FOLLOWING VICTORY at the recent Seminole Pro Tour stop in Rhode Island, Shane Van Boening moved to the top of the PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup USA Rankings as he closed in on a fifth consecutive appearance in the prestigious transatlantic event.
The "South Dakota Kid" defeated England's Darren Appleton 11-6 in the final, to leap-frog over Mike Dechaine, who himself finished ninth, and secure the leading spot. Corey Deuel maintained his position at #3 with a 17th place finish.
Elsewhere, Mosconi Cup veterans Johnny Archer and Rodney Morris edged into the frame with strong finishes and they now occupy sixth and seventh positions respectively. With three events left to play, the situation is delicately balanced with just 4.5 points separating positions 5, 6 and 7, giving Dennis Hatch, Archer and Morris all a fair chance of making the Vegas-bound squad.
Mike Dechaine and Corey Deuel both miss the next Mosconi event as they are on duty for the USA in the forthcoming PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool in Manila. However, all players will drop their worst finish from the list in order to compensate for this.
The US Mosconi Cup Ranking consists of 10 events throughout the United States, culminating in the US Open in October. Points will be allocated as per the BCA Points List and each event will be weighted depending on total purse, size of field and number of top-ranked players competing.
Only players finishing in the last 32 of each event will be allocated points and players will be allowed to drop their worst finish of the ten event series. At the conclusion, after the 2011 US Open, the top three players will automatically gain entry to the Mosconi Cup side.
The remaining two players will be Matchroom Sport wildcard picks although the ranking will play a part in this.
The final three events left to determine the American Mosconi Cup team are: Turning Stone Summer (9 – 11 September), the Steve Mizerak Championship (16-18 September) and finally, the US Open 9-Ball Championship (16-22 October).
