Chris Melling
CHRIS MELLING maintained his grip on the 2012 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup European rankings with a semi-final finish at the recent Bosnian Open on the Euro Tour. The Englishman, who topped the rankings for last year's event, has opened up a 12 point lead over second placed Nick van den Berg, another top finisher from last year.
The European Mosconi Cup Ranking consists of 11 events – six Euro Tour events and five "World" events. The "World" events will carry approximately 50% more points due to the international strength of the field.
Only players finishing in the last 32 of each event will be allocated points and at the conclusion, after the 2012 US Open, the top two players will automatically gain entry to the Mosconi Cup side.
The remaining three players will be Matchroom Sport wildcard picks although the ranking will play a part in this.
Big movers were Bosnian Open Champion Albin Ouschan, who moves into the top ten with his first points of the campaign, and solid Swiss pro Dimitri Jungo who goes from 18th to 6th position. Qualification moves on to the Italian Open from 19th to 21st April.
This weekend, attention moves across the Atlantic to the Players Championship at the Super Billiards Expo at Valley Forge where the American hopefuls take part in the second event in the race to a spot on the American team at the York Hall in December.
