Following on from his marvelous win at the 32nd US Open last Saturday, Shane Van Boening has been chosen to represent USA at the 14th Mosconi Cup.
Event promoters Matchroom Sport have today named Van Boening as the fourth of five players who will represent America against Europe in the prestigious team competition, which takes place at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas from December 13–16.
Van Boening, 24, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who will be making his debut in the Mosconi Cup, ran through the winner's side in the US Open and then topped reigning World Pool Champion Ronnie Alcano 13-10 to claim the title.
The rest of the USA side includes Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris, while the final player will be announced after the conclusion of the 2007 World Pool Championship, which ends on Sunday, November 11.
For Van Boening, this has been a break-out season and he adds the US Open crown to the Predator World 10 Ball title he won back in May.
Another player has also been selected for Team Europe and Dutchman Niels Feijen will be making his fourth Mosconi Cup appearance after previous selections in 2001, 2004 and 2005.
The 30 year-old from The Hague has had another superb year winning the Derby City 9 Ball and the International Challenge of Champions as well as a host of high finishes.
Feijen joins the experienced Ralf Souquet and debutants Tony Drago and Konstantin Stepanov on the European team, with the final member again to be announced after the World Pool Championship.
This year will see the 14th running of pool's answer to the Ryder Cup and the current score stands at 10 ½ - 2 ½ to the Americans, although the format has been changed for 2007 so there will be an outright winner.
A Matchroom Sport spokesman believed Van Boening and Feijen had deserved their call-ups.
"Both these two players have the ability to make a huge impact in Vegas in December," said the spokesman. "Shane has had a fabulous time of it in 2007 and may well be the best 9 ball player in the world right now.
"Niels has been one of the leading lights in Europe for some time now and I'm sure he will be itching to improve on previous Mosconi Cup performances."
The official sponsors of the 2007 Mosconi Cup are Brunswick Tables, Simonis Cloth, Super Aramith Pro Balls, Predator Cues and the Flexi-Rest.
