15th February – 2016 Mosconi Cup
Team Europe qualification series announced
WITH THE opening event on the Official Mosconi Cup Team Europe Ranking taking place next week in Italy, Matchroom Sport can announce the full roster of events to determine three of the five spots on Team Europe for the 2016 event next December.
This year, in addition to ‘World’ events and the Euro Tour season, there is now an additional lower level of four established European events to give more opportunities for players to garner ranking points as the season progresses.
In total there are 12 events grouped into three levels. The highest is comprised of three WPA international events; the second is five Euro Tour events and the last is four smaller open events. The maximum number of points awarded for winning a qualifying tournament is 80 for a Level One event and the minimum given for a victory would be 28 for a Category Three event.
There will be three separate ranking lists with the top player in each ranking gaining an automatic spot on Team Europe for the 23rd annual Mosconi Cup which takes place at the Alexandra Palace, London from 6th to 9th December.
The first ranking will comprise the nine European events – ‘European Ranking’; the second will be the three WPA international events – ‘World Ranking’; the third will be made up of all 12 events – ‘Combined Ranking’.
A spokesperson for Matchroom Sport said, “In the light of there being 25 events determining the three USA automatic spots, we decided to up the ante in Europe and include some smaller established events that traditionally attract very strong fields.
“The system in place still weighs against non-European based contenders so we will be looking at all events when determining the two wildcards at the end of the qualification. However, there’s plenty to play for and it all gets underway with the Italian Open in Treviso on 25th February.”
2016 Mosconi Cup Ranking Events
LEVEL ONE
August 21/28 – WPA China Open – Shanghai, China
Table: 9 ft
Players: 64
Added: $200,000
September – WPA World 9 Ball Championship – Doha, Qatar
Table: 9 ft
Players: 128
Added: $250,000
October – US Open 9 Ball (Barry Behrman) – Norfolk, Virginia
Table: 9 ft
Players: 128
Added: $70,000
LEVEL TWO
February 25/ 27 Feb – Euro Tour Italian Open, Treviso
Table: 9 ft
Players: 128 minimum
Total Prize Fund: €34,000
April 14/16 – Euro Tour Austrian Open, Sankt Johann im Pongau
Table: 9 ft
Players: 128 minimum
Total Prize Fund: €34,000
June 2/4 – Euro Tour North Cyprus Open, Kyrenia
Table: 9 ft
Players: 128 minimum
Total Prize Fund: €34,000
August 4/6 – Euro Tour Albanian Open, Tirana
Table: 9 ft
Players: 128 minimum
Total Prize Fund: €34,000
Sept 29/ Oct 2 – Euro Tour Dutch Open, Leende
Table: 9 ft
Players: 128 minimum
Total Prize Fund: €34,000
LEVEL THREE
June 16/19 – Deurne City Classic, Holland
Table size: 9 ft
Players: Up to 256
Total Prize Fund: Approx €15,000
June 24/26 – Bergen Open, Norway
Table: 9 ft
Players: 128 plus
Added money: €5,000 plus
July 22/24 – UK Open (GB9), Telford, England
Table size: 9 ft
Players: Up to 128
Total Prize Fund: €17,500
September 8/11 – Longoni Benelux Open, Rotterdam, Holland
Table size: 9 ft
Players: 256 upwards
Total Prize Fund: €10,000 guaranteed
Level 1
WPA events
1 – 80 pts
2 – 67
3/4 – 53
5/8 – 40
9/16 – 27
17/32 – 13
US Open
1 – 80 pts
2 – 67
3 – 59
4 – 51
5/6 – 43
7/8 – 35
9/12 – 27
13/16 – 21
17/24 – 16
25/32 – 11
Level Two
1 – 50 pts
2 – 40
3 – 35
4 – 33
5/6 – 28
7/8 – 23
9/12 – 18
13/16 – 13
17/24 – 8
25/32 – 5
Level Three
1 – 28 pts
2 – 22
3 – 21
4 – 18
5/6 – 15
7/8 – 13
9/12 – 10
13/16 – 7
17/24 – 6
25/32 – 3
1 – 28 pts
2 – 22
3/4 – 17
5/8 – 14
9/16 – 8
16/32 – 4
Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: luke.riches@matchroom.com
Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,000 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the Mosconi Cup is one of a stable of pool events that include the World Cup of Pool and the World Pool Masters.
