Europe retains Mosconi Cup

Europe won the 2008 Mosconi Cup with a 11-5 thrashing of the US team.

The European team was in front all the way, leading 3-1 after the opening day, 5-3 after the second and 9-5 after the third. On Sunday Finland's Mika Immonen sealed the deal by defeating Shane Van Boening 5-3.

Immonen was named MVP of the event after single wins against Jeremy Jones, Earl Strickland, Jones again and finally Van Boening. The victory was especially sweet for the Finn as he missed match ball in their 2006 loss to the Americans.

This was the first time in Mosconi Cup history that Europe have managed to successfully defend the title. USA still leads the event with 11-4 though. Their last win came in 2006.

The teams:

• Europe
  
  
  • Alex Lely (non-playing captain, Netherlands)
  • Tony Drago (Malta)
  • Niels Feijen (Netherlands)
  • Mark Gray (England)
  • Mika Immonen (Finland)
  • Ralf Souquet (Germany)
• USA
  
  
  • Nick Varner (non-playing captain)
  • Johnny Archer
  • Jeremy Jones
  • Rodney Morris
  • Earl Strickland
  • Shane Van Boening

The event took place from December 11-14 at the Hilton Hotel, Portomaso, Malta. Matches were singles, scotch doubles and scotch quintuples with alternate break. Next year's Cup will be held in Las Vegas, USA.

See also:

• 2008 Mosconi Cup (Official homepage)
• Europe Retains Mosconi Cup Trophy (AzBilliards)
• Team Europe Wins Mosconi Cup (Billiards Digest)
  
• Europe Defend the Mosconi Cup! (CueSport TV)
• Mosconi Cup: Europe win in style (Sky Sports)
• Gray helps Europe to cup glory (Rutland & Stamford Mercury)
  
• The Icing on the cake (Mika's Blog)
  
• Mosconi Cup stays in Europe! (Katrine Jensen)
• Team Europe wins Mosconi Cup for second year in a row! (European billiards)
• Mosconi Cup 2008 - Team Europa gewinnt! (billiardblog - German)
  
• Mosconi Cup (Wkipedia)

Related posts:

• USA retains Mosconi Cup with tie (2006 Mosconi Cup)
• Europe finally regains Mosconi Cup (2007 Mosconi Cup)