 | 2007 PARTYPOKER.NET MOSCONI CUP LATEST
Euro Win for First Time Since 2002
USA 8 - 11 Europe
Shane Van Boening 6 - 4 Konstantin Stepanov
Johnny Archer 3 - 6 Tony Drago
Earl Strickland 6 - 3 Daryl Peach
Rodney Morris 4 - 6 Ralf Souquet
TEAM EUROPE has won the 2007 PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup following a dominating performance over the final three days of the competition that saw them win ten out of 14 matches.
Fittingly it was German veteran Ralf Souquet, who played in the first ever Mosconi Cup back in 1994, who potted the winning 9 ball to secure an 11-8 victory and send his team into a frenzy of celebration.
Making a record- equaling 11 appearances, Souquet sealed a glorious victory, as he came from behind against Rodney Morris to win 6-4 in what was the final game of the tournament.
Shane Van Boening and then Earl Strickland had kept American hopes alive with wins over Konstantin Stepanov and Daryl Peach respectively. But another win from Tony Drago, this time over Johnny Archer, set Souquet up for his moment of history.
"I'm very, very proud of the team. Not one player can win the Mosconi Cup, only the team and the coach can win it, said Souquet.
"On the first day we did not act or play like a team and no one felt comfortable.
"We had a very long talk on the same day and we had things to change. We said we are a team and that we could win it," he added.
Leading 9-6 overnight, the European captain Johan Ruijsink, thought long and hard about his critical running order for the Sunday singles. He opted to send his least experienced player out first as Konstantin Stepanov went up against America's Shane Van Boening.
Both players looked nervous as they missed balls but it was Van Boening's superior skills down the home stretch that carried him to a 6-4 win.
Tony Drago then stepped into the fray and cemented his Most Valuable Player credentials with yet another fine win, this time over Johnny Archer by 6-3.
There was a feeling that the pressure of the Mosconi Cup may have had an adverse effect on the Maltese potter, but once again he delivered the goods under the most testing of conditions.
"Obviously, I was the weakest link in the tournament! To win this cup is an honour. Hopefully I will be in the team again next year and I can't wait to welcome our US friends to Europe next year, said Drago.
"We had the best coach in Johan, the World Champion in Daryl, the most dedicated player in Niels, a great future player in Konstantin, the scariest player that ever lived in me and the best player in the world in Ralf.
"It was so easy for us to come here motivated and we were playing the strongest team ever to play for the Mosconi Cup and it was in America.
World Champion Daryl Peach had a great opportunity to win the Mosconi Cup for Europe but ran into an in-form Earl Strickland in an ugly match marred by Strickland's outbursts.
'Scum of the earth' was how Peach described his opponent following some disruptive behaviour during the heated contest.
Referee Michaela Tabb was forced to step between the two players after Peach snapped as Strickland branded him a 'cheat'. The normally mild-mannered Englishman moved towards his opponent, asking him to step outside.
Peach claimed that Strickland was trying to put him off as he constantly moved and talked when he was at the table, and following a warning from Tabb, the American went off the rails.
Order was finally restored and Strickland eventually won the match 6-3 following some brilliant play in the closing stages.
That left Ralf Souquet the opportunity to win the Mosconi Cup for Europe for the third time in its 14 year history.
Europe Within Two Points of Cup!
USA 6 - 9 Europe
Deuel / Archer 2 - 6 Stepanov / Feijen
Corey Deuel 4 - 6 Tony Drago
Archer / Van Boening 6 - 3 Peach / Souquet
Rodney Morris 4 - 6 Niels Feijen
Earl Strickland 4 - 6 Ralf Souquet
ANOTHER SUPERB day from the Europeans saw them move to within two points of winning the PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup for the first time since 2002 as they won four of the five matches today to move into a 9-6 lead in the first-to-11 competition.
Singles wins from Tony Drago, Niels Feijen and Ralf Souquet were backed up by a doubles win from the young Russian Konstantin Stepanov and Feijen. Only Archer and Van Boening's 6-3 win over Peach and Souquet saved the American's from a complete whitewash.
The Europeans found themselves in a similar position this time last year but captain Johan Ruijsink will surely have learned from last year's mistakes.
"I know they will come back fighting and tomorrow will be a war but we will do exactly the same as we did today and yesterday. If we play our game we might win this one," he said.
