Team USA comes back from a 3-0 deficit to tie Europe after Day One in Weber Cup, 3-3
10/20/07
The first session of the 2007 PartyPoker.com Weber Cup ended tied up at three matches each after an entertaining evening at the Barnsley Metrodome.
The Europeans had shot into an unexpected 3-0 lead following excellent wins from Paul Moor, Mika Koivuniemi and Osku Palermaa before big gun Doug Kent (pictured left) turned things around for the Americans with a hard fought victory over Tore Torgersen.
Then Tommy Jones blasted a stunning 300 game to narrow the deficit before the Americans took the final Baker game to level things up.
American captain Tim Mack was full of praise for team-mate Tommy Jones, who recorded a strike with every ball bowled on the opening day.
"That's why Tommy is the best bowler in the world, said Mack. "We needed him today and he didn't shoot a spare. He was perfect with 16 out of 16.
"Team Europe were great today but Doug threw a big double in the tenth (against Tore Torgersen) and that turned the day around. 3-3 looks a lot better than 4-2 or 5-1 as it was looking like it would be.
"You never get concerned, you just do things to help each other out and make sure we're all on the same page.
"It was a big team effort and this is now a great day for us as it was 3-3 after the Europeans were 3-0 up, but it's going to be a battle."
European captain Tomas Leandersson was still confident his side would win, despite losing the last three matches of the day.
"We got a really good run from the beginning at 3-0 but unfortunately Tore lost a really good game.
"In my game you can't win if you have a 300 against you and then the Baker - we never do well.
"Of course I'm happy with the team I've got. We cannot do much more than what we did today.
"The strength in our team is that everybody knows what to do and we know each other's games really well. Hopefully, we will be the winners this year."
Team Europe have taken the opening point of the 2007 PartyPoker.com Weber Cup as England’s Paul Moor got the better of Chris Barnes as a couple of mistakes from the American effectively handed the game to Moor.
Both players opened with three strikes but it was Barnes who was the first to crack as a 7/2 open frame in the fourth opened it up for Moor.
They both 9 spared the next frames but Moor could only spare the next two. The American though, once again left an open frame as he missed the single 7 pin.
Moor, who bowled a 300 game in the opening match of last year’s Weber Cup, struck in the sixth, 7th and 8th to leave his opponent looking for miracles. They did not materialize as Team Europe took the opening rubber courtesy of a 232 – 201 scoreline.
“It’s good to get the points on the board. Obviously not as good as last year’s start but a point’s a point,” said Moor.
“There’s a long way to go and psychologically it’s not a big thing. We’ve got no pressure on us though and we’re quietly confident,” he added.
Finland’s Mika Koivuniemi produced the goods for Team Europe in the second game, to increase their lead to 2-0 following a hard fought win over American captain Tim Mack.
Taking place at the Metrodome in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, the PartyPoker.com Weber Cup features two five-man teams from Europe and America doing battle in a series of singles and doubles matches – all live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Seven strikes out of the traps effectively did the damage as the intense Finn found the line early on.
Mack, by contrast, spared the fourth and fifth frames to derail his momentum and he was always facing an uphill struggle.
The American, who is renowned for his never-say-die fighting spirit, kept battling and four consecutive strikes, as Koivuniemi faltered in the eighth frame, gave him a chance.
Koivuniemi, though, closed the match out with two strikes and a spare to win by a 27 pin margin.
Another Finn, this time the 23 year-old Weber Cup debutante Osku Palermaa, turned on the style to dispose of an out of sorts Bill Hoffman.
Palermaa is one of those rare two-handed bowlers but his ability to hook the ball at speed paid dividends as he opened with four strikes.
Hoffman, who has played in 48 Weber Cup matches prior to tonight, left a dreaded open frame in the second and spared a couple of other early frames to let his opponent get ahead of him.
Palermaa’s scoring was too relentless for Hoffman and although the American got to grips with the conditions with four strikes at the end but it was too little too late.
Afterwards, Palermaa was happy to record his first ever Weber Cup point, “I have to be delighted with a win in my first game. There were butterflies in my stomach but I’m happy how it turned out,” he said.
