The big clash is on. The countdown is now down to less than a five-finger count, and for the first time, Portomaso in St Julian's joins cities and nations the likes of Romford, Basildon, Dagenham and Bethnal Green, all in the UK; Las Vegas in the US; and Rotterdam and Egmond aan Zee, in the Netherlands, as venues of one of the most exciting international pool competitions -- the Mosconi Cup. 
Here's a little history of the Mosconi Cup for the young'ns:
The competition was launched in 1994 at Romford, a large suburban town in East London. The annual nine-ball pool tournament, a series of singles and doubles matches, was contested between two teams representing selections from Europe and the US.
When one reads the biography of Willie Mosconi (June 27, 1913-September 12, 1993), one appreciates that few, or possibly no other player, has the credentials of "Mr Pocket Billiards," as he was nicknamed.
Between 1941 and 1957, he won the BCA World Championship of pool an unmatched 15 times. He was respected as pool's greatest ambassador and his name is synonymous with pocket billiards where he pioneered and regularly employed numerous trick shots. set many records, and helped to popularize the game of billiards as a national recreation activity.
Today, Mosconi still holds the officially recognized straight pool, as pocket billiards was called, high record of 526 consecutive balls.
A famous competition associated with a legendary man, the Mosconi Cup this year marks its 15th edition featuring two teams with particular ambitions -- the betterment of the current scoreline which stands at 10.5 wins for the US and 3.5 wins for Europe - the 2006 edition ended in a 12-12 draw.
Ah, the teams:
The current European team is acknowledged as one of Europe's best ever for this event.
The five players are Mika Immonen (Finland), Neils Feijen (Holland), Ralf Souquet (Germany), Mark Gray (England) and Tony Drago (Malta).
The World Cup of Pool winning duo, Rodney Morris and Shane van Boening, Earl Strickland, Jeremy Jones together with the country's number one, Johnny Archer, make up the US team.
Dutchman Alex Lely and Nick Varner are the non-playing captains of Team Europe and Team US, respectively.
Ironically, the Malta appointment will be the 13th edition for both Earl Strickland (US) and German Ralf Souquet (Europe) who enjoy the best number of representations from among the 62 players that participated in the Mosconi Cup over the past 14 years.
One wonders who of the two will look upon the number 13 as a lucky number after the Portomaso encounter.
"We've got a fantastic team this year, with plenty of experience and we will fight to the finish. I am very excited about the Mosconi Cup and looking forward to regaining the trophy, we lost last year," said Varner.
Lely realises that "it will be difficult -- the Americans have won so many times but the tide is beginning to turn. The Europeans, as individuals, have won so many titles recently and when World Champions are left out it shows the strength of the team."
This year's Mosconi Cup will be played at the Hilton Conference Centre, Portomaso, from December 11 to 14 and will feature the two five-man teams in a series of singles and doubles matches.
"Intimidating, dramatic, noisy, excitable, passionate and thrilling are just a few words to describe this magnificent tournament and I believe that all of these will apply when the Mosconi Cup gets underway in Malta," remarked Barry Hearn, chairman of Matchroom Sport.
Online booking:
Online ticket booking on the official website of The Mosconi Cup, www.maltacup.org/mosconi, has been available for a good number of weeks now and there has been an encouraging response from overseas fans who will be travelling to Malta for the tournament.
With the start scheduled for Thursday, bookings will be available from the tournament venue, the Hilton Conference Centre, from tomorrow, opening at 9 a.m., Malta time.
The main sponsors of the Mosconi Cup are PartyCasino.com., Allevents Malta, which forms part of the UK-based Fraser Eagle Group, are the travel partners.
Matchroom Sport are the promoters of The Mosconi Cup while Snooker Promotions have been entrusted with the local organization of the event.
Tony Drago -- winning all of his singles matches at last year's Mosconi Cup earned him the Most Valuable Player Award. Will Drago repeat the same feat in front of his home crowd this week?
I only have one thing to say about this :angel2:
USA, ALL THE WAY!
:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
Here's a little history of the Mosconi Cup for the young'ns:
The competition was launched in 1994 at Romford, a large suburban town in East London. The annual nine-ball pool tournament, a series of singles and doubles matches, was contested between two teams representing selections from Europe and the US.
When one reads the biography of Willie Mosconi (June 27, 1913-September 12, 1993), one appreciates that few, or possibly no other player, has the credentials of "Mr Pocket Billiards," as he was nicknamed.
Between 1941 and 1957, he won the BCA World Championship of pool an unmatched 15 times. He was respected as pool's greatest ambassador and his name is synonymous with pocket billiards where he pioneered and regularly employed numerous trick shots. set many records, and helped to popularize the game of billiards as a national recreation activity.
Today, Mosconi still holds the officially recognized straight pool, as pocket billiards was called, high record of 526 consecutive balls.
A famous competition associated with a legendary man, the Mosconi Cup this year marks its 15th edition featuring two teams with particular ambitions -- the betterment of the current scoreline which stands at 10.5 wins for the US and 3.5 wins for Europe - the 2006 edition ended in a 12-12 draw.
Ah, the teams:
The current European team is acknowledged as one of Europe's best ever for this event.
The five players are Mika Immonen (Finland), Neils Feijen (Holland), Ralf Souquet (Germany), Mark Gray (England) and Tony Drago (Malta).
The World Cup of Pool winning duo, Rodney Morris and Shane van Boening, Earl Strickland, Jeremy Jones together with the country's number one, Johnny Archer, make up the US team.
Dutchman Alex Lely and Nick Varner are the non-playing captains of Team Europe and Team US, respectively.
Ironically, the Malta appointment will be the 13th edition for both Earl Strickland (US) and German Ralf Souquet (Europe) who enjoy the best number of representations from among the 62 players that participated in the Mosconi Cup over the past 14 years.
One wonders who of the two will look upon the number 13 as a lucky number after the Portomaso encounter.
"We've got a fantastic team this year, with plenty of experience and we will fight to the finish. I am very excited about the Mosconi Cup and looking forward to regaining the trophy, we lost last year," said Varner.
Lely realises that "it will be difficult -- the Americans have won so many times but the tide is beginning to turn. The Europeans, as individuals, have won so many titles recently and when World Champions are left out it shows the strength of the team."
This year's Mosconi Cup will be played at the Hilton Conference Centre, Portomaso, from December 11 to 14 and will feature the two five-man teams in a series of singles and doubles matches.
"Intimidating, dramatic, noisy, excitable, passionate and thrilling are just a few words to describe this magnificent tournament and I believe that all of these will apply when the Mosconi Cup gets underway in Malta," remarked Barry Hearn, chairman of Matchroom Sport.
Online booking:
Online ticket booking on the official website of The Mosconi Cup, www.maltacup.org/mosconi, has been available for a good number of weeks now and there has been an encouraging response from overseas fans who will be travelling to Malta for the tournament.
With the start scheduled for Thursday, bookings will be available from the tournament venue, the Hilton Conference Centre, from tomorrow, opening at 9 a.m., Malta time.
The main sponsors of the Mosconi Cup are PartyCasino.com., Allevents Malta, which forms part of the UK-based Fraser Eagle Group, are the travel partners.
Matchroom Sport are the promoters of The Mosconi Cup while Snooker Promotions have been entrusted with the local organization of the event.
Tony Drago -- winning all of his singles matches at last year's Mosconi Cup earned him the Most Valuable Player Award. Will Drago repeat the same feat in front of his home crowd this week?
I only have one thing to say about this :angel2:
USA, ALL THE WAY!
:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
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