Mosconi Cup 2011

[attilahun]

Anyoane watching the Mosconi Cup ?

Its 5-4 for Europe in Vegas with one more match to be played in day 2

Team Europe
Chris Melling
Darren Appleton
Ralf Souquet
Nick Van Den Berg
Nils Feijen

Team USA
Shane Van Boening
Rodney Morris
Johnny Archer
Shawn Putnam
Mike Dechaine


After a great first day for Europe and a 4-1 lead they lost the first 3 matches tonight but Nick V D Berg crushed Archer 6-1 to put Team Europe in front again

[DeanH]

Missed this one, thanks for the reminder.
It is being streamed on www.sportlemon.tv/c-11.html from 17:00 GMT tonight.

[baz515]

Been fortunate enough to play Chris melling in our local pool league. Fortunate enough to beat him too lol. He's pure class

[ace man]

I watched UK Championships snooker both tables and this side by side on my computer screen listening to 6 commentators LOL.

Good show to watch. I must say even these top pool players have second rate cue actions compared to top snooker guys.

One exception might be Chris Melling. Very straight long slow backswing, deliberate long pause, smooth acceleration...I'm very impressed with his game. He reached the very top in US pool. Does anyone know his snooker credentials? He must have been pretty good. How far did he get in the game? Was he ever on main tour?

[Deepscrew]

this link works for me

http://www.oleoletv.com/watch/live/s...-cup-2011.html

sportlemon wasnt working so try this if having issues.

[missneworleans]

I watched UK Championships snooker both tables and this side by side on my computer screen listening to 6 commentators LOL.
?

me too lol
i thought why so much in one time?
europe becoming stronger and stronger, america doesnt really improve so soon europa will really dominate it
shame tony and mika couldnt make it tho

[MasterBreak147]

Does anyone know his snooker credentials? He must have been pretty good. How far did he get in the game? Was he ever on main tour?

Chris has made 147 breaks in practice (not line-up) and competes at a high level making many match ton breaks, he did have a spell on the tour if i remember correctly but that was years ago, he very rarely plays now but when he does he is a natural and can produce lightning fast big breaks
Great hand eye coordination!!

[liquidsymphony]

chris is a top class player whatever the game , and one of the finest cueist . he times the balls great

[poolqjunkie]

Yes, saw Chris play US pool first with a very light one piece cue with a very small tip many years ago in the World 9 ball Championship and he was winning matches against top players from all over eventhough he was just learning the game.

I also watched him play in the IPT, very slow back swing and a very nice stroke. He was still using a snooker or UK 8 ball cue back then. I notice he has a proper 9 ball cue now. LOL

Chris, Karl, Darren...these British players are all world class 9 ball players--especially Darren.

Is it only me...one of the US player, Shawn Putnam, looks and dresses like he is still living in the 70s. LOL

Rodney used some foul language towards Darren during a match, it was picked up on the mic, but nothing was done.

The Europeans are handling themselves very well both on and off the table in my opinion.

I think the Americans need more than a miracle to have a chance.

They should get an Asian team in as well--would make it more interesting as an Asian team would consist of many world champions, definitely a much stronger showing than the US team.

I mean if you put a team of Asians together you can probably find 5 world champion caliber players to form a team rather easily(off the top of my head, Wu, Alex, Chao, Reyes, Alcano, Orcullo, Yang, Cortenza...etc), the Americans will have a hard time coming up against that. Other than Shane, the rest of the players this year just do not seem strong enough.

An Asian vs European match would be a very nice one to watch. It will be like a tournament of World Champions forming two teams against each other.

[attilahun]

Yes, saw Chris play US pool first with a very light one piece cue with a very small tip many years ago in the World 9 ball Championship and he was winning matches against top players from all over eventhough he was just learning the game.

I also watched him play in the IPT, very slow back swing and a very nice stroke. He was still using a snooker or UK 8 ball cue back then. I notice he has a proper 9 ball cue now. LOL

Chris, Karl, Darren...these British players are all world class 9 ball players--especially Darren.

Is it only me...one of the US player, Shawn Putnam, looks and dresses like he is still living in the 70s. LOL

Rodney used some foul language towards Darren during a match, it was picked up on the mic, but nothing was done.

The Europeans are handling themselves very well both on and off the table in my opinion.

I think the Americans need more than a miracle to have a chance.

They should get an Asian team in as well--would make it more interesting as an Asian team would consist of many world champions, definitely a much stronger showing than the US team.

I mean if you put a team of Asians together you can probably find 5 world champion caliber players to form a team rather easily(off the top of my head, Wu, Alex, Chao, Reyes, Alcano, Orcullo, Yang, Cortenza...etc), the Americans will have a hard time coming up against that. Other than Shane, the rest of the players this year just do not seem strong enough.