“Of course, it’s a big honour to play in this event but I was very well prepared and proud of my start to the event.”
Current PBA Player of the Year Doug Kent drew first blood for Team USA as he got the better of European veteran Tore Torgersen by a six pin margin in an exciting contest that went right down to the wire.
Trailing 3-0 in the race to 16 game tournament taking place at the Barnsley Metrodome in South Yorkshire, there was plenty of pressure on Kent, the 40 year-old from New York State.
He started out with two strikes and two 9 spares as Torgersen opened with a spare but then blasted five strikes on the spin to keep his chances alive.
Kent though, responded with five strikes of his own to put himself in the driving seat but the 39 year-old Norwegian closed the match with four strikes to leave Kent needing to make strikes to win.
He dug deep though to make the requisite two strikes to clinch a fine win.
“That one felt good as we needed to get on the board,” said Kent.
“They kept pressure on us with a good start, but we’ve now got some momentum,” he added.
If team USA were looking for continuing momentum then they got plenty of it in the next match as Tommy Jones, the 2006 US Open Champion, scored only the second 300 game in the eight year history of the PartyPoker.com Weber Cup.
The 28 year-old from South Carolina rolled home 12 consecutive strikes to go into the bowling record books, and furthermore, everyone of them was a solid, in-the-pocket shot.
Jones’ opponent, European captain Tomas Leandersson, could only watch and admire the American’s skill and consistency.
The Swede’s spares in the second, fourth, sixth and seventh frames effectively reduced him to spectator status as Jones marched on to maximum glory as he got the score back to 3-2 in favour of Europe.
USA 3 – 3 EUROPE
Chris Barnes 201 - 232 Paul Moor
Tim Mack 240 – 267 Mika Koivuniemi
Bill Hoffman 206 - 237 Osku Palermaa
Doug Kent 264 – 258 Tore Torgersen
Tommy Jones 300 - 204 Tomas Leandersson
USA 234 – 215 Europe
England
Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England (Oct. 19-21, 2007)
The first session of the 2007 PartyPoker.com Weber Cup ended tied up at three matches each after an entertaining evening at the Barnsley Metrodome. The Europeans had shot into an unexpected 3-0 lead following excellent wins from Paul Moor, Mika Koivuniemi and Osku Palermaa before big gun Doug Kent (pictured left) turned things around for the Americans with a hard fought victory over Tore Torgersen.
Then Tommy Jones blasted a stunning 300 game to narrow the deficit before the Americans took the final Baker game to level things up.
American captain Tim Mack was full of praise for team-mate Tommy Jones, who recorded a strike with every ball bowled on the opening day.
"That's why Tommy is the best bowler in the world, said Mack. "We needed him today and he didn't shoot a spare. He was perfect with 16 out of 16.
"Team Europe were great today but Doug threw a big double in the tenth (against Tore Torgersen) and that turned the day around. 3-3 looks a lot better than 4-2 or 5-1 as it was looking like it would be.
"You never get concerned, you just do things to help each other out and make sure we're all on the same page.
"It was a big team effort and this is now a great day for us as it was 3-3 after the Europeans were 3-0 up, but it's going to be a battle."
European captain Tomas Leandersson was still confident his side would win, despite losing the last three matches of the day.
"We got a really good run from the beginning at 3-0 but unfortunately Tore lost a really good game.
"In my game you can't win if you have a 300 against you and then the Baker - we never do well.
"Of course I'm happy with the team I've got. We cannot do much more than what we did today.
"The strength in our team is that everybody knows what to do and we know each other's games really well. Hopefully, we will be the winners this year."
Team Europe have taken the opening point of the 2007 PartyPoker.com Weber Cup as England’s Paul Moor got the better of Chris Barnes as a couple of mistakes from the American effectively handed the game to Moor.
Both players opened with three strikes but it was Barnes who was the first to crack as a 7/2 open frame in the fourth opened it up for Moor.
