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 Cup in bowling.
Team composition and formats have varied over the years. As of 2024 [update] , each team has five playing members. [1] 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.
On 3 December 2024, Team Europe beat Team USA 11–6, kept the title and took an overall series lead of 17–13, with one tie.
First staged in 1994 by Sky Sports and Matchroom Sport as an exhibition event to increase public awareness of pool in the United Kingdom, the Mosconi Cup was named to commemorate the legacy of American pool player Willie Mosconi, who died in 1993.
In the first year of competition, each team featured six men and two women, with Germany's Franziska Stark and England's Allison Fisher on Team Europe, and Jeanette Lee and Vivian Villarreal on Team USA. No women appeared after the initial event, although Kelly Fisher in 2021 called on organizers to reinstate female players. [2] In the event's early years, professional snooker players Ronnie O'Sullivan, Jimmy White, Alex Higgins, and Steve Davis all competed on Team Europe.
Staged in England for its first nine years, the Mosconi Cup from 2003 to 2024 alternated annually between the US and Europe. Most U.S tournaments taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada other than in 2024 event being held in Orlando, Florida. Most of the European tournaments taking place in England other than 2004 and 2006 which were held in the Netherlands and the 2008 event being held in Malta.
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, at which he appeared as both a player and a BBC 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 earned a place by virtue of his performance on the European Pool Tour.
Team USA initially dominated the tournament, winning 10 of the first 12 tournaments between 1994 and 2005, including 6 consecutive victories from 1996 to 2001. The 2006 tournament was a tie. Since then, Team Europe has dominated the tournament, winning 15 of the 18 events staged between 2007 and 2024, including 8 consecutive victories from 2010 to 2017. The overall series record now stands at 17–13 to Team Europe.
Joshua Filler of Germany became the youngest player to participate in the Mosconi Cup at 20 years old, in 2017. Earl Strickland of the United States became the oldest player to participate in the Mosconi Cup at 61 years old, in 2022. [3]
The record for the most Mosconi Cup appearances is 18, held jointly by USA's Shane Van Boening. The record for the most Mosconi Cup wins is 9, held jointly by both USA's Earl Strickland and Johnny Archer.
The players to have appeared in the Mosconi Cup: [4]
Legend | P = playing team member | NP = non-playing member |
---|
The players to have been on a winning team in the Mosconi Cup: [4]
Legend | WP = winning playing team member | WNP = winning non-playing member |
---|
European players
| American players
|
Players from sixteen nations have represented Europe. Sorted by number of different people, (number of appearances), and alphabetically, these are:
15 (44) England | 6 (40) Germany | 4 (23) Netherlands | 2 (12) Sweden |
2 (4) Greece | 1 (15) Finland | 1 (7) Scotland | 1 (6) Austria |
1 (5) Albania | 2 (9) Spain | 1 (2) Malta | 1 (1) France |
1 (1) Ireland | 1 (1) Italy | 1 (1) Northern Ireland | 2 (2) Russia |
1 (1) Denmark |
Players from twenty-three states have represented the United States (Fedor Gorst, Charlie Williams and Johan Ruijsink were all born outside of the US). Ordered as above, these are:
4 (28) California | 4 (19) Texas | 4 (8) Illinois | 3 (18) North Carolina |
3 (14) Kentucky | 3 (8) New York | 3 (7) Pennsylvania | 2 (7) Ohio |
2 (2) New Jersey | 1 (17) Georgia | 1 (18) South Dakota | 1 (5) Missouri |
2 (5) Oklahoma | 1 (5) Wisconsin | 1 (4) Maine | 1 (3) Michigan |
1 (2) Mississippi | 2 (2) Virginia | 1 (2) Tennessee | 1 (2) Indiana |
1 (1) Florida | 1 (1) Kansas | 1 (1) Maryland |
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 scotch doubles . In 2005, a 30-second shot clock 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: [6]
Year | Venue | Winners | Score | Losers | MVP | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | Romford, London, England | USA | 16–12 | Europe | – | [7] |
1995 | Basildon, Essex, England | Europe | 16–15 | USA | – | [8] |
1996 | Dagenham, London, England | USA | 15–13 | Europe | – | [9] |
1997 | Bethnal Green, London, England | USA | 13–8 | Europe | – | [10] |
1998 | Bethnal Green, London, England | USA | 13–9 | Europe | – | [11] |
