Euro Mosconi Team announced

R

rrich1

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Independent Event
2012 European Mosconi Cup Team Announced

AFTER NINE EVENTS stretching across three continents and eight countries, DARREN APPLETON once again has topped the European PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup rankings and will make his fourth appearance when the two teams collide at the York Hall from Monday 10th to Thursday 13th December.

'Dynamite' made his debut in a losing team in 2009 but bounced back to garner MVP honours the following year in London, and was solid throughout last year's event in Las Vegas when Team Europe retained the trophy.

"At the start of the year, the Mosconi Cup was my goal. The York Hall is the best venue in world for pool so after 2010 I was determined to make the team," said Appleton.

"I'm very happy and excited and it's going to be amazing to play in front of our own crowd. It's a special atmosphere and anybody that enjoys pool must experience it in their lifetime,

"We have good balance this year between experience and youth so I feel good about us winning and continue our domination in the Mosconi Cup," he added.

The second of the two automatic spots went to NICK VAN DEN BERG who will be making his sixth appearance in the event. Van den Berg debuted in the winning side of 2002 at the York Hall.

"It's good to see the Americans have a strong team this year, but we have seven on our team including the audience and Johan, and that will be very hard to beat," commented Van den Berg.

The first wild card spot has gone to CHRIS MELLING, who looked so strong on his debut at the MGM Las Vegas last year. Melling finished third in the rankings and is excited about returning to the side.

"It's a dream come true to be playing in the Mosconi Cup in England and hopefully we can go out there and get the result. The Americans aren't going to be a pushover and I know we will have to fight for every point," said Melling.

Holland's NIELS FEIJEN takes the second wild card spot after finishing 9th in the rankings and brings a wealth of experience to the team having made his debut in the ill-fated 2001 match, and brought home the Most Valuable Player award last year.

"I'm very pleased that we have almost the same team as last year; we are all mellow friendly guys who get along well and that's a big strength in our team," said Feijen.

"I'm very happy to be picked again; eight appearances in the last 12 years is a great percentage and it will be great to play at the York hall again. I played there when I was the rookie of the team and now I'm the veteran!" added the Dutchman.

There are three players tied for fourth spot in the rankings and next Wednesday 7th November they will contest a play-off in Treviso, Italy for the final berth on the team.

They are eight times Mosconi Cup player and winning captain in 1995 and 2002, Germany's OLIVER ORTMANN; Austria's potential debutant ALBIN OUSCHAN and from Greece, NIKOS EKONOMOPOULOS who has enjoyed an excellent break through season.

Each player will play the others over a best of three sets, race to five, alternate break format. The player winning two matches will claim the place in the team, and should they all win one each, they will be separated by sets won, and then most racks won, then least racks conceded, then the result of the match between the two players should they still be tied.
By Matchroom Sport - 2012-11-01
 
I like the way they are determining the final roster spot. It seems like another way to draw enthusiasm to the sport and team.
 
so they are going top 5 in points for the Euros but Oscar gets screwed and JA gets on the US team, TOTAL BS
 
As a fan of Team America, I feel strongly that our chances are enhanced by the absence of Ralf Souquet on Team Europe. Ralf is as good a big match player as our sport has seen in the last twenty years. Yes, it wasn't a great year for Ralf, but, when he went to play exhibition matches in the Philippines against Orcullo and Biado earlier this year, he beat them both on their own turf. He knows how to take down the biggest names in the sport.

Nonetheless, Team Europe looks like a strong one and Team America better bring its best to York Hall if it wants to reclaim the Mosconi Cup.
 
The Bench

If Oliver Ortmann fails to make it through the playoff then Europe will have a team of World Champions............on the substitutes bench.
Souquet, Immonen, Hohmann and Peach are all 9 Ball Champions and Karl Boyes has won the World 8 Ball. What a luxury!
 
Now THAT is a way of determining who gets to play, that I can wrap my mind around. I love it. It would be nice to see the US team wild cards determined by this method as well, imo...although I have no issues with this years team. Should be a good Cup!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

rrich1 said:
Each player will play the others over a best of three sets, race to five, alternate break format. The player winning two matches will claim the place in the team, and should they all win one each, they will be separated by sets won, and then most racks won, then least racks conceded, then the result of the match between the two players should they still be tied.
By Matchroom Sport - 2012-11-01
Click to expand...
 
TheNewSharkster said:
JA is playing as good as anybody right now. I am glad he is on the team even if Oscar got the short end.
Click to expand...

I`m with you on this. We don`t have five
pressure players better than Archer. I am a
bit worried about how Shuff will handle the
heat over there, I don`t remember him winning
any real tournaments. I realize he was third in the
points race and deserves a shot. Hope he holds up.
 
Scott Lee said:
Now THAT is a way of determining who gets to play, that I can wrap my mind around. I love it. It would be nice to see the US team wild cards determined by this method as well, imo...although I have no issues with this years team. Should be a good Cup!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Actually they were picked the same way. Americas team took 3rd and 4th with a lower pick for JA. Europe has a tie for the 4th place spot and doing this out of fairness of the tie and the lower pick for niels.
 
Majic said:
I like the way they are determining the final roster spot. It seems like another way to draw enthusiasm to the sport and team.
Click to expand...

I still say it should be the top 5 point winners.......Period. All year long players enter a set number of tourneys to earn points.. I dont think its fair to have the last 3 players picked by some other standard. It should be by performance Oops sorry majic I posted it under the wrong responce
 
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rrich1 said:
Independent Event
2012 European Mosconi Cup Team Announced

AFTER NINE EVENTS stretching across three continents and eight countries, DARREN APPLETON once again has topped the European PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup rankings and will make his fourth appearance when the two teams collide at the York Hall from Monday 10th to Thursday 13th December.

