Team Europe completed an 11-3 rout of Team USA to lift the 30th Mosconi Cup at Alexandra Palace on Sunday, marking their fourth consecutive victory.
German Joshua Filler took home the MVP trophy for the second year running while it was Spaniard David Alcaide who sunk the winning nine ball, in a hill-hill finish during a singles match with American rookie Shane Wolford.
Russian-born Fedor Gorst defecting to team USA was not enough to make the score line any less harsh, as Europe’s talent went 4-0 up on the first day and were up 9-2 going into the final day.
Team Europe lift the Mosconi Cup. Credit: Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
The overall score now stands at 16 European wins to 13 American, with one tie. It’s a remarkable turnaround in fortunes between the teams, after USA won 10 out of the first 13 Mosconi Cups but are now commonly underdogs.
First-time European captain Ralph Eckert couldn’t believe his luck, as he led Europe to their 12th win in 14 years.
“You might think this will be the easiest job to manage the best players and you might think I will be the happiest man right now, and you would think right,” he said.
USA’s two recent wins came in the successive years of 2018, at Ally Pally, and 2019, in Las Vegas, as two-time MVP Skyler Woodward willed them to victory and managed two golden breaks on day three this year.
Gorst was involved in two of USA’s three wins, in doubles matches with Woodward and Shane Van Boening, while their other victory came as the experienced Van Boening beat Joshua Filler 5-2 in a singles match-up.
Team Europe players banked $40,000 each by claiming victory and relished the opportunity to play in front of the roaring crowds of up to 2,500, over the four day extravaganza.
Taking a rare break from pumping up fans, the energetic Jayson Shaw said: “I think I was born to play in moments like this.”
The outnumbered American spectators came with perhaps delusional hopes of a comeback on the final day, as even their Ted Lasso inspired ‘believe’ signs couldn’t prevent the inevitable. But if any group of fans could be trusted to stay around all night long to watch USA comeback from 9-2, it would be these Mosconi Cup fans.
That includes the Europeans, who regularly channelled Bruce Springsteen to remind Fedor Gorst he was (not) born in the USA. They were bolstered by a strong Spanish contingent, in support of the Spanish duo Alcaide and world number one Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.
American or European culture and cuisine? This answer might be subjective. But the Ryder and Mosconi Cups confirm Europe are objectively superior in terms of both golf and nine-ball-pool for 2023.
