Shane Van Boening
American star ready to avenge last year’s Vegas defeat
Shane Van Boening says the ‘negative energy’ surrounding Team USA last year has been dispelled by new captain Mark Wilson, and ‘The South Dakota’ kid believes his team are ready to win back the PartyPoker Mosconi Cup in Blackpool.
America suffered a record 11-2 defeat to Europe in Las Vegas 12 months ago, triggering the appointment of Mark Wilson. He has taken full charge of every aspect of the team, including selection, and has been working with his charges throughout the year to build a side capable of securing USA’s 12th Mosconi Cup.
Van Boening is the only member of last year’s defeated side who travels to Blackpool and he is joined by Corey Deuel, John Schmidt, Justin Hall and Justin Bergman in the team.
The US Open and PartyPoker World Pool Masters champion says the squad has come together well and believes their positive energy will help land them the trophy next week.
“It is an honour to be picked to play the Mosconi Cup this year,” said Van Boening. “It will be my eighth appearance. I have been playing well all year so hopefully I can take that momentum and pass it on to my team-mates. The team has been playing well and I am looking forward to playing with the squad.
“I trust Mark. He picked the team and I believe that we have a great chance. The important thing is to have good team chemistry and play together and help each other out.
“It is important that we are working together and that is what Mark was looking for. We need to get along, play well together and have a good chemistry.
“The team chemistry wasn’t there last year. Some of the players didn’t get along, we weren’t supporting each other and we had a lot of negative energy. It will be different this year.
“We have new players and they have been playing well all year. Justin Bergman has had a good year and Justin Hall did well at the US Open. I am looking forward to playing with the new team members.
“The European team played well last year and they were dominant. I wasn’t really too happy about that but I think it will be different this year.
“All five members of Team EUROPE are playing well but my team, if we build the chemistry and get along, can overcome Europe and take the trophy home.”
