HOLLAND’S Niels Feijen is the first man to gain a spot on Team EUROPE as they look ahead to defending the Mosconi Cup at London’s Alexandra Palace from Tuesday to Friday 6th- 9thDecember. Feijen, 39, will be making his 12th appearance in the storied event which will put him third on the European all-time list and move him to fifth on the overall roster of total appearances.
The Dutchman sealed the deal on home territory as he won the Euro Tour Dutch Open at Leende at the weekend. He held off Mark Gray and Jayson Shaw to finish on top of the Euro Event ranking after the nine-event series.
“I’m over the moon! I didn't realize it was already my 12th appearance!” said a delighted Feijen.
“In Leende I didn't want to focus on the points, but try to win the event instead. Otherwise it works negative for me. But in the quarters against Roman Hybler a big crowd gathered around the arena table so I figured Mark Gray must have lost so this was the match to win, no way around it.
“But I still wasn't sure about the points. I never really calculated all that stuff, too negative. After that win, the pressure was off and I managed to win the Euro Tour, which was a great bonus cause it's my tenth win.
“It’s nice to get the qualifying thing out of the way and focus solely on the majors to come. I'm very excited to see the arena at the Alexandra Palace and of course the atmosphere with the hardcore fans! We will have a great team for sure; all the guys that are in the running are champions!”
There are two more tournaments to go – the US Open and the Kuwait Open – and two automatic spots to play for. Albin Ouschan leads the ‘World’ list while Feijen is in front on the ‘Combined’ list. In the eventuality that a single player finishes ahead on two or more of the lists, then the spots will go to the next highest placed player(s) on the Combined list.
European Rankings
1 Niels Feijen
2 Mark Gray
3 Jayson Shaw
4 David Alcaide 131
5 Nikos Ekonomopoulos 117
6 Ralf Souquet
7 Imran Majid
8 Joshua Filler
9 Wojciech Szewczyk 99
10 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 97
Combined Rankings
1 Niels Feijen
2 Mark Gray
3 Jayson Shaw
4 David Alcaide 144
5 Ralf Souquet
6 Albin Ouschan 139
7 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 137
8 Nikos Ekonomopoulos 130
9 Imran Majid
10 Mika Immonen 120
World Rankings
1 Albin Ouschan 93
T2 Dennis Grabe 53
T2 Alexander Kazakis 53
T4 Mario He 40
T4 Mika Immonen 40
T4 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 40
T4 Jayson Shaw 40
T8 Darren Appleton 27
T8 Artem Koshovoj
T8 Daryl Peach 27
For full rankings go to www.matchroompool.com/mosconi-
2016 MOSCONI CUP is sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supply the Official Table. The cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue of the event and Ultimate Team Gear provide all Mosconi Cup apparel.
