Europe 1 - 4 USA TEAM USA enjoyed a magnificent first day at the 2009 PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup as they won four of the five matches to leave the star-studded European team reeling and needing it all to do on Friday. The team spirit that had driven the Europeans to successive wins in '07 and '08 seemed to be lacking and captain Alex Lely will have a job to do to ready his troops for action tomorrow...Only Ralf Souquet, who sneaked past Oscar Dominguez in the final game of the day, recorded a point for Europe. Lely may take heart though, from events two years ago at the same venue when the European team trailed by the same score line after day one but went on to record a famous victory. By contrast the American side looked in confident shape as rookie Dennis Hatch led them out into the arena for the opening match and in a tense encounter, the USA got off to a dream start as they grabbed the opening point in the tournament's one and only team match where all ten players take part. They sealed the victory in an action-packed tenth rack as Souquet fouled after a tight Van Boening tight safety. Sensing victory, Deuel missed a match-winning 3-9 combination before Appleton under hit a positional shot getting to the brown 7. Souquet missed the subsequent pot and left the ball hanging. From there it was plain sailing as Van Boening dropped the first case 9 ball of the Mosconi Cup. The scoreline of 6-4 was all the sweeter as Team USA had trailed 3-1 in the early stages. "This isn't like a normal tournament and I was nervous, which is something new for me," said Hatch. "It's a completely different atmosphere and you're playing for your country and your team. Hopefully the first set jitters have gone so I can play well, but it's a dream come true to be at the Mosconi Cup. There was more joy for the big man from Buffalo in the second match of the day as he partnered the experienced Johnny Archer to a nerve jangling 6-5 win over the European pair of Niels Feijen and Darren Appleton. Hatch, who looked to be settling in very nicely to his first Mosconi Cup and his steadfast partner moved themselves to the hill at 5-2 and looked good for the win. Europe though dug in and took the next three racks to set up a decider. Europe's fight back was all in vain though, as a fine 7-8 combination from Archer put them on the way. Hatch got rid of the 8-ball and Archer took out the 9 to win the point for his team. There was more joy for the packed house at the MGM Grand as Shane Van Boening upset Mika Immonen to give the USA a marvellous 3-0 lead. Coming off the back of his US Open and World 10 Ball wins and a stellar record at last year's event, Immonen was well placed to stop the rot but ran into a confident Van Boening who barely put a foot wrong. Alex Lely put out the German pairing of Souquet and Hohmann next and trailing 3-0 a win was imperative. It didn't go that way though as rookie Oscar Dominguez partnered by the seasoned Corey Deuel, making his sixth Mosconi Cup appearance, took them to the cleaners for an excellent 6-2 win. Dominguez, picked by Alex Lely to play the final match of the day (America's Varner plumped for Ralf Souquet), had a great chance to complete a whitewash for his team but missed a simple 4 ball in the final rack. The dour German completed the run out to claim his team's first point of the Mosconi Cup and give them hope for tomorrow. The Scores
Europe 4 - 6 USA
Feijen/Appleton 5 - 6 Archer/Hatch
Mika Immonen 3 - 6 Shane Van Boening
Souquet/Hohmann 2 - 6 Deuel/Dominguez
Ralf Souquet 6 - 5 Oscar Dominguez 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 16th year, the Americans hold a 10-4 lead with one tied match in 2006. The 2009 Mosconi Cup is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world's leading online casino. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.