‘Never say never’ to women’s Mosconi Cup as men head to Orlando

Matchroom Multi Sport boss Emily Frazer has not ruled out an all-women’s Mosconi Cup in the future, saying “never say never” with the men gearing up for a trip to Orlando later this year.

Pool pioneer Allison Fisher has previously called for a women’s version of the transatlantic spectacle.

With a biennial Solheim Cup for professional women golfers, Fisher, who played in the inaugural edition in 1994, has said it would be a great idea for women to have their own version of the ever-popular event.

Fisher was part of the European team that rocked the Roller Bowl in Romford with a team-of-eight format, comprised of six men and two women.

The tournament has also seen the greatest names in the sport compete, from the legendary Earl Strickland to three-time MVP Joshua Filler.

“The World Nine-Ball Tour is obviously inclusive to everyone and all of our events are all open with the rankings so I would love it, absolutely love it if one of the female players qualified that way – that would be spectacular, but that’s the reason why we’ve got wildcards,” Frazer told Sky Sports.

“All of our events are open but when I came on the scene there were pool events that were closed to men and the events were actually called the ‘men’s’.

“I think the junior events are a great example because we run that alongside our open tournaments, which you see both boys and girls competing in.

“That’s about developing the next players coming through so they can be competing in an open tournament, so then the younger generation can qualify into these major invitational events, like the Mosconi, like the Reyes, like the Masters, the World Cups for example, so we never say never in those situations, but this is the start of a tour – it’s just a matter of time.”

Pundit and commentator Karl Boyes said: “The big thing to remember is this year we’ve got the World Nine-Ball Million Dollars and we’re going to the inaugural Efren Reyes Cup, which will be a Mosconi-style event between Asia and Europe.

“We went to Hanoi in Vietnam for the Pool Championship – this is still so new.”

Team Europe head to Orlando

Team Europe will make the trip across the pond once more as defending champions, having won the competition in each of the last four editions.

Last time out at Alexandra Palace they overpowered the Americans 11-3 and now they head to the Caribe Royale resort in Orlando, Florida between Saturday November 30 and Tuesday December 3, live on Sky Sports.

Each side will be made up of five players, with the top three qualifying through the WNT 2024 one-year rankings.

Jayson Shaw and Skyler Woodward will lead Team Europe and Team USA respectively as playing captains in this year’s tournament.

Qualification cut-offs will follow the European Open Championship, US Open Pool Championship and Hanoi Open Pool Championship. The remaining two players will be selected via ‘Captain’s Wildcards’.