Mosconi Cup - Europe

Roy Steffensen

Roy Steffensen

locksmith
Silver Member
Sorry if there already is a thread about this.

3 out of 5 Europeans are now ready for Team Europe:

Konstantin Stepanov, Russia. No 1. on the Eurotour ranking.

Ralf Souquet, Germany.

Tony Drago, Malta. Played awesome 9-ball during the last years. Missed 2 eurotours this season because of snooker, if not he would have topped the ranking in Europe!!!!

The 2 last spots will be given to the best European players in US Open and World Pool Championship.

I thought both Niels Feijen and Thorsten Hohmann were already in, and I thought that European 9-ball Champion always was guaranteed a spot...

Anyway, I like the 3 picks which is done already, and I really hope it will be both Niels and Thorsten that will get the last 2 spots. Then bye bye USA :D :D :D
 
Newsarticle from www.pro9.co.uk:

Mosconi Cup Teams preview

Matchroom Sport can announce the first three players for each of the European and American teams to compete in the 2007 Mosconi Cup which takes place at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas from December 13 – 16.

For Team Europe, the experienced Ralf Souquet will be making his 11th appearance in the event following on from his stellar performance last year.

Malta’s Tony Drago will be making his Mosconi Cup debut following two solid years on the European pool circuit that have seen him establish himself as one of Europe’s leading players.

Finally Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, the current European No.1, gets his big chance as he takes his place in the Mosconi Cup for the first time.


With a total of 25 Mosconi Cup appearances between them, the American trio of Johnny Archer, Rodney Morris and Earl Strickland will have bags of knowledge on how to handle the unique pressures of the event.

The two other players on each team will be named following the conclusion of the two biggest events of the year – the US Open and the Philippines World Pool Championship.

This year will see the 14th running of pool’s answer to the Ryder Cup and the current score stands at 10 ? - 2 ? to the Americans.

Both sides will have non-playing captains this December. Johan Ruijsink, the Dutch coach who almost took his team to victory in Rotterdam last year, will be back at the helm for Team Europe and the popular Kim Davenport, a three-time Mosconi veteran himself, will be steadying the Team USA ship.

The official sponsors of the 2007 Mosconi Cup are Brunswick Tables, Simonis Cloth, Super Aramith Pro Balls, Predator Cues and the Flexi-Rest.

The event’s official website is www.mosconicup.com

Tickets and hotel rooms are available from info@matchroom.com
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Sorry if there already is a thread about this.

3 out of 5 Europeans are now ready for Team Europe:

Konstantin Stepanov, Russia. No 1. on the Eurotour ranking.

Ralf Souquet, Germany.

Tony Drago, Malta. Played awesome 9-ball during the last years. Missed 2 eurotours this season because of snooker, if not he would have topped the ranking in Europe!!!!

The 2 last spots will be given to the best European players in US Open and World Pool Championship.

I thought both Niels Feijen and Thorsten Hohmann were already in, and I thought that European 9-ball Champion always was guaranteed a spot...

Anyway, I like the 3 picks which is done already, and I really hope it will be both Niels and Thorsten that will get the last 2 spots. Then bye bye USA :D :D :D
Click to expand...

I may still bet USA this year. I'm just not happy with Earl on the team. But it ain't my call. I'd like to see Rodney, Johnny, Shane, Schmitty and Dennis Hatch (or Corey). Let Europe try to beat those gunslingers. NO WAY!
 
It used to be SIX players in the teams. Are squads limited to just 5 this year? I've never heard of it.
 
jay helfert said:
I may still bet USA this year. I'm just not happy with Earl on the team. But it ain't my call. I'd like to see Rodney, Johnny, Shane, Schmitty and Dennis Hatch (or Corey). Let Europe try to beat those gunslingers. NO WAY!
Click to expand...

Jay,

I agree on the choice of Earl being a mistake. He makes great TV and is a great champion but the players representing the USA should be the players who are and/or have been playing the best over the last 12 months (like the Ryder cup selections)

Same goes to Europe and I like what they have done so far, picking 3 hot players.

As for betting on or against USA.....what is line Jay? or more to the point, what odds will you give me if I pick Europe? :)
 
jay helfert said:
I may still bet USA this year. I'm just not happy with Earl on the team. But it ain't my call. I'd like to see Rodney, Johnny, Shane, Schmitty and Dennis Hatch (or Corey). Let Europe try to beat those gunslingers. NO WAY!
Click to expand...

