Fedor Gorst, Justin Bergman are first picks to Mosconi Cup teams
Photo credit: Matchroom Pool
Last Wednesday Matchroom Pool COO Emily Frazer teased on Facebook about an important Mosconi Cup announcement on Monday:
https://www.facebook.com/emily.frazer.906/posts/765086650933084
It definitely stirred up discussions and speculation, mostly about whether the Cup will proceed as planned in London later this year. And rightly so as the coronavirus pandemic isn't letting up, forcing many countries to remain locked down and to close borders.
Come Monday the official announcement from Matchroom Pool was about the first players selected for the Cup: world champ Fedor Gorst for Team Europe, and Justin Bergman for Team USA. The remaining four players for each team will be wildcard selections by respective team captains Alex Lely and Jeremy Jones.
It will be Gorst's debut in the Mosconi Cup. The 20-year-old Russian is the current World 9-Ball Champion title holder.
Bergman is no stranger to the Mosconi Cup -- this will be his fifth appearance to represent America. Tournaments have been scarce but Bergman has been active in challenge/money matches in the past six months, battling the likes of John Morra, Francisco Bustamante, and Roberto Gomez. In fact, starting today he and Dennis Orcollo will match up in a 10-Ball race to 60 on a 7-ft. table (check the Action Board).
Fans are now speculating on who the remaining players will be... Many think Joshua Filler is a lock to be in Team Europe, which means the Americans will have to fend off two World 9-Ball Champions in December. Or worse yet, Lely could stack his team with other recent World 9-Ball Champions Niels Feijen (2014), Albin Ouschan (2016), and Thorsten Hohmann (2013), and really give Team USA a hill to climb.
As for the four other American players, Tyler Styer appears to be a fan favorite for this year's Team USA. SVB has a lot of supporters as well, but also a significant number of detractors. Who else can Americans pick? Captain Jones certainly has a tough job ahead of him...