Mosconi Cup 2007 - Strickland vs. Souquet - Last 3 racks 1/3

Souquet defeated Strickland 6-4 to give the Europeans an overall 9-6 lead but there were some ugly scenes at the end of the match.

The German celebrated his victory with his team mates and then went over to shake his opponent's hand. However, the furious American hurled abuse at Souquet and threw his hand away from him.

That led to an angry exchange as Tony Drago (pictured) screamed at Strickland, who was being booed by the crowd, before someone, either a European competitor or fan, threw a dummy at the US player.

The match had been threatening to boil over as Strickland complained to referee Michaela Tabb twice about her positioning of the 2-ball in the rack as The Pearl was also arguing with the spectators as well.

With the score at 5-3, just as Strickland was about to shoot he looked up at The Kaiser and said 'you're more lucky than you are good!'

Commentator Jim Wych was unhappy with Strickland's antics. "We've seen it all before," said Wych.

"But I can't stand the way he ended that match. You should shake your opponent's hand with respect and he made a big mistake. Earl is losing a lot of fans."

Souquet added: "He (Earl) is sometimes a tough opponent but I actually like to play him. Sometimes he goes over the line and he called me some names.

"On the first day we did not act or play like a team and the team spirit is much better now. We have a three-game lead, which does not mean anything.

"We've got a long way to go to get over the finish line."

Souquet took the lead when he sunk the 9-ball into a blind pocket before an illegal break from Strickland followed by a foul in his next shot took the score to 2-0 to the German.

He broke and ran out the next and Strickland did the same in the fourth. He scratched off the break to extend the German's lead back to three before a golden break by The Pearl, the first of the tournament in its 15th match, made it 4-2.

A misjudged safety from Souquet on the 2-ball helped take it to 4-3 but Strickland smashed the cue ball off the table during the break and with ball-in-hand The Kaiser did the rest.

Now on the hill, Souquet lost the ninth rack but claimed the tenth for a valuable victory.

www.mosconicup.com

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• mosconi
• cup
• 2007
• ball
• earl
• strickland
• ralf
• souquet

[r4f43ll]

no offence for strickland's pool ability but this guy is just a redneck who happens to play excellent pool. if he wasn't so talented he would just sit in his trailer drinking beer all day.

[EnhydraLutris1]

stop making him out to be a victim. he had been insulting fans, players, officials prior to and during this match ok.

what goes around comes around.

now sure, the fans should have been tossed out if they were warned and they continued with their behavior.

however, strickland called souquet a f**** to his face after the match. for that he should be fined and sanctioned for bringing the sport into disrepute.

[jasminetomcat]

@imnotigerswoods efren reyes owns earl's ass and soul!! and he does it with class and grace - 2 things earl knows nothing about apparently. i'd love to see blomdahl take earl apart too - he would use earl for a dishrag

[jasminetomcat]

earl, why should ralph bother to be polite to you when you've just acted like a total douche before? - telling him he's more lucky than good. what a fucking idiot

[jasminetomcat]

take that earl - eat it

[AhYaOk]

@MICWORD87 you might change your tune if you were the one he called a faggot after you beat him. lol. he's a complete ass. a good player. but by todays standard not near the best either. he cant hang.

[MICWORD87]

i like earl his the man , make the game interesting. he is a genius dont even take a second to shoot on even the hardest shots. And i'm black dont think he is a redneck cause he hates on everybody and keeps it real!!!!!

[OM3N1R]

Please do not think that Earl is an ambassador for American billiards. I have played with people from many different countries and I, as an American comport myself well.

[Bjoernbaks]

@r4f43ll Totally agree. He is very talented at pool, but simply cant show any class at any point. I´ll bet he has been beaten up at a bar more than once :-)

[MirageBistro]

@EnhydraLutris1

Were you there to witness strickland calling him a faggot?

[patstarz]

@r4f43ll

just happens to play excellent pool, being a world champion just happens uh??

[imnotigerswoods]

Earl has always been my favorite pool player, but holy Christ man! Does he think he's GOD or what!? What an ego trip this guy is on all the time! He is entertaining to watch though in a Phil Hellmuth poker kinda way....LOL.. kinda like Phil.