 Tony Drago |
Team Europe has redeemed themselves after their day one performance and knotted the overall score at 5-5. It could have been even worse than that for Team USA.
Team Europe changed up their playing order and sent Ralf Souquet and Daryl Peach out against the US team of Earl Strickland vs Shane Van Boening. Souquet and Peach took turns delivering clutch shots, while the US team couldn't find their rhythm.
Team Europe won the match 6-0 and showed some of the best pool we had seen all week.
Match two featured what looked like a very one sided match as Europe's Tony Drago took on USA's Rodney Morris. Team Europe's comeback looked like it had been brought to a halt as Morris took advantage of Drago's mistakes to rush out to a 5-1 lead. It appeared as if Drago's rhythm at the table had Morris playing faster than usual and that pace finally got to Morris. Morris couldn't find his game to finish the match and Drago won the next five games to score the 6-5 win.
Match three saw different players but more of the same for Team USA as Niels Feijen and Konstantin Stepanov dominated Corey Deuel and Johnny Archer for a 6-1 victory. The scoreline was 5-0 before Archer and Deuel could win a match and they never looked like they were in the match.
Team USA sent Shane Van Boening out for the next match, while Team Europe kept with the hot hand and sent Drago back out. On paper, Van Boening would have been a huge favorite, but he seemed to falter under the pressure and Tony Drago shot fast and loose for a 6-2 victory and Team Europe had taken back the lead.
The final match of the day saw Team USA's Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris taking on Team Europe's Ralf Souquet and Daryl Peach. Team Europe took an early lead, but neither team seemed able to take control of the match. Team Europe got to the hill at 5-4, but Team USA dug deep and won the last two games for a hill-hill victory to tie the overall score at 5-5 after two days of play.
Play continues on Saturday with five more matches and Europe with a renewed sense of confidence in their ability to win this event.
Online bookmakers at stanjames.com have changed the odds for the event to USA being a 2-1 favorite.
Follow all of the action as it happens at www.mosconicup.com or sign up for the online PPV to watch it all happen.
