Rodney Morris 1 – 6 Mika Immonen

Johnny Archer 6 – 5 Karl Boyes

Dennis Hatch 6 – 5 Nick Van Den Berg

THE 2010 PARTYCASINO.COM Mosconi Cup is finely poised as it enters the final session of the competition. Europe lead by a single point, but it was Team USA who have the momentum following successive final rack wins by Johnny Archer and Dennis Hatch.

Shane Van Boening and Darren Appleton will be first out, followed by Ralf Souquet v Corey Deuel and should things still be alive, there will be two captains’ pick matches to decide the destination of the trophy.

THE 2010 PARTYCASINO.COM Mosconi Cup is finely poised as it enters the final session of the competition.

Trailing by two coming into the afternoon session, the USA got off to the worst possible start as Rodney Morris bit the dust, a 6-1 victim of Mika Immonen as the races returned to six. That meant that Europe were within two points of regaining the Cup.

The flying Finn, making his 14th Mosconi Cup appearance, put in his most assured performance of the event so far while Morris, by contrast made too many mistakes to have a realistic chance of it.

Immonen enjoyed a couple of crucial flukes too, including an outrageous piece of luck on the green 6 in what was the final rack. He had hooked himself and slammed a hit-and-hope kick shot which saw the 6 go up and down the table and then fall into the side pocket.

Immonen offers his hand in apology but that will be of no comfort to Morris. From there he completed the rack for a very valuable point.

“The crowd is definitely helping us, there’s a great atmosphere and my brothers and one sister are here and I’m very happy for them to witness the madness,” said a delighted Immonen.

“We’re on a great run and I hope it continues – I managed to control the cue ball better on the break.

“Rodney had to push out three times and that didn’t help him. He seemed very tense, more tense than usual and I saw some nerves in his face and I used that for my own confidence.

“I knew a lot of pressure was on my shoulders to keep the lead and if they close the gap then they could be unstoppable so it was important to come out with all guns blazing.

“I’m honoured by my coach to be picked first and I’m glad I came through.

Johnny Archer kept the US hopes alive in the next as he took away Karl Boyes unbeaten tag in another thrilling encounter at the York Hall. Boyes looked dead in the water at 5 – 1 down, but as we have seen so many times before, no match is won here until the final 9 drops.

Boyes looked composed as he got the match back to the inevitable 5-5 scoreline. Full credit to Archer though as he held his nerve and ran out the final rack from the break to keep his team right in it.

“We’ve been fighting all week and it’s tough. A couple of times I didn’t get shots off the break but a couple of times I did and then the bottom fell out of it,” said an honest Archer.

“The pressure doesn’t compare to anything. The Mosconi Cup pressure is something you never get to experience unless you’re in the team.

“In the first few years I was very nervous but now I’m not quite as nervous as I just try to cherish every moment as I might not qualify to get back.

“We aren’t out of this. Nick Varner said to us you are down 9-6 in a race to 11 and have you been in that position so we said ‘yeah’. Then he said have you won from that position and we said ‘yeah’!”

Johnny Archer, the 40 year-old veteran of 12 Mosconi Cups, gets his chance to help overturn a four year winless spell for America as he becomes the first player named for Team USA ahead of December’s PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The Georgia-based Archer’s inclusion was announced by Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn via a DVD played out at the Marriott Hotel, Chesapeake, Virginia where Archer was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame on Thursday night (22nd October).

With eight Mosconi victories under his belt and a 29 wins from 58 match record, Archer will need every ounce of his experience if his side are to derail a rampaging European side that has already named Ralf Souquet, Niels Feijen and Darren Appleton.

Commented Matchroom Sport’s Barry Hearn, “Johnny may or may not make the top two of the rankings, but he is a natural pick if the USA are about to get back to winning ways at the Mosconi Cup.

Archer gets his chance to help overturn a four year winless spell for America as he becomes the first player named for Team USA ahead of December’s PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“In among the young guns you need a steadying hand with bags of experience and Johnny is just that. He also knows how to win this event and if he can help galvanise his team, then I believe that for all the European talent, the Americans have got a very realistic chance of winning the Mosconi Cup outright for the first time since 2005”

The 2009 PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup takes place from Thursday to Sunday 10-13 December at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

Live in its entirety on Sky Sports in the UK, the event features two five-man teams representing Europe and the USA doing battle in a series of singles and doubles matches. Now in its 16th year, the Americans hold a 10-4 lead with one tied match in 2006.

With the US Open set to conclude this Saturday 24th October, the next three American players will be named early next week. They will be the #1 & 2 players atop the BCA Points List as well as one wild card pick. The remaining spot will go to the player who amasses the most votes in a public poll set to take place on the pages of www.matchroompool.com