Team USA has taken a commanding 6-3 lead at the 2003 Mosconi Cup.
The day started with the US Team holding a slim 3-2 lead, but that changed with the first match when Jeremy Jones of the US defeated Marcus Chamat 5-3. Marcus won the first game when he made 4 balls included the 9-ball on the break, but Jeremy won the next three games with near perfect play. Chamat ran out rack 5 to pull back within one at 3-2, but Jeremy broke and ran the next rack to get to 4-2. A bad kick by Jones in the next rack allowed Chamat back to 4-3. In the end, it was Chamat leaving Jones the edge of a ball on a safety attempt and Jones running out for the win.
The next match saw Earl Strickland and Tony Robles team up to take on Steve Davis and Nick Van Den Berg. Both teams won on their break for the first four racks, although Robles struggled with his game. Thing turned in rack 5 when the US won a long safety battle and Robles fired in a 2-9 carom to give the US team a 3-2 lead. A miss by Robles in the next rack allowed Davis to run out and knot the match at 3-3, but the US team won the next game to get to 4-3. The 8th rack saw Van Den Berg leave an opening after a safety attempt and Robles came to the table facing a tough shot to the side pocket on the 2-ball. Robles banked the 2-ball cross side and rolled to perfect shape on the 3-ball before he ran out the rack for the match win and a 5-2 lead for Team USA.
Match three was between unbeaten Mika Immonen and Charlie Williams. Williams took on a couple risky shots early and found himself trailing 4-1, but clawed his way back to 4-4 on his break. Nothing fell on his break however, and Mika drained a 1-9 combo for the match.
Match four went by quickly as the team of Rodney Morris and Johnny Archer took no time in defeating Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann. Morris is definitely proving his worth at this event and he did not let down the US team in this match. Morris ran out from everywhere and played lock-up safes to lead the US team to a 5-1 victory.
That proved to be the final match of the day with the US leading 6-3 going into Day Three. Follow all the action at the official Mosconi Cup site at www.mosconicup.com.