1999 | Bethnal Green, London, England | USA | 12–7 | Europe | – | [12] |
2000 | Bethnal Green, London, England | USA | 12–9 | Europe | – | [13] |
2001 | Bethnal Green, London, England | USA | 12–1 | Europe | – | [14] |
2002 | Bethnal Green, London, England | Europe | 12–9 | USA | – | [15] |
2003 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | USA | 11–9 | Europe | Mika Immonen | [16] [17] |
2004 | Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands | USA | 12–9 | Europe | Rodney Morris | [18] [19] |
2005 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | USA | 11–6 | Europe | Earl Strickland | [20] [21] |
2006 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Tied | 12–12 | Tied | Corey Deuel | [22] |
2007 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Europe | 11–8 | USA | Tony Drago | [23] [24] |
2008 | St. Julian's, Malta | Europe | 11–5 | USA | Mika Immonen | [25] [26] |
2009 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | USA | 11–7 | Europe | Dennis Hatch | [27] [28] |
2010 | Bethnal Green, London, England | Europe | 11–8 | USA | Darren Appleton | [29] |
2011 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Europe | 11–7 | USA | Niels Feijen | [30] [31] |
2012 | Bethnal Green, London, England | Europe | 11–9 | USA | Chris Melling | [32] [33] |
2013 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Europe | 11–2 | USA | Niels Feijen | [34] [35] |
2014 | Tower Circus, Blackpool, England | Europe | 11–5 | USA | Niels Feijen | [36] [37] |
2015 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Europe | 11–7 | USA | Niels Feijen | [38] |
2016 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | Europe | 11–3 | USA | Albin Ouschan | [39] |
2017 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Europe | 11–4 | USA | Joshua Filler | [40] |
2018 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | USA | 11–9 | Europe | Skyler Woodward | [41] |
2019 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | USA | 11–8 | Europe | Skyler Woodward | [42] |
2020 | Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England | Europe | 11–3 | USA | Jayson Shaw | [43] |
2021 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | Europe | 11–6 | USA | Jayson Shaw | [44] |
2022 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Europe | 11–7 | USA | Joshua Filler | [45] |
2023 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | Europe | 11–3 | USA | Joshua Filler | [46] |
2024 | Caribe Royale, Orlando, Florida, United States | Europe | 11-6 | USA | Jayson Shaw | [47] |
Matchroom Sport is a UK-based sporting event promotions company founded by Barry Hearn and run by him and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, golf, fishing, darts, table tennis, poker and gymnastics. The company is based in Brentwood, Essex.
Alex Lely is a Dutch former professional pool player. Lely won the 1999 World Pool Masters after defeating Efren Reyes 7–5, and reached the final in 2000 but lost to Ralf Souquet 7–3. He is a two-time European champion having won the nine-ball and eight-ball at the 2005 European Pool Championships.
David Alcaide Bermúdez is a Spanish professional pool player. He is a two-time winner of the World Pool Masters, winning the 2017 event, defeating Jayson Shaw 8–7 in the final, and again in 2019 defeating Alexander Kazakis 9–8. Alcaide is a three-time world championship semi-finalist having reached the stage at the WPA World 10-ball Championship, in 2009 and 2015, and the WPA World Eight-ball Championship in 2011.
Nick van den Berg is a Dutch professional pool player. He was the runner up at the 2005 WPA World Eight-ball Championship, where he lost to Wu Chia-ching 11–5 in the final. He is a multiple time winner of events on the Euro Tour, winning 10 tournaments between 2002 and 2017, the fourth highest in the history of the tour. A six-time winner of the European Pool Championships, Van den Berg has represented Europe at the Mosconi Cup on eight occasions, winning the event on six occasions as well as tying the event in 2006.
Marcus Chamat is a Swedish professional eight-ball and nine-ball pool player. He was nicknamed "Napoleon" due to his personality and standing at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) tall. He is a two time European Pool Championships winner and one of the most successful players on the Euro Tour, winning four events and finishing runner-up twice. Chamat reached the semi-finals of the 2004 WPA World Nine-Ball and the 2008 WPA World Eight-Ball Championships but did not reach the final of a world championship event.