'Dynamite' made his debut in a losing team in 2009 but bounced back to garner MVP honours the following year in London, and was solid throughout last year's event in Las Vegas when Team Europe retained the trophy.

"At the start of the year, the Mosconi Cup was my goal. The York Hall is the best venue in world for pool so after 2010 I was determined to make the team," said Appleton.

"I'm very happy and excited and it's going to be amazing to play in front of our own crowd. It's a special atmosphere and anybody that enjoys pool must experience it in their lifetime,

"We have good balance this year between experience and youth so I feel good about us winning and continue our domination in the Mosconi Cup," he added.

The second of the two automatic spots went to NICK VAN DEN BERG who will be making his sixth appearance in the event. Van den Berg debuted in the winning side of 2002 at the York Hall.

"It's good to see the Americans have a strong team this year, but we have seven on our team including the audience and Johan, and that will be very hard to beat," commented Van den Berg.

The first wild card spot has gone to CHRIS MELLING, who looked so strong on his debut at the MGM Las Vegas last year. Melling finished third in the rankings and is excited about returning to the side.

"It's a dream come true to be playing in the Mosconi Cup in England and hopefully we can go out there and get the result. The Americans aren't going to be a pushover and I know we will have to fight for every point," said Melling.

Holland's NIELS FEIJEN takes the second wild card spot after finishing 9th in the rankings and brings a wealth of experience to the team having made his debut in the ill-fated 2001 match, and brought home the Most Valuable Player award last year.

"I'm very pleased that we have almost the same team as last year; we are all mellow friendly guys who get along well and that's a big strength in our team," said Feijen.

"I'm very happy to be picked again; eight appearances in the last 12 years is a great percentage and it will be great to play at the York hall again. I played there when I was the rookie of the team and now I'm the veteran!" added the Dutchman.

There are three players tied for fourth spot in the rankings and next Wednesday 7th November they will contest a play-off in Treviso, Italy for the final berth on the team.

They are eight times Mosconi Cup player and winning captain in 1995 and 2002, Germany's OLIVER ORTMANN; Austria's potential debutant ALBIN OUSCHAN and from Greece, NIKOS EKONOMOPOULOS who has enjoyed an excellent break through season.

Each player will play the others over a best of three sets, race to five, alternate break format. The player winning two matches will claim the place in the team, and should they all win one each, they will be separated by sets won, and then most racks won, then least racks conceded, then the result of the match between the two players should they still be tied.
By Matchroom Sport - 2012-11-01
Click to expand...

I still say it should be the top 5 point winners.......Period. All year long players enter a set number of tourneys to earn points.. I dont think its fair to have the last 3 players picked by some other standard.
 
I get the feeling some people miss the fact that this is an independent event made for tv and for profit, Matchroom can choose how they like.
 
yes, it's not so bad

Slasher said:
I get the feeling some people miss the fact that this is an independent event made for tv and for profit, Matchroom can choose how they like.
Click to expand...

Understanding that, I think the US team is probably as good a team as we can field.

I really like that Euro play-off plan for last spots when points are tied.

The Euros base their point system on nine events, the US only three.

A Euro second team would be just as good as the first!!

But I predict one of the best matches ever...(I'm not as concerned with who wins as I want to see world class pool.)

Does anyone know the location schedule for the future?
 
Slasher said:
I get the feeling some people miss the fact that this is an independent event made for tv and for profit, Matchroom can choose how they like.
Click to expand...

I agree 100% Slasher. I would add however, I don't believe that Matchroom is as forthcoming with each year's selection criteria as it could be. It seems to change every year, and sometimes late in the year. I wish they'd put out the selection criteria right from jump street each year.

If I were a player and - by example - I was on the cusp of being in the top 3 for points with only a couple points earning tourneys remaining, perhaps one of which I had not planned or budgeted for, I might go out of pocket to play to enhance my chances. And say I in fact finished 3rd in points and then got passed over? I'd be livid. I would like to know DEFINITIVELY what I was shooting for.

That said, the Mosconi Cup is the most exciting pool tournament in the world to me!
 
KoolKat9Lives said:
I agree 100% Slasher. I would add however, I don't believe that Matchroom is as forthcoming with each year's selection criteria as it could be. It seems to change every year, and sometimes late in the year. I wish they'd put out the selection criteria right from jump street each year.

If I were a player and - by example - I was on the cusp of being in the top 3 for points with only a couple points earning tourneys remaining, perhaps one of which I had not planned or budgeted for, I might go out of pocket to play to enhance my chances. And say I in fact finished 3rd in points and then got passed over? I'd be livid. I would like to know DEFINITIVELY what I was shooting for.

That said, the Mosconi Cup is the most exciting pool tournament in the world to me!
Click to expand...

The event is all about entertainment value and I think it provides that.
It's not a (insert acronym) sanctioned event. Pool fans and the players that are fortunate enough to play in it are lucky we have such a quality event these days, we should be kissing Mr Hearns feet :)

Oh and I think the players always get paid :D
 
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Insight into Matchroom's selection reasoning

I'm "friends" with Appleton on Facebook. This was just posted by Luke Riches (he's kind of important to Matchroom, lol) on Daz's page, and I thought people might want to see it:


"Why Neils? Because he is one of the strongest players in Europe at the moment, has a load of Mosconi Cup experience and played at the YorK Hall before. For a similar reason, Archer was picked for the USA team despite a few players being ahead of him in the rankings. In the Mosconi Cup never underestimate experience. We don't pick either team to make people happy, we pick both teams to win."
about an hour ago · Like · 4
 
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