Europe got off to a great start as the pairing of Niels Feijen and Konstantin Stepanov secured a 6-2 victory over Johnny Archer and Corey Deuel to move the overall to 6-5 in the Europeans' favour.
"Konstantin played awesome shots, he was really good," said Feijen. "We played awesomely yesterday and everyone played well but there was a bit of pressure for us to keep it going. Hopefully we can keep it up tomorrow."
Archer, who was the only player to not have won a match at this tournament, added: "I made a couple of bad mistakes and I'm just not playing well, that's all there is to it. I took a six / seven month lay-off but I don't have any excuses. I've been playing a lot over the last couple of months and you just can't get it back at the Mosconi Cup."
The second match of the day saw Tony Drago record his third singles win with a 6-4 triumph over Corey Deuel.
Debutant Drago, who defeated Rodney Morris and Shane Van Boening yesterday, continued his fantastic tournament as Europe moved two ahead for the first time the tournament.
Despite his performances that have seen him become arguably the player of the event so far, Drago was still criticised by Deuel, who showed a lack of sportsmanship in a post-match interview.
"I feel he (Drago) is the softest draw in his team and all the other players are better than him," said Deuel.
"He feels good but got a lot of rolls. It's only a race to six and if he played a race to 100 with his team mates then he might get 50.
The European player responded in defiant fashion. "Corey I've just beaten and I've played Earl three times and beat him twice," said Drago.
"If I was a good player then imagine what I would do to them but unless we win, my good play counts for nothing."
The Americans recorded only their second win in eight matches as Johnny Archer was finally involved in a winning game.
Mosconi Cup veteran Archer was the last remaining player to have not helped secure a point for his team but that ended as he and Shane Van Boening defeated Daryl Peach and Konstantin Stepanov 6-3 in a doubles match.
"I'm trying really hard," said an emotional Archer. "That was huge to win that match and we just had to gut it out. I thought we played pretty well as a team. I'm very proud of Shane he played very well and kept me in there."
In a tense encounter, Team Europe opened up a two point gap as Niels Feijen won his second match of the day, beating Rodney Morris 6-4 in the penultimate match of the day.
It was Team Europe's third win from four games today and it was a fine performance under pressure from the Dutchman.
He led 3-0 and then 4-2 but Morris, ever the fighter, tried to claw his way back into the match. Feijen took the next before Morris got the score back to 5-4. Feijen, though, ran out what was the final rack of the match after Morris failed to complete a legal break shot.
The final match of the day was a heated affair as Ralf Souquet looked supremely calm as he beat Earl Strickland 6-4.
There were fireworks at the end as Strickland swore loudly at the German as he shook his hand and there was more drama as a heated Tony Drago raced out the stands and got involved.
Order was restored but it was a sickened looking American team that left the arena contemplating the huge task ahead of them tomorrow.
2007 PARTYPOKER.NET MOSCONI CUP LATEST
Euro Comeback Stuns Team USA
USA 5 - 5 Europe
Strickland / Van Boening 0 - 6 Peach / Souquet
Rodney Morris 5 - 6 Tony Drago
Deuel / Archer 1 - 6 Stepanov / Feijen
Shane Van Boening 2 - 6 Tony Drago
Morris / Strickland 6 - 5 Peach / Souquet
In a sensational turnaround of events, Europe closed out day two of the 2007 PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup all square with Team USA as they won four out of the five matches to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 5-all tie.
Europe trailed 1-4 after the first day's play but the star of the show was Malta's Tony Drago who won two singles matches to put his side right back into contention at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Team captain Johan Ruijsink had a lot to think about after Thursday's disaster but his strategy paid dividends as he left the burly Malteser out of the doubles matches to concentrate on singles play.
Europe got off to the best possible start as the look-a-like duo of World Champion Daryl Peach and Europe's most successful ever Mosconi Cup player, Ralf Souquet won the opener.
6-0 was the scoreline as Peach and Souquet waltzed past Earl Strickland and Shane Van Boening in the tournament's first whitewash.
It was a real confidence booster for Team Europe and there was more in the next as Tony Drago, making his Mosconi Cup debut, came from 5-1 down to pip Rodney Morris 6-5.
Drago, 42, started where he left off yesterday, as his carelessness allowed the Hawaiian to get to the hill at 5-1. However, Drago mounted a telling comeback, egged on by the noisy European contingent in the crowd.
The pressure told on the American as Drago closed the match with a couple of double-quick run-outs. It was a critical moment as the momentum seemed to switch in the European's favour.
