Mika Immonen Crowned UPA Champion
Mika Immonen scored a 13-2 win over Charlie Williams and won the UPA Pro Tour Championship held at The Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, Ca.
Immonen survived two hill-hill matches on his way to the finals, one with Jose Parica and another with Ralf Souquet for the point.
Immonen earned $10,000 for the win, the first major event of the new year. Williams won $5000 for second.
Team USA Captures Sixth Sraight Mosconi Cup
After Team Europe drew first blood in the 2001 Mosconi Cup, Team USA won the next 12 matches to claim its sixth straight Mosconi Cup title at York Hall in Bethnal Green, England, Dec. 20-23. The 12-1 victory for Team USA is the most decisive win in the eight-year history of the annual Ryder Cup-style event, which Team USA has now won seven times.
Only the pairing of Niels Feijen and Mika Immonen was able to scratch the scoreboard with a 5-3 triumph over veteran U.S. duo Johnny Archer and Nick Varner. But from then on, Team USA dominated play. The young American pair of Charlie Williams and Cory Deuel built Team USA’s lead with two convincing victories over Steve Knight and Marcus Chamat by a combined score of 10-3. Archer and Varner then closed out the event by redeeming themselves from the Day 1 loss with a 5-1 win over Immonen and Team Europe captain Ralf Souquet.
Mosconi Cup Lineup Set
Matchroom Sport released its Team USA and Team Europe rosters for the popular Mosconi Cup, held at York Hall in Bethnal Green, England, Dec. 20-23. The two six-man rosters were respectively selected in consultation with the Billiard Congress of America and European Pocket Billiard Federation.
Five-time Player of the Year Earl Strickland will return as captain of the American squad, which is rounded out by Corey Deuel, Johnny Archer, Jeremy Jones, Nick Varner and Charlie Williams. All but Varner and Williams were members of last year’s Cup-winning team.
Team Europe is comprised of captain Ralf Souquet (Germany), Marcus Chamat (Sweden), Steve Davis (England), Niels Feijen (Holland), Mika Immonen (Finland) and Steve Knight (England).
Going For Gold
American Jeanette Lee and Taipei’s Ching-Shun Yang captured the 9-ball divisions of the 6th World Games in Akita, Japan, Aug. 16-26. Lee took home the Gold Medal after beating Ireland’s Karen Corr, 9-3. Lee’s finish gave the United States a second-best 15 total Gold Medals during the Games, and a combined 31 medals to place third overall behind leader Russia (44) and second-place Germany (35) in the medal count.
Yang knocked off Germany’s Ralf Souquet, 11-8, in the final to claim the Gold Medal. Despite Souquet’s defeat, Germany’s medal count was boosted when Souquet’s countrymate Thomas Engert topped American Jon Kucharo to claim the bronze medal.
Belgium’s Bjoern Haneveer edged Filipino Marlon Manalo, 4-3, to take the snooker Gold Medal, while Spain’s Daniel Sanchez upset Dick Jaspers, 40-30, to earn the Gold in carom.
Mexico’s Ismaez Paez, who suffered a heart attack before one of his matches early in the 9-ball tournament, underwent heart surgery and is currently recovering.
2001 Admiral World Pool Championship Live Update
CARDIFF, WALES — In a closely played final match that featured 10 lead changes, Finland’s Mika Immonen captured the 2001 Admiral World Pool Championship on Sunday. Immonen, who pockets $65,000 for the victory, won the last five racks in the race-to-17 final to win 17-10 over Germany’s Ralf Souquet.
World Pool Chmpionship Final Set
For the first time since 1996, a European player will take home the top prize in pool. The final of the 2001 Admiral World Pool Championship comes down to two Europeans – Finland’s Mika Immonen and Germany’s Ralf Souquet. The winner of today’s final tilt will take home $65,000, while the loser will pocket $30,000.
Souquet, who won the World Pool Championship in 1996, coasted into the final match with wins over Marcus Chamat in the quarterfinals, and later Chia-hsiung Lai in Saturday evening’s semifinal on the main table. During his two matches, Souquet outscored both of his opponents by a total margin of 22-3.
