Mika Immonen (born 17 December 1972) is a Finnish professional Hall of Fame pool player, nicknamed "The Iceman."

Career

Immonen won the 2001 WPA World Nine-ball Championship in

Cardiff, Wales Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingdo ...

. That same year, he was the runner-up to

Corey Deuel Corey Deuel (born November 20, 1977 in Santa Barbara, California) is an American professional pool player from West Jefferson, Ohio. Nicknamed "Prince of Pool", he won the US Open Nine-ball Championship in 2001, and has won many other major title ...

in the

US Open Nine-ball Championship The U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship is an annual professional men's nine-ball pool tournament that began in its current form in 1976. The U.S. Open is one of the most sought-after titles in nine-ball and in pool generally. Traditionally, winners of t ...

In 2002 he won the UPA International Ten-ball Championship. He has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the

Mosconi Cup The Mosconi Cup is an annual nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1994 between teams representing Europe and the United States. Named after American pool player Willie Mosconi, the event is comparable to the Ryder Cup in golf and the Weber ...

, most recently in 2013. During the 2008 event Immonen was crowned MVP, forever banishing bad memories of a costly miss in the final game of the 2006 event. In early 2009, Immonen was awarded the title of Player of the Year. Subsequently, he also claimed that title for season 2009 and was awarded early 2010. Immonen was born in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

, and is also an extremely accomplished

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

player, having amassed more than 100 century breaks. Immonen is a two-time Men's Division title-holder of the

, where the world's top professional billiard players compete in

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

. In 2009 Immonen won 14 straight matches, finishing with a close 13–10 victory over

Ralf Souquet Ralf Souquet ( ; born 29 November 1968) is a German professional pool player. His nickname is "The Kaiser". Since 1988, he has won more than 200 tournament titles, including 23 Euro Tour titles, 20 European Pool Championship and 12 German Pool ...

in the finals. On 26 October 2008, Immonen claimed a 13–7 victory and pocketed the first-place prize of US$40,000 against runner-up Filipino

Ronato Alcano Ronato (Ronnie) Alcano (pronounced al-kah-no) (born 27 July 1972 in Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines), is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed "Ronnie ''Calamba''" and "the Volcano". He won both the 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Champio ...

, who settled for $20,000. Immonen made it to the finals of the 2009 Dragon 14.1 Tournament, were he was defeated in the finals by Stephan Cohen of France. Also in 2009, Immonen bested Darren Appleton to win the

International Challenge of Champions The International Challenge of Champions is an annual nine-ball pool tournament held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has always been broadcast on ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming ...

, a tournament where he once reached the finals in 2002 but lost the sudden-death rack to Efren Reyes. In late November 2009 Immonen finally won his second World Title in Manila at the WPA World Ten-ball Championships. He Dominated the Philippine hope

Lee Van Corteza Lee Vann Corteza, also spelled Lee Van Corteza, (born 1 March 1979 in Davao City, Philippines) is a Filipino professional pool player.

in the finals 11–6. Billiard Congress of American Hall of Fame class of 2014, at age of 41. In September 2016, in New York, he won the Dragon 14.1 Tournament, defeating Earl Strickland 300–270 in the finals.

Career titles

Instructional Releases

In late 2008 Mika teamed up with Intrinsic Media to produce MASTERING POOL, a 3-part pocket billiard instructional series. The DVD series is packed with tips, techniques, systems, 3D animated diagrams, and expert commentary by Immonen himself.

External links

Mastering Pool Instructional DVD Series
* ttp://www.insidepoolmag.com/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/2008-US-Open-9-ball-Championship/ 2008 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship image gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Immonen, Mika Finnish pool players 1972 births Living people World champions in pool WPA World Nine-ball Champions WPA World Ten-ball Champions Straight pool world champions

Career

Career titles

Instructional Releases

See also

External links

References