December 10th | Europe on the hill

It was a great day for Europe, as USA failed to step up to the plate. Despite USA's great form, yesterday, they were not able to reproduce it today. Even worse, they didn't show any confidence. Their body language showed weakness. Europe won today's session 4-1, bringing the score to Europe 10-5 USA. Europe on the hill and one more match to win. USA needs to win all matches, tomorrow, all six.

Ralf Souquet and Niels Feijen victorious	Niels Feijen in the match against Putnam and Dechaine

In the first match, Darren Appleton and Niels Feijen outclassed opponents Shawn Putnam and Mike Dechaine. Shawn Putnam 'dogged it' in the match against Darren Appleton. It didn't come near to the 2011 US 9ball Open final, where they faced eachother. The only common factor was that Appleton won. Niels Feijen and Ralf Souquet paired up for the second doubles match against Johnny Archer and Rodney Morris. It looked like a rerun from the 2008 Mosconi Cup in Malta, where the pairing Feijen and Souquet played immaculately.

Shane Van Boening saved the day for Team USA and snatched the only point. He won the thriller double hiller against Nick van den Berg, who was trailing all the way to 5-5. Nick broke the last rack... a dry break. Shane went for the kill.

The last match was the battle of the rookies. Chris Melling displayed great shooting, the level needed to succeed in the Euro Tour. Whereas Mike Dechaine's last resort was an attempt to hustle and shark Melling. Not worthy of the Mosconi Cup.

Appleton/Feijen 6-3 Putnam/Dechaine, Europe 7-4 USA
Darren Appleton 6-2 Shawn Putnam, Europe 8-4 USA
Feijen/Souquet 6-2 Archer/Morris, Europe 9-4 USA
Nick Van den Berg 5-6 Shane Van Boening, Europe 9-5 USA
Chris Melling 6-2 Mike Dechaine, Europe 10-5 USA

Who will the captains line up tomorrow!?