Can Europe Retain the Mosconi Cup in 2017?

Nov 20, 2017

Christmas a little comes early this year for Pool fans as the Mosconi Cup gets underway once again with the 2017 staging taking place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in early December. Europe have dominated over the past few years and will be aiming to make it eight consecutive victories in the competition, while the USA team will be hoping to collect the trophy for the first time since 2009.

Source: Tim Lavigne via Twitter
The European team looks suitably strong for the 24th staging of the annual event with Marcus Chamat selecting in-form Jayson Shaw to help lead the side into this three-day event. The Scot is ranked 2nd in the world and has recently been victorious in the US Open and will be flying the flag for Europe. He's only made one previous appearance in this competition and is joined by Spanish veteran David Alcaide who recently wrapped up the 2017 World Pool Masters.
Josh Filler, Nick Van Den Berg and the vastly experienced Ralf Souquet also qualified for the event. It's a typically strong line-up and captain Chamat is confident his side can defend their title saying "...I believe that we have a very strong squad to go to Vegas and make a successful defence of the Mosconi Cup". The Swede admitted he struggled to narrow his team down to just five players and praised the number of top competitors who are currently plying their trade in Europe. Some fans expressed their shock at the changes within the team especially Dutch maestro Niels Feijen missing out on a place in the side.
Europe start as odds-on favourites to make it an eight consecutive victory in the tournament with Pool betting recently becoming one of the all new categories offered by Sportsbet.io which is a new online bitcoin sportsbook. Punters can also take a bigger price on the USA with many fans suggesting this could be the year they successfully wrestle back the title.