“It’s not easy to be out there in the arena and play your best all the time but I think over the years, I’ve mastered playing on the TV tables,” said Souquet, who beat Lai 11-2.
Immonen, meanwhile, had a more difficult time with his opponents on Saturday. He beat Niels Feijen, 11-7, in the quarterfinal, then rallied from a 5-2 deficit for another 11-7 win over Alain Martel in the semifinal.
“Me and Ralf have got a lot of respect for each other and he is a real gentleman,” said Immonen. “We’ll both be concentrating on our respective games and not worry about each other.”
The final match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EST.
“Kaiser” Rolls On; Jones Finished
Germany’s Ralf “The Kaiser” Souquet continued his torrid play at the 2001 Admiral World Pool Championship in Cardiff, Wales. He controlled every moment of his quarterfinal match against Sweden’s Marcus Chamat, and captured an 11-1 victory.
Lone remaining American Jeremy Jones was also eliminated on Saturday. Jones, who battled a slight cold the night before, dropped his first seven games against Chia-hsiung Lai of Chinese Taipei. Lai never looked back, and held on for an 11-3 win. Jones collected $8,500 for a share of fifth place.
“We exchanged safeties early,” said Jones, “The next time I looked up, it was 7-0. I wish I could have represented the country a little further. I really wanted to win this tournament.”
Immonen, Souquet Advance in Friday Morning Session
With only two American players remaining in the 2001 Admiral World Pool Championship, several European players are staking their claim at the richest payday in pool. Finland’s Mika Immonen and Germany’s Ralf Souquet were the first on Friday, breezing into the quarterfinals with convincing victories.
After taking a 5-0 lead in the race-to-11 match, Immonen took advantage of Anthony Ginn’s numerous mishaps to finish with an 11-2 win. Soon afterward, Souquet calmly crafted an 11-3 victory to advance into Saturday’s quarterfinal matches.
Niels Feijen and Chia-hsiung Lai also advanced in Friday morning’s matches.
Snippets… Euro stars in nookie ban
In a desperate attempt to regain the Mosconi Cup, European Team Captain Ralf Souquet has slapped a sex ban on his team for the duration of the Mosconi Cup which starts on Thursday.
In a strongly worded letter, hard-line Souquet, dubbed ‘The Kaiser’, warned his teams against the perils of carnality.
Order for all members of the European Mosconi Cup Team: “There is a strict prohibition for having sex and/or sexual activities with effect from December 11th 2000. This rule applies particularly to the German player Thomas Engert, who is bringing his wife with him. There have even been some thoughts, whether to book two single rooms for him and his wife!”
“As captain of the European Team, it is my first and utmost priority to take care of the players and prepare them for optimal performance at the tournament. Not only from my own experience I know that having sex at an inappropriate moment can paralyse body and soul of a player. Concentration, mental force and attitude towards the game could be weakened and negatively influenced.”
“Remember there is only one goal – to win the Mosconi Cup!”
Finnish ace Mika Immonen learned of the ban on arriving in London this morning and was reported to be “gobsmacked”.
Chao bounces back on Monday
Defending champion Fong-Pang Chao recovered on Monday with a pair of wins at the 2001 Admiral World Pool Championship in Cardiff, Wales, moving into the last qualifying spot in Group 1 with one day of round-robin play remaining. Chao topped Brazil’s Fabio Luersen, 5-0, and England’s Andy Battams, 5-4, on Monday to tie Ramil Gallego and Quinten Hann for second place in the group with eight points, two behind undefeated group leader Chris Melling of England.
Players also undefeated through Monday’s action include Hao-Ping Chang (5-0), Dmitri Jungo (5-0), Radoslaw Babica (6-0), Ralf Souquet (6-0), Steve Knight (5-0), Johnny Archer (5-0) and Leonardo Andam (5-0).
The top four qualifiers in each of the 16 groups will advance to the round of 64, which begins on Wednesday.