Europe closing in on victory at the Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas
By Raz Mirza
Last Updated: 07/12/17 3:41pm
Europe moved one win away from retaining the Mosconi Cup after increasing their lead to 10-4 over USA ahead of the final day's play in Las Vegas.
Shane van Boening's shocking miss on the 8 ball in the last match of the night handed victory to Scotland's Jayson Shaw who celebrated wildly, aiming his joy at the hosts and a passionate crowd at the Mandalay Bay.
"Unbelievable, what a match - when I was down 4-2 I tried to dig deep and take my chances," a delighted Shaw told Sky Sports.
"I scratched on the first ball and Dennis Hatch is clapping, shouting good shot so that's why I acted like that, to give it back to him.
"This is crazy, you can't hold yourself together but I couldn't believe he missed that ball. One more match tomorrow, and we've got it. It has been a big day, they took the first two games 5-4 so the last two matches were real big," he added.
European captain Marcus Chamat was stunned by Van Boening's error, but now believes the end is in sight after a strong showing this week.
"Everybody is still shocked; how do you see that from a player of his calibre? This is what this tournament does to you. Any other tournament, it doesn't happen.
"Between Shane and Jayson, they are under pressure. They are the top guns at the moment for both teams so it is pressure for them, but Jayson handled it better than Shane van Boening for sure.
"10-4 instead of 9-5, we all know that is a huge different - if it is 9-5 and they win the first two tomorrow it would be 9-7 and it's up in the air."
Team USA skipper Johan Ruijsink is resigned to defeat and admits his side have no chance of winning the Mosconi Cup.
"We are 10-4 down. We made mistakes earlier in the Mosconi Cup but now everybody is in shock about a big mistake from Shane," said Ruijsink.
"We have lost the Mosconi Cup already, obviously. We are absolutely not likely to win this one. It is like in basketball being 40 points behind and three minutes to play - it is impossible for everybody.
"However, we will play six singles tomorrow, six times an American guy against a European guy and if we show our A-game we can prolong it. We are very unlikely to win this one but we will try to win every single match from now on."
Watch the final day's action at the Mosconi Cup, live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm. Can Team Europe make it eight in a row?
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