Daryl Peach is an English professional pool player, from Lancashire, who resides in Blackpool, England. He won the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, where he defeated the Philippines' Roberto Gomez 17–15 in the final to become the first British player to win the WPA World Nine-ball Championship.
Darren Appleton is an English professional pool player, best known for playing Eight-ball, Nine-ball and Ten-ball pool.
Christopher Melling is an English professional pool and snooker player from Keighley, Bradford, West Yorkshire. He is a former world number 1 at World Rules British Eight-Ball. He won the WEPF World Eightball Championship twice, in 2001 and 2003. He was ranked #1 in 2003 by the World Eightball Pool Federation. Melling has also twice won the International Pool Masters and the European Professional title (2002). He was the first player to win two International Tour events back to back. His entrance by walk-on music is from the song “Wannabe” by Spice Girls. Melling is also the only cue sports player to hold professional status in English 8 ball, American pool and snooker.
The 2009 Mosconi Cup, the 16th edition of the annual nine-ball pool competition between teams representing Europe and the United States, took place 10–13 December 2009 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 2010 Mosconi Cup, the 17th edition of the annual nine-ball pool competition between teams representing Europe and the United States, took place 9–12 December 2010 at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, England.
The 2011 Mosconi Cup, the 18th edition of the annual nine-ball pool competition between teams representing Europe and the United States, took place 8–11 December 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 2013 PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup, the 20th edition of the annual nine-ball pool competition between teams representing Europe and the United States, took place 2–4 December 2013 at the Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 2015 PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup, the 22nd edition of the annual nine-ball pool competition between teams representing Europe and the United States, took place 7–10 December 2015 at the Tropicana in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 2018 Mosconi Cup, was the 25th edition of the annual nine-ball pool competition between teams representing Europe and the United States. It took place between 4–7 December 2018 at the Alexandra Palace in London, England and was sponsored by partypoker.
Jayson Shaw is a Scottish professional pool player. In 2010, Shaw was a WPA World Blackball Champion.
Skyler Woodward is an American professional pool player. At the 2017 World Cup of Pool, he was the runner up, alongside Shane Van Boening. Woodward has represented the United States each year in the Mosconi Cup since the 2015 Mosconi Cup. At the 2018 and 2019 events Woodward was voted the Most Valuable Player.
The 2019 Mosconi Cup was a team nine-ball tournament. The event is the 26th Mosconi Cup event, first held in 1994. The competition features matches between teams of five representing Europe and the United States. The event was held at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, United States from 25 to 28 November 2019. The event is based on the similar Ryder Cup series of events held in golf.
Johan Ruijsink is a Dutch professional pool manager and coach who captained both the European and American teams at the Mosconi Cup. He captained the European team to draw the 2006 Mosconi Cup, and later won six events between 2007 and 2014, going undefeated as European captain. Ruijsink took over as American captain in 2017, and won the 2018 and 2019 Mosconi Cup events.
The 2020 Mosconi Cup was a team nine-ball tournament, between teams representing Europe and the United States. It was the 27th edition of the competition and took place between 1–4 December 2020. The event was originally scheduled to be held at the Alexandra Palace in London, however it was moved to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry with the whole event behind closed doors in a COVID-19 secure bubble. The coronavirus pandemic also affected the team selection, with Corey Deuel replacing Justin Bergman for Team USA after Bergman tested positive for COVID-19. Team USA were defending champions, having won the two previous tournaments. After a close first day, Team Europe were 3–2 ahead but only lost one further match, winning the cup 11–3. Jayson Shaw won the Most Valuable Player award for the first time after winning all his singles and doubles matches.
The 2021 Mosconi Cup was the 28th edition of an annual nine-ball pool tournament between teams representing Europe and the United States. It took place between 7 and 10 December 2021 at the Alexandra Palace in London, marking the second consecutive year that the tournament had been staged in England, and the first time since 2002 that the event did not alternate annually between the US and Europe. Sponsored by British online car retailer Cazoo, it was broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and on networks worldwide.