Stickland and Jones fill out Team USA

Matchroom Sport can announce that the final two spots on the American side for the forthcoming PartyCasino.com Mosconi Cup will be filled by South Carolina’s Earl Strickland and Jeremy Jones (Texas).

Both players line up in an American team that is hoping to win the Mosconi Cup outright for the first time since 2005. Taking place at the Hilton Hotel, Portomaso, St Julians, Malta from December 11 – 14, the event features two five-man teams playing a series of singles and doubles matches over four days.

Strickland, 47, is playing in his 13th consecutive Mosconi Cup, a record for the event, and has won a fantastic 37 points from 56 matches. ‘The Pearl’ insists that he will be back to his imperious best come December, having put the health issues that dogged him a few years ago very much behind him.

“I’m not just a pool player, I’m an athlete,” said an ebullient Strickland.

“I’m running four miles every morning and doing 500 sit ups a day and I’m practicing seven to eight hours a day.

“I’m a more intelligent player than most of these guys, I’m working hard and I think I’m close to being back to my very best.

“The Mosconi Cup is my kind of tournament and I’m looking forward to doing my best for the USA in Malta.”

Despite his well-documented bust-ups at the Mosconi Cup, Strickland’s record in the event is the best of the 61 players who have participated in the competition in its 14 year history.

Joining Strickland, Archer, Van Boening and Morris will be Jeremy Jones, who at 36 will be making his seventh Mosconi Cup appearance. ‘Double J’ sports an impressive 16 wins from 28 starts and made his debut back in 1999 when the USA won 12-7 at the York Hall in London.

Jones has enjoyed a revival this year with a third place finish at the Predator International 10 Ball Championship back in May. Then in June, he followed that up with a long-awaited victory in the Generationpool.com Open in Charlotte.

These results and others were enough to propel the likable Texan up to fourth in the BCA Points List and secure his Mosconi Cup spot.

Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn said, “In all the sports that I have promoted over the years, aside from the boxer Chris Eubank, there has been no other sportsman who has got the public going more than Earl Strickland.

“Some love him, plenty hate him but he is one of the greatest players to have ever held a cue stick and when it comes to entertainment, he has few rivals.

“The Mosconi Cup has always been Earl’s playground – he won MVP honours in Las Vegas in 2005 – and when he’s on form, the Europeans will know all about it.

“Jeremy Jones has a great record in the event and it is gratifying to see him play his way back into contention. He completes a very strong looking American side and I am expecting a fierce battle in December.”

This year will see the 15th running of pool’s answer to the Ryder Cup and the current score stands at 10 ½ - 3 ½ to the Americans.

The official sponsors of the 2008 Mosconi Cup are PartyCasino.com, Brunswick Tables, Simonis Cloth, Super Aramith Pro Balls and Predator Cues.

A range of superb value hotel and ticket packages are available from the Official Mosconi Cup Travel Agents www.alleventsmalta.com

Feijen, Wu and Engert All Through At World Pool Masters

Niels Feijen produced a stunning fight back to defeat Imran Majid and move into the last eight of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.

Feijen, who was backed by a large home crowd at the Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee, trailed 3-0 in the early stages of the match but recovered to win 8-5.

"I started like a granny," admitted Feijen. "Imran then let me off the hook so I could've been 4-1 down. The big swing came when he missed a seven-ball and I played really well from the middle to the end.

"I have been struggling with my pace the whole week so this was a big relief for me. Let's keep it going."

Majid looked in control in the early stages as he moved around the table comfortably but the match turned at four racks all when Imran had no shot on the opening ball and pushed out. He failed to make his intentions plain to referee Michaela Tabb and resulted in ball-in-hand for Feijen, who grabbed the opportunity to take the lead for the first time at 5-4.

Looking confident, Feijen coasted through the next to increase his lead with his English opponent against it. Majid though, held himself together to run out the next but the momentum was with Feijen.

Looking a different player from his early tentative endeavours, he completed another easy run out to get to the hill at 7-5.

Feijen got to the table in the next but could do nothing with the situation and Majid was forced to play safe. The Dutchman though, took on a great table length bank on the 5 ball which proved to be a match winner as it set up the run out for a tremendous come-from-behind victory for Feijen.

In the next first round match, Taiwan’s former double World Champion Wu Chia-ching fired out a warning shot as he made light work of Canadian Tyler Edey, winning 8-1.

In the final match of the afternoon, Thomas Engert (Germany) and Malta’s Tony Drago completed their third Masters first round match and this time it was Engert, the 2004 champion, who got the better of it winning 8-4.

It was a tight match until Engert got the better of the safety exchanges to close out Drago and secure a quarter final berth.

Full Results:

• Niels Feijen (Ned) 8 – 6 Imran Majid (Eng)
• Wu Chia-ching (TPE) 8 – 1 Tyler Edey (CAN)
• Thomas Engert (GER) 8 - 4 Tony Drago (MLT)

Pinoy Alcano Aware of Taiwanese Wu in World Pool Masters

World Champion Ronato Alcano believes Chia-ching Wu is his biggest threat in the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters. The Paranaque based Alcano reached the pinnacle of the sport in November when he defeated German Ralf Souquet in the final of the 2006 World Pool Championships. That victory elevated 34-year-old Alcano to legend status in his pool-mad home country as he became an overnight celebrity.

One of the other benefits of winning the world title has seen him be selected as one of 16 players in this year's Masters, which begins Friday at the Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee, Holland. It will be Alcano's debut in the competition and he will be aiming to maintain his good form and collect the $20,000 top prize.

Alcano, bested compatriot Dennis Orcollo in the finals of the World 8-ball in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates last February to follow the foot step of Chia-ching Wu and countryman Efren "Bata" Reyes, the former double world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball).

He faces Italian Fabio Petroni in the opening round on Friday night and, if successful, will then meet either Nick van den Berg (Holland) or female star Jasmin Ouschan (Austria) in the quarter-finals.

However, if he reaches the semi-finals he could meet 2005 World Champion Chia-ching Wu ( Taiwan) in what would be a mouth-watering encounter. "This is a hard tournament to win because there are a lot of good players," said Alcano. "It is hard to say if I will be the winner as there are too many top players but I will try my best and maybe I will get lucky. I think Chia-ching Wu is a very good player and will be difficult to beat."

Alcano and Chia-ching Wu will both be getting some match practice ahead of the main tournament as they played in the Challenge the Champions last Thursday. This knockout tournament features a number of professional players competing against local club players and will be an interesting indication of who is in form and who is not.

In other marquee matches in the first round of World Pool Masters: Naoyuki Oi of Japan vs Oliver Ortmann of Germany; Li He-wen of China vs Pat Holtz of Scotland; Imran Majid of England vs Niels Feijen of the Netherlands; Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei vs Tyler Edey of Canada and Tony Drago of Malta vs Thomas Engert of Germany.