Dancing on tables and Europeans booing the Yanks – it must be the Mosconi Cup!
The nine-ball pool tournament celebrates its 30-year anniversary at Alexandra Palace this week with Team Europe looking to defend the crown they lifted in Las Vegas last year. But Team USA are not only here to make up the numbers in the Ryder Cup of pool.
Over 2,000 fans will be packed into Ally Pally for each session of the four-day event, which gets underway on Wednesday. And it's sure to be a rowdy atmosphere with the winning team often celebrating by jumping on the table.
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"It's the biggest event in pool," Team USA star Skyler Woodward told Daily Star Sport. "Getting to represent your country is amazing, there's nothing like it.
"The pressure is crazy. I enjoy it every time we come over here to play. It's okay they boo us because they get it over in the States.
"We expect it, there won't be as many USA fans as European fans, so we're going in there knowing. It doesn't bother me, I like it."
Who will win this year's Mosconi Cup? Let us know your predictions in the comments section below
The Mosconi Cup continues to grow year on year, as does the sport of nine-ball pool as a whole. Unlike your traditional eight-ball pool seen in many British pubs, nine-ball differs as players, ultimately, are trying to pot the nine-ball.
It's not as simple as just going for it, with the lowest numbered ball on the table having to be hit. But it makes for entertaining viewing.
"You walk into clubs here, it's heavy on snooker," Emily Frazer, CEO of Matchroom Multi Sport, told us. "But nine-ball pool is a lot more engaging, it's a bit more fun, and you can fancy your chances at it.
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"Everyone can pick up a pool cue, so there is a challenge in the UK but that doesn't stop us. It just means we need to work harder in getting these events to the UK audience.
"This sport is worldwide. We've done our first event in Vietnam this year, and we're going to be expanding on that moving forward."
The Mosconi Cup is a massive step in showing fans what nine-ball pool is all about with each session broadcast live on Sky Sports.
It's a big few weeks for Matchroom at Alexandra Palace too with the PDC World Darts Championship and Masters snooker following hot on the heels of the Mosconi Cup.
"I don't even sleep at night because all I think about is nine-ball pool," Frazer added. "I live and breathe nine-ball pool.
"I never even knew what it was when I first started at Matchroom, but I've grown to love it. My job is to do that to everyone else.
"The Mosconi Cup, it's been 30 years it's been running, it's here in London and is super exciting.
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"The arena is designed like a big bowl, 360 degrees, no matter where you sit you can see everything. 2,000 screaming fans at Alexandra Palace – what more can you want?
"We were there at Alexandra Palace two years ago for the Mosconi Cup, our arena was a lot smaller, we were coming out of Covid still. I think we had 1200 fans, now we are sitting at the 2,000 mark. I think we can get to 3,000 – that would be my aims for two years time."
Team Europe are favourites to defend their Mosconi Cup crown having won 11-7 last time out.
In fact, Europe have won the last three tournaments and lead the overall head-to-head 15-13 with the 2006 event in Rotterdam finishing in a 12-12 tie.
"The pressure is high, there will be 2,500 people here, it's special," World No1 and European star Francisco Sanchez Ruiz said. "Last year in Vegas was really loud, it's the pressure to represent your country."
The pressure is on again at Alexandra Palace.
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