That momentum continued in the next match as Niels Feijen and Konstantin Stepanov did a job on the experienced American pair of Johnny Archer and Corey Deuel. Stepanov looked a different player from the one who struggled yesterday and Feijen backed him every step of the way. The 6-1 result was a fair reflection and it took the overall score to 4-4.
Ruijsink's bold ploy of playing Drago in two singles games reaped dividends as he completed a wonderful day for himself with a 6-2 victory over Shane Van Boening. The Maltese player didn't hang about as he cashed in on some Van Boening errors to speed through the racks.
It was a performance that did away with the doubters claims that he did not have the temperament for the most pressurized situation in pool.
"If I play like that should I worry about anyone?" asked Drago after the match.
"Shane is a great player, more of a 9-ball player than me but when I get into my rhythm I'm hard to stop.
"It's been a fantastic day and the worst we can go is 5-5."
In the final match of the session, the US pair of Rodney Morris and Earl Strickland stopped the rot, winning a hill-hill thriller against Souquet and Peach. The Europeans lead every step of the way until the final rack where, at last, Strickland delivered the perfect break and from there, the Americans ran out to steel the point.
The win left the PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup finely poised at the half way with everything to play for as matches continue tomorrow at 11am local time.
2007 PARTYPOKER.NET MOSCONI CUP LATEST
USA Take Commanding Lead, 4 - 1 Over Europe
USA Team 6 - 4 Europe Team
Archer / Morris 4 - 6 Feijen / Souquet
Shane Van Boening 6 - 2 Daryl Peach
Strickland / Deuel 6 - 5 Drago / Stepanov
Rodney Morris 6 - 1 Niels Feijen
TEAM AMERICA opened up a comprehensive 4-1 lead after the first day's play at the 2007 PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas as the inexperienced European side failed to make any sort of mark on the proceedings.
With two doubles, two singles plus a team game where all ten players participate, the Europeans put on a collective lackluster display with no player anywhere near their best.
 With the exception of Shane Van Boening, the Americans were also sub-par but their opponents offered them too many opportunities throughout the day. Team USA drew first blood as they took the opening team game 6-4. Some of the players struggled to get to grips with the new breaking conditions whereby the players break from the centre and need to get three balls back past the headstring.
Daryl Peach failed to complete a successful break twice with Shane Van Boening the other culprit. In the end though it was the Americans superior cohesion that saw them get off the mark first.
The Americans looked in a strong position to take the second game of the tournament as the Archer / Morris axis moved into a 3-0 lead over Niels Feijen and Ralf Souquet. Some excellent breaking from Archer established the USA momentum. However, an error from Morris assisted the Europeans and they stuck at to level things at 3-3.
America retook the lead but were immediately pegged back by the Europeans. Archer missed a bank on the orange 5 and Feijen was then unlucky to not be successful with a 5-6 carom.
This was not punished as Morris left a 5-6 combination available, which Souquet made and that led to it becoming 4-4. Then, for the first time in the match, Europe took the lead and moved to the hill.
Archer sunk three balls off the break but another Morris error, as he missed the blue 2 allowed Europe to clear and move to the hill.
Two balls from Feijen on the break were not capitalized on as Souquet missed on the 2 ball but Morris once again missed, this time on the 3 ball and the Americans never got back to the table.
In the opening singles match, South Dakota's Shane Van Boening prevailed in his clash against reigning World Pool Champion Daryl Peach.
The Englishman made a few errors but it was the 24 year-old US Open champion's near-flawless performance that carried him through to a comprehensive 6-2 victory. Plenty of errors added to the excitement as the USA pairing of Earl Strickland and Corey Deuel sneaked past Tony Drago and Konstantin Stepanov by 6-5.
With both Europeans making their Mosconi Cup debuts, there were plenty of nerves and that translated to missed shots and some poor positional play.
The Americans opened up a 5-4 lead but there was little in it as neither side could get to grips with their nerves. Europe levelled it to make it a hill-hill affair and with two balls left on the table, it looked to be Europe's tie. Stepanov though, left Drago with no option but to power the 8 ball in down the rail with top spin, but the tight pockets on the Gold Crown V spat the ball out leaving Team USA a formality to win the game.
In the final match of the day, Rodney Morris looked a different player from the one who struggled through his earlier doubles match as he powered past Niels Feijen 6-1 to leave team captain Kim Davenport in an enviable position in the race to 11 match.
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