Souquet on American Mosconi Cup Team Complete

Matchroom Sport has announced that Jeremy Jones and Earl Strickland have been chosen to fill the final two spots in the American line-up at the 2008 PartyCasino.com Mosconi Cup.

The pair will join Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer and Rodney Morris on the American side, which was upset by the Europeans last year in Las Vegas. The only change from 2007 team is the substitution of Jones for Corey Deuel.

The American team not be lacking in experience, with Strickland making his 13th appearance and Archer his 12th. All in all, the five Americans have a total of 35 appearances at the yearly Ryder Cup-style event.

Van Boening is by far the greenest member of Team USA, though he may also be the most feared. In his Mosconi Cup debut last year, the 25-year-old South Dakotan won three of his five matches.

Though Strickland has struggled in international singles events, he has always been a force at the Mosconi Cup. Of the 61 player to compete in the event, Strickland has the best record, winning a staggering 37 of his 56 matches.

“I’m a more intelligent player than most of these guys. I’m working hard and I think I’m close to being back to my very best," he said. "The Mosconi Cup is my kind of tournament, and I’m looking forward to doing my best for the U.S.A. in Malta.”

Looking to win a second straight Cup for the first time in the event's 15th year, Team Europe will consist of Ralf Souquet, Mark Gray, Tony Drago, Niels Feijen and Mika Immonen.

Souquet Sent West at U.S. Billiards Championship

In the 7 p.m. round, Ralf Souquet survived a 48-hour stretch without sleeping to only arrive in Chesapeake and get 7 hours of sleep before his match against Northeastern regional player Manny Chau. Souquet was flying in from Switzerland, where he just won back-to-back EuroTour events, something that has not been accomplished in years. Though he suffered from a headache and general malaise Monday evening, he experienced few troubles sending Chau west 11-3.

However, his next match against Chris Szuter did not go so well for “The Surgeon.” Leading 5-3, Souquet faltered and allowed Szuter to catch up. The Canton, OH, room owner not only caught up, he put the screws to Souquet, taking over and reaching the hill 10-6. He missed the 3 ball badly, but Souquet failed to get shape on the 5 with ball in hand and gave control back to Szuter, who won the match 11-6.

Steve Moore matched up with John Kutcher, who owns the poolroom Sharks in Las Vegas. With his break in full gear, Moore dominated the match from the beginning, going from a 5-2 lead up to a 9-4 lead before closing things out at 11-4.

Action Heats Up at U.S. Open

Putting the term "open" in the title of a major sporting event implies that anybody has a chance of lining up next to the world's finest. On Day 2 of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, three former champs were knocked out of the winners bracket by a trio of unheralded opponents.

2002 Open winner Ralf Souquet was bounced leftward by Chris Szuter. Souquet, who won the EuroTour's stop in Switzerland on Saturday, was never a serious threat to Szuter, whose best finish of '08 was 13th at August's Turning Stone event. The unheralded American easily finished off his upset over Souquet, 11-6.

Jeremy Jones and John Schmidt were also victims of the annual round of early upsets at the Open. Jones dropped a second-round hill-hill match to Mike Badsteubner after leading by as many as four games. Schmidt fell by an 11-6 score to Beau Runningen.

While former U.S. Open winners struggled, some reigning champions advanced without incident into the third round. Last year's winner Shane Van Boening topped Troy Miller, 11-7. Reigning 9-ball world champ Daryl Peach and recently crowned World 10-Ball titlist Darren Appleton also won their second-round matches.