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The Mosconi Cup is an annual nine-ball
pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...
tournament contested since
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
between teams representing
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Named after American pool player
Willie Mosconi William Joseph Mosconi (; June 27, 1913 – September 17, 1993) was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between the years of 1941 and 1956, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. For mo ...
, the event is comparable to the Ryder Cup in
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
and the
Weber Cup The Weber Cup, named after bowling legend Dick Weber, is a men's ten-pin bowling competition between Team Europe and Team USA. The teams competing over three days in a series of singles, doubles and team (baker) matches. The Weber Cup is equiv ...
in
bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...
. Team composition and formats have varied over the years. Currently, each team has five playing members. Each team also has a captain and vice captain, who may be among the players, or may be non-playing additional members of the team. The teams compete over one team match, several doubles matches and singles matches, with the first team to win 11 matches claiming victory. Latest edition:
Team Europe Team Europe may refer to a number of sports team using the designate to represent a unified team of European countries in sporting competitions. Whilst neither the European Union nor the Council of Europe are countries themselves, European teams ...
has beaten Team USA 11–7 on 3 December 2022, kept the title and taking an overall series lead at 15–13, with one tie.


History and player selection

First staged in 1994 by
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
and
Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, go ...
as an exhibition event to increase public awareness of pool in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, the Mosconi Cup was named to commemorate the legacy of American pool player
Willie Mosconi William Joseph Mosconi (; June 27, 1913 – September 17, 1993) was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between the years of 1941 and 1956, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. For mo ...
, who died in 1993. In the first year of competition, each team featured six men and two women, with Germany's
Franziska Stark Franziska Stark (born 4 July 1961) is a German pool player. A winner of 24 Individual German Championships (7 in 8-Ball, 5 in 9-Ball and 12 in 14.1), she has also had considerable international success. Her career highlight so far has been wi ...
and England's
Allison Fisher Allison Fisher (born 24 February 1968) is an English professional pool and former professional snooker player. Biography Fisher was born on 24 February 1968 in Cheshunt and grew up in Tonbridge, Kent and lived later in Peacehaven, East Susse ...
on Team Europe, and
Jeanette Lee Jeanette Lee (born Lee Jin-Hee, Hangul: 이진희, July 9, 1971, in Brooklyn, New York) is a Korean-American professional pool player. She was nicknamed the Black Widow by her friends because, in spite of her sweet demeanor, she would "eat peop ...
and
Vivian Villarreal Vivian Villarreal (born 30 January 1965) is a former professional American pool player. She was the World Pool-Billiard Association world number one women's player for five years, and has twice been runner up in the WPA World Nine-ball Champions ...
on Team USA. No women appeared after the initial event, although
Kelly Fisher Kelly Fisher (born 25 August 1978) is an English professional pool, snooker and English billiards player. Career Fisher grew up in South Elmsall, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire. She learned to play pool in her parents' pub and took up snooke ...
in 2021 called on organizers to reinstate female players. In the event's early years, professional
snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
players
Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...
,
Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...
,
Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was Worl ...
, and
Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...
all competed on Team Europe. Staged in England for its first nine years, the Mosconi Cup from 2003 to
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
alternated annually between the US and Europe, with all US-based tournaments taking place in
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
and most European tournaments taking place in England. The Mosconi Cups of 2004 and
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
were held in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and the
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
event was held in
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. In 2020 and
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
, two consecutive Mosconi Cups were held in England. As time progressed, the event evolved from its exhibition nature into a much more serious and professional tournament. Among the snooker players, only Davis continued into the event's more serious era, competing in the first eleven Mosconi Cups and bowing out only when the event began to clash with snooker's
UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...
, at which he appeared as both a player and a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
commentator. After Davis's withdrawal, all players had to earn an invitation through their performances at other pool events, meaning that no more snooker players appeared until 2007 when
Tony Drago Tony Drago (born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 G ...
earned a place by virtue of his performance on the European Pool Tour. Both teams have dominated the tournament for extended periods. Team USA won ten of the first twelve tournaments between 1994 and 2005, including six consecutive victories. The 2006 tournament was a tie, and Team Europe then won ten times in eleven years between 2007 and 2017, including eight consecutive victories. The overall series record now stands at 14–13 to Team Europe. Joshua Filler of
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
became the youngest player to participate in the Mosconi Cup at 20 years old, in 2017.
Earl Strickland Earl Strickland (born June 8, 1961) is an American professional pool player who is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time. He has won over 100 championship titles and three world titles. In 2006 he was inducted into the Billiar ...
of the
USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
became the oldest player to participate in the Mosconi Cup at 61 years old, in 2022. The record for the most Mosconi Cup appearances is 17, held jointly by Germany's
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 C ...
and the USA's
Johnny Archer Johnny Archer (born November 12, 1968 in Waycross, Georgia) is an American professional pool player. He is nicknamed "the Scorpion" (his zodiac sign is Scorpio, and one of his sponsors is Scorpion Cues). On June 8, 2009, Johnny Archer was nom ...
. The record for the most Mosconi Cup wins is 9, held jointly by USA's
Johnny Archer Johnny Archer (born November 12, 1968 in Waycross, Georgia) is an American professional pool player. He is nicknamed "the Scorpion" (his zodiac sign is Scorpio, and one of his sponsors is Scorpion Cues). On June 8, 2009, Johnny Archer was nom ...
and the USA's
Earl Strickland Earl Strickland (born June 8, 1961) is an American professional pool player who is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time. He has won over 100 championship titles and three world titles. In 2006 he was inducted into the Billiar ...
.


Player appearances

The players to have appeared in the Mosconi Cup:


European players


American players

* 1 Born outside the United States


Player wins

The players to have been on a winning team in the Mosconi Cup:


European players


American players

* 1 Born outside the United States


Player representation


European nations

Players from sixteen nations have represented Europe. Sorted by number of different people, (number of appearances), and alphabetically, these are:


American states

Players from twenty-two states have represented the United States (Charlie Williams and Johan Ruijsink were both born outside of the US). Ordered as above, these are:


Tournament modifications

There have been rule changes and format changes throughout the tournament's history. These include, but are not limited to: "Non-playing captain" roles were introduced in the 2003 event; however these were removed in the 2004 tournament. In 2004 the doubles matches were re-formatted to be . In 2005, a 30-second
shot clock A shot clock is a countdown timer used in a variety of games and sports, proving a set amount of time that a team may possess the object of play before attempting to score a goal. Shot clocks are used in several sports including basketball, wat ...
was introduced, and caused controversy due to timing malfunctions. The 2006 tournament started with a team-versus-team match followed by two trebles matches. That year also saw the reintroduction of the non-playing captain role. The 2009 tournament included several new features: * No pairing in the doubles matches could be repeated. * The event included four blocks of consecutive matches, organized so that five slots were available for each side, in which every player was required to play exactly once. * In two singles matches, each player was selected by the opposing team captain.


Results by year


See also

*


References


External links

* {{Cue sports nav Pool competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1994 1994 establishments in England Annual sporting events December sporting events