After three days of action at Bally’s Las Vegas, the score is 8-6 in favor of Team Europe. The final day of the 2022 Mosconi Cup will be a big show. Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Italy, Spain, Viaplay in the Baltics, Scandinavia, and Poland, and networks worldwide will broadcast it live.
Day-3 Results:
Van Boening/Strickland 5-4 Shaw/Alcaide (Doubles)
Tyler Styer 2-5 David Alcaide (Singles)
Woodward/Strickland 2-5 Sanchez Ruiz/Filler (Doubles)
Earl Strickland 2-5 Albin Ouschan (Singles)
Van Boening/Woodward 5-0 Shaw/Filler (Doubles)
Oscar Dominguez 2-5 Jayson Shaw (Singles)
Team USA 6-8 Team Europe (Overall)
READ MORE: Mosconi Cup 2022 Results & Fixtures
Day-3 Matches Overview:
As Earl Strickland, a veteran and a hero, and Shane Van Boening played their 100th match in the Mosconi Cup; things started off quickly. The match against Europe’s Jayson Shaw and David Alcaide was close, with the USA winning 3-2. Strickland and Van Boening went to the hill after Alcaide’s scratch on the break in rack six. The two probably didn’t like how close it got, especially when Shaw missed the nine in rack seven and evened up for a hill-hill finish. Strickland and Van Boening gave each other ideas that helped the USA win games 5-4.
Alcaide went back out to play Tyler Styer in a singles match, and the crowd hoped the momentum would stay with the USA. Up until 4-0 up, Alcaide was just cueing, and there wasn’t much room for error. Styer sat still for a lot of the game, and for the first time this week, he had trouble making balls off the break. The man from Wisconsin pulled out the jump cue as he ran out the fifth to make it a contest. One more rack went by before Alcaide put his stamp on the match to tie it again at 5-5.
Strickland was right in the middle of the action, playing with Skyler Woodward against World Pool Masters winner Joshua Filler and US Open winner Francisco Sanchez Ruiz in the 11th match of the cup. The first few games were close, but Sanchez Ruiz showed why he is the best nine-ball player in the world by making an epic bank shot that put him up 3-1. At times, Strickland fought hard to save Woodward’s face, but it wasn’t enough as Sanchez Ruiz made a winning golden break 5-2 to give Europe the overall lead.
Strickland didn’t have time to think about his last match because he was about to play the European Open champion, Albin Ouschan. It was a hellish time for the veteran. After getting a quick two-rack lead, Strickland didn’t see the table much for the rest of the game. Those few seconds cost him a lot, as Ouschan came back strong to win 5-2 with five in a row.
The big match between Van Boening and vice-captain Woodward of the United States and Shaw and Filler of Europe always promised to be exciting, and it did so in a way that not many people could have predicted before the first ball was potted. Van Boening and Woodward had the first clean sweep of the week, which kept the United States in the tie going into the day’s last match. It was very interesting.
Shaw has been a problem for the USA for a long time, but he has had trouble finding a rhythm this week. But things changed when he caught Oscar Dominguez to give Europe a 2-0 lead before the last day. Shaw had gotten ahead by two racks, but Dominguez tied it up at two each. From there, Shaw hit a new gear to bring home another European point.
Tomorrow is the last day of the 2022 Mosconi Cup, held at Bally’s Las Vegas. The score is currently 8-6 in favor of Europe.