EUROPE WIN THE MOSCONI CUP
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RESULT: EUROPE 11-5 USA
Session Five - Sunday, Dec 14
Feijen/Souquet
5-2 Morris/Jones
Mika Immonen
5-3 S Van Boening
EUROPE have won the 2008 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup.
They clinched a 11-5 victory - the second biggest winning margin in the event's 15-year history.
Mika Immonen won the cup for Europe as he sunk the decisive 9-ball to spark joyous celebrations for the Europeans.
"It seems I'm burying a few ghosts," said Immonen, who won the Most Valuable Player. "I won the US Open where I had a tragic final in 2001, then I won the Japan Open where I had lost in the final four times in ten years and won that.
"Then, my final and biggest goal was to win the Mosconi Cup. Finally it has happened and I can't believe it. I'm really overwhelmed.
"The heart was pumping as much as earlier in the day when I was running on the treadmill at nine miles per hour to keep my conditioning."
Immonen's team mate Tony Drago was delighted to be on the winning team in front of his home crowd. "First of all a few weeks ago I lost a dear friend so this goes to him, said an emotional Drago. "Secondly I tried to play my best. I played a great match against Strickland but he beat me 5-4. Shane (Van Boening) did the same.
"I would like to thank Matchroom Sport for such a great event. The Americans are great players. We don't see eye-to-eye because that's what it means. I always wanted to lift the trophy in front of my mother."
European captain Alex Lely was thrilled with the effort from his team.
"I played myself in 1995 and 2005 and we got spanked, said Lelt We have got spanked quite often in this event. But I was made captain this year and I was very proud to be captain.
"I knew my team were already champions and they had my respect, we all had each other's respect. We played with so much pride, discipline and focus on the task. They're a machine, all I had to do was push the button, make the sandwiches and rack the balls."
This was the third time Nick Varner had been the captain of the American side, although this was the first time he had tasted defeat.
"We didn't get the result we wanted but I would like to thank my team," said Varner. "You guys are champions and it has been my pleasure being your team captain, thanks for turning up.
"I would like to thank Matchroom Sport, Sky Sports and all the sponsors. This is really a great event and I still had a great time.
"The scoreline was reversed to what I wanted to see but I have to congratulate Team Europe - they played great."
Team
America needed to fight for their lives on the fourth day of the 2008 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup.
Europe had lead 9-5 and were only two points away from the winning total of 11 to successfully defend their title for the first time.
Lely opted to put his big guns out first in an attempt to cross the finish line first. Niels Feijen and Ralf Souquet had won all three of their doubles matches and were first up on Sunday as they played Rodney Morris and Jeremy Jones. Feijen and Souquet maintained their record with a 5-2 win.
Next up was Mika Immonen, who maintained his 100 percent record in singles with a 5-3 success over America's Shane Van Boening to lift the cup for the Europeans.
The final score was 11-5 to Europe and the winning margin was the second biggest in the tournament's 15-year history.