An Asian vs European match would be a very nice one to watch. It will be like a tournament of World Champions forming two teams against each other.

You are right about that. Europe looks too strong for USA, but this was not the case few years ago. USA dominated the Mosconi Cup for a more than a decade.
And my opinion is that the cup should stay as it is, Europe against USA, another team would alter the format and the purpose of the competition... to see who is stronger at the end of the year. This last years is Europe time to win, but it will chance for sure in the next years, and that is the beauty of the Mosconi Cup.

[poolqjunkie]

You are right about that. Europe looks too strong for USA, but this was not the case few years ago. USA dominated the Mosconi Cup for a more than a decade.
And my opinion is that the cup should stay as it is, Europe against USA, another team would alter the format and the purpose of the competition... to see who is stronger at the end of the year. This last years is Europe time to win, but it will chance for sure in the next years, and that is the beauty of the Mosconi Cup.

Yes, the us team was dominating before but it seems like they do not have the next generation players to carry the torch and the older players seem to have lost the edge; while in Europe there are new younger players who play to a top level (e.g. Chris, Darren, Karl..etc) plus the older veterans (e.g. Ralf) are still playing strong.

The strongest two contenients are Europe and Asia now--with Asia a bit stronger, in my opinion. I would love to see an event like the Mosconi Cup to match these two up. It would be pool played to the highest level.

If the US keeps losing the Mosconi Cup year after year from now on it may become a sad one sided event--but somehow I doubt they can win in the near future.

I can see that with the way US Pool is going in the US now it is hard becasue there is no money there at all. They need a younger generation to carry on. In China, Fillipine, Taiwan and Europe there is a new generation of champions emerging but in the US I cannot think of anyone except Shane, and may be Corey (who is not exactly very young). Most of these US players do not travel outside of the US to compete that often and they hardly play in front of a TV camera. In Asia, players have many more tournaments and oppoturnities to play in front of TV and a big crowd. They are used to playing on different tables outside of the tables in their own countries and they are more immune to the noice from the crowds and such. Also, they seem to be coping with the shot clock much better. In other words, they are much better seasoned so they perform better under pressure.

The US team complained about noises from the crowd, used foul language on TV, challenged an European to a fight outside, called the win by an European "lucky"...basically they just act like a group of moaners--all these are just excuses for their own poor performance and it just made them look really bad in front of an international audiences. They really need to stop whinning and find a way to raise their levels of play or else they will have a hard time winning this event again.

[PaddyLowson]

It's no more bad than when we had years of US domination over Europe. USA have won eight years on the spin before; some by huge margins - 12-1 in 2001. Yes Europe have started to buck the trend but its not as critical as it was before. Europe v USA is what's made the Mosconi in the past though I would agree that a Europe v Asia event like the Royal Trophy in Golf would be interesting to see.

[poolqjunkie]

It's no more bad than when we had years of US domination over Europe. USA have won eight years on the spin before; some by huge margins - 12-1 in 2001. Yes Europe have started to buck the trend but its not as critical as it was before. Europe v USA is what's made the Mosconi in the past though I would agree that a Europe v Asia event like the Royal Trophy in Golf would be interesting to see.

Yes, I remember that. The US used to win all the time.

Those players are now getting old and there just dont seem to be a new breed of players in the US to carry on, while the Europeans are certainly getting better and also has produced a new awesome generation of new players.

They also have a great coach which is something the US team is lacking.

As I write this I just notice US has actually on its market more pool instuctionals, certified pool instructors, pool gidgets, aiming systems, "high performance" cue shafts, tips, even chalks and what not than both Europe and Asia combined. However, they certainly do not have as many top players as either Europe or Asia has at this point.

[eaoin11]

Yes, I remember that. The US used to win all the time.

Those players are now getting old and there just dont seem to be a new breed of players in the US to carry on, while the Europeans are certainly getting better and also has produced a new awesome generation of new players.

They also have a great coach which is something the US team is lacking.

As I write this I just notice US has actually on its market more pool instuctionals, certified pool instructors, pool gidgets, aiming systems, "high performance" cue shafts, tips, even chalks and what not than both Europe and Asia combined. However, they certainly do not have as many top players as either Europe or Asia has at this point.

Is it because of a decline in sponsorship for up and coming players in the US? Maybe new players can't really develop without financial backing to travel. Apart from the GFC, I wonder if the huge number of suppliers for cues etc hasn't spread the market a bit thin, meaning that the big suppliers can't afford to invest as much as they used to in pros.