Hell yes you gotta bet on the US, don't be getting all Pete Rose on us here :D :D
 
Vahmurka said:
It used to be SIX players in the teams. Are squads limited to just 5 this year? I've never heard of it.
Click to expand...
Got a confirmation that this year there will be 5 players plus non-playing captain. Strange decision for me it is, to limit players number to 5.
 
shanesinnott said:
Jay,

I agree on the choice of Earl being a mistake. He makes great TV and is a great champion but the players representing the USA should be the players who are and/or have been playing the best over the last 12 months (like the Ryder cup selections)

Same goes to Europe and I like what they have done so far, picking 3 hot players.

As for betting on or against USA.....what is line Jay? or more to the point, what odds will you give me if I pick Europe? :)
Click to expand...

EVEN MONEY honey!
 
I agree with Souquet and Stepanov but I`m not convinced with Drago.This month was a 9b tournament with Souquet,Drago,Petroni,Majid... and Drago won Ralf 11-5 in the finals but his game is very strange.he lookes very bored and not into it.I think this ended his snooker career.I don`t think we need this in a TEAM.I would go with Dutch or the German guys.Maybe even Petroni, he is 4th on the EU ranking...
 
Mosconi

Yes, I thought there were 6 on a team also. There are 25 matchups, douibles and singles, right? Seems like 5 favors singles matches, where 6 favors doubles matches.

I am not convinced on Drago either. The fast shooting players are fun to watch, and when they are on, they are on, but when they are not, they can make silly mistakes that cost them a match.

I know all the arguments for and against Earl, but he always seems to rise to the challenge during the Mosconi Cup. I have seen him make some difficult shots, and come up with perfect shape for his partner. Regardless of his ability, just his knowledge is very valuable to the team.

But, I would love to see Shane and Schmidt on the team, but Corey is a difficult one to leave off.
 
I have to admit I was somewhat surprised at Drago's Inclusion. Especially as i thought Niels Feijen would have been top of the list! But Drago's had a good year and deserves his chance so all the best to him. Theres a number of players that can be considered for the two remaining places! Niels, Thorsten, Engert, Majid, Petroni, Nick VDB the list goes on. Who ever goes all the best to them in kicking the states asses!! Obviously im routing for Europe to win :D and make the overall title score more respectable!!!!
 
If the Europeans put together a team of Souquet, Hohmann, Feijen, Immonen and Ortmann (or Engert), forget about it. The USA might get buried by this team. Fortunately that's not who's on it.
 
jay helfert said:
If the Europeans put together a team of Souquet, Hohmann, Feijen, Immonen and Ortmann (or Engert), forget about it. The USA might get buried by this team. Fortunately that's not who's on it.
Click to expand...


Yes, this would be exactly the team which I'd put. I even had the Ortmann/Engert similarly with your's.

The thing is, that Matchroomsports has always tried to persuade British wievers so they have had Steve Davis (or last years some other Brit) in their team, and IMHO it has been a big advantage for the team USA. Also, they probably don't want to put three germans (or four if six men on the team), as they have some country allotment there I'd guess.

Also, team USA has a big advantage in their team spirit, as they are playing for their country, Europe 'only' for their contignent. For example normally Netherlands and Germany are arch rivals in sports, so are England and Germany..


With Roy I agree, that now as there is Brit/Snooker player in the team Europe anyway, Tony Drago is the top choice!
 
DRAGO is a VERY good choice....IF you look at his record.

a) He's 10th in the Eurotour rankings BUT he's played 1 EVENT less than everyone else around him!!!! :eek:

b) If he hadn't miss this event he would have been NUMBER 1 ranked player almost for sure. Given all the names mentioned play on this extreemly tough tour it speaks for itself that he's done better than them this year.

c) Drago might make the odd mistake playing quickly BUT he will be least likely to suffer from nerves given the thousands of hours he's played on TV over the years. Stepanov will suffer a little I predict.
 
TheOne said:
b) If he hadn't miss this event he would have been NUMBER 1 ranked player almost for sure. Given all the names mentioned play on this extreemly tough tour it speaks for itself that he's done better than them this year.
Click to expand...
definitely. He never finished lower than 9th place I think. He plays very good though I would prefer him being capable of patient safety battle as well.

c) Drago might make the odd mistake playing quickly BUT he will be least likely to suffer from nerves given the thousands of hours he's played on TV over the years. Stepanov will suffer a little I predict.
Click to expand...
Sure Tony spent more than Kosta in front of the cameras. But Stepanov played at the WPC, 14.1 WC, local tournaments (including 2 challenge matches, races to 35 vs Souquet and Stalev), all televized. So he won't be distracted by TV presence. The only thing where he could be shaky is crazy crowd yelling U-S-A. But it could only happen if he fails to concentrate and focus on the table only, and usually he is successful with that.

I couldn't open http://www.poolnieuws.nl/ , any other confirmation Niels is in the team? Will look at his website blog.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top