

“There’s a lot of relief because there’s a lot of pressure out there,”  Feijen said. “I used my experience to do whatever it takes to win the match, and after Mika lost, I had to break the ice, and now Marcus has got to win, too.  I was 2-0 down and missed a combination, but during the time-out for adverts, I thought about things and it got better.  We have to be aggressive, not defensive – it’s awesome when you win but you die when you lose.  I’ve never played o­n a Sunday before because we lost o­n Saturday last time I was in the team, but I want to enjoy this day!"

Marcus Chamat 5 – 3 Tony Robles

In another Mosconi Cup nailbiter, Sweden’s Marcus Chamat completed another emotion-charged victory, this time over Tony Robles, to keep Team Europe’s comeback o­n the tracks.  It was a match that featured plenty of safety play from both sides, but in the end it was Chamat’s momentum that kept him going as he fell over the line by a score of 5-3.

Robles, who hasn’t had the best of times so far this year, settled early nerves as he executed a composed run-out to take the opening rack.  A dry break from Chamat allowed Robles to carry o­n potting, but when he ran out of position o­n the 7 ball, he had no shape o­n the black 8 and missed the double into the middle pocket.   With the 8 and 9 locked together mid-table, Chamat didn’t have a lot of options. His hit and hope shot nearly saw the 8 drop, but from there Robles cleared to go to 2–0.

Another great break from Robles spread the balls over the table, but the positional shot from 1 to 2 was too tough, and the resulting safety wasn’t anywhere near tight enough. Chamat, too, played a loose safety, but Robles scratched trying to jump the 2 in.  With ball in hand Chamat ran out to peg it back to 2–1, and he leveled it up in the next as he slammed home a table-length 3-9 combo.

The next rack turned into a lengthy safety battle before Robles took o­n a table-length bank o­n the green 6 to set himself up for a three-ball run-out to go back into the lead at 3–2.  Chamat made nothing o­n the next break, but Robles twitched o­n the 1 ball to leave the Swede with a bank into the top left-hand pocket, which he executed superbly. He held his nerve to run out and level it at 3–3.

The next rack seemed to last for eternity as both players went back and forth to the table in a lengthy exchange of safety shots.  In the end, Chamat fluked the 4 ball into the middle bag to set up a run-out to take the rack and go into a 4–3 lead.  Breaking for the match, Chamat made a ball and looked to be heading for glory before a kick o­n the 7 ball nearly left him in the lurch. The 8 ball, though, was just o­n, and he took it to leave himself a simple 9 into the middle pocket for victory.

A delighted Chamat explained his luck in the final rack: “I got a kick, and I thought I was hooked, but Oliver said just make the ball – he must have seen o­n the screen that it could go!  Now it’s a game at 10-8, and they’re going to feel a little pressure, and we believe we can do it.”

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