They both 9 spared the next frames but Moor could only spare the next two. The American though, once again left an open frame as he missed the single 7 pin.
Moor, who bowled a 300 game in the opening match of last year’s Weber Cup, struck in the sixth, 7th and 8th to leave his opponent looking for miracles. They did not materialize as Team Europe took the opening rubber courtesy of a 232 – 201 scoreline.
“It’s good to get the points on the board. Obviously not as good as last year’s start but a point’s a point,” said Moor.
“There’s a long way to go and psychologically it’s not a big thing. We’ve got no pressure on us though and we’re quietly confident,” he added.
Finland’s Mika Koivuniemi produced the goods for Team Europe in the second game, to increase their lead to 2-0 following a hard fought win over American captain Tim Mack.
Taking place at the Metrodome in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, the PartyPoker.com Weber Cup features two five-man teams from Europe and America doing battle in a series of singles and doubles matches – all live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Seven strikes out of the traps effectively did the damage as the intense Finn found the line early on.
Mack, by contrast, spared the fourth and fifth frames to derail his momentum and he was always facing an uphill struggle.
The American, who is renowned for his never-say-die fighting spirit, kept battling and four consecutive strikes, as Koivuniemi faltered in the eighth frame, gave him a chance.
Koivuniemi, though, closed the match out with two strikes and a spare to win by a 27 pin margin.
Another Finn, this time the 23 year-old Weber Cup debutante Osku Palermaa, turned on the style to dispose of an out of sorts Bill Hoffman.
Palermaa is one of those rare two-handed bowlers but his ability to hook the ball at speed paid dividends as he opened with four strikes.
Hoffman, who has played in 48 Weber Cup matches prior to tonight, left a dreaded open frame in the second and spared a couple of other early frames to let his opponent get ahead of him.
Palermaa’s scoring was too relentless for Hoffman and although the American got to grips with the conditions with four strikes at the end but it was too little too late.
Afterwards, Palermaa was happy to record his first ever Weber Cup point, “I have to be delighted with a win in my first game. There were butterflies in my stomach but I’m happy how it turned out,” he said.
“Of course, it’s a big honour to play in this event but I was very well prepared and proud of my start to the event.”
Current PBA Player of the Year Doug Kent drew first blood for Team USA as he got the better of European veteran Tore Torgersen by a six pin margin in an exciting contest that went right down to the wire.
Trailing 3-0 in the race to 16 game tournament taking place at the Barnsley Metrodome in South Yorkshire, there was plenty of pressure on Kent, the 40 year-old from New York State.
He started out with two strikes and two 9 spares as Torgersen opened with a spare but then blasted five strikes on the spin to keep his chances alive.
Kent though, responded with five strikes of his own to put himself in the driving seat but the 39 year-old Norwegian closed the match with four strikes to leave Kent needing to make strikes to win.
He dug deep though to make the requisite two strikes to clinch a fine win.
“That one felt good as we needed to get on the board,” said Kent.
“They kept pressure on us with a good start, but we’ve now got some momentum,” he added.
If team USA were looking for continuing momentum then they got plenty of it in the next match as Tommy Jones, the 2006 US Open Champion, scored only the second 300 game in the eight year history of the PartyPoker.com Weber Cup.
The 28 year-old from South Carolina rolled home 12 consecutive strikes to go into the bowling record books, and furthermore, everyone of them was a solid, in-the-pocket shot.
Jones’ opponent, European captain Tomas Leandersson, could only watch and admire the American’s skill and consistency.
The Swede’s spares in the second, fourth, sixth and seventh frames effectively reduced him to spectator status as Jones marched on to maximum glory as he got the score back to 3-2 in favour of Europe.
Weber Cup - Standings after six Matches
USA 3 – 3 EUROPE
Chris Barnes 201 - 232 Paul Moor
Tim Mack 240 – 267 Mika Koivuniemi
Bill Hoffman 206 - 237 Osku Palermaa
Doug Kent 264 – 258 Tore Torgersen
Tommy Jones 300 - 204 Tomas Leandersson
USA 234 – 215 Europe