All of the players are in Coventry and the last of the pre event festivities are complete for the Mosconi Cup XXVII. Monday was the pre-event press conference with Team USA and Team Europe taking questions from Matchroom Sports’ Emily Frazer, as well as the billiards media.
While both teams appeared to be loose and enjoying themselves with the casual atmosphere of the press conference, the air was occasionally cut with a sharp remark aimed at one team or the other. When asked about differences between this year’s and last year’s European team captains, Euro Vice Captain Karl Boyes commented that this year would be a “seven on seven” event instead of “seven on five” like in the past.
Team Europe’s Joshua Filler, who was one of the most boisterous players last year, sounded like he was ready to go again this year. When asked about any possible “rivalry” brewing between he and Team USA’s Shane Van Boening, Filler brushed off the question and explained that he felt he was the “only player” in that conversation.
Another longtime vocal European, “Eagle Eye” Jayson Shaw, was uncharacteristically serious this year. He was all business and refused to discuss any earlier Facebook comments that he made about the other team. One of Shaw’s few comments was that he was “Laying it on the line this week” and that he was ready.
While Shaw sounded more serious than normal, Team USA’s Shane Van Boening might actually sound more relaxed. He commented that it had been a “rough nine years” when Team Europe dominated this event, but that the last couple of years is the most confident he has been, going into this event.
When asked what he had been working on to prepare for the start of play on Tuesday, Team Europe’s Eklent Kaci commented on their lack of experience playing doubles and said they had mostly worked on communication between the players. His teammate, World Champion Fedor Gorst, didn’t seem as concerned with communication, commenting that they were all champions.
The lineups for Day One were announced during the press conference and all of the players now know who they will be competing against on Tuesday. The lineup is…
Match One: Team Europe vs Team USA
Match Two: Joshua Filler & Fedor Gorst vs Shane Van Boening & Corey Deuel
Match Three: Eklent Kaci vs Chris Robinson
Match Four: Albin Ouschan & Jayson Shaw vs Billy Thorpe & Skyler Woodward
Match Five: Albin Ouschan vs Shane Van Boening
When asked about his choice to have Van Boening and Deuel playing the first doubles match together, Team USA Captain Jeremy Jones explained that he was looking for “Experience going in early”. Team Europe Captain Alex Lely was asked about his thoughts putting event rookie Fedor Gorst into the lineup so early and he explained that he felt he could put Gorst anywhere in the lineup as all of his players were ready to play.
The event kicks off on Tuesday at 1:30PM EST and can be watched live on Sky Sports in the UK and on Dazn in the USA and most of Europe.
