Seven years after he helped Team USA lift the Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas, Justin Bergman is going back — and his captain reckons the player turning up in Orlando is an upgraded model.
Johan Ruysink, back in charge of the Americans, has given his returning man a nickname: "Justin Bergman 2.0". Speaking to the World Nineball Tour ahead of the team announcements, Ruysink called Bergman one of the best movers of the cue ball in America, which matters in a format where the white has to be left for a partner as often as for yourself. He was also honest about the work still to do: Bergman is getting used to a new shaft, and his break is on the to-do list before the boot camp of four or five days that Ruysink has planned ahead of the event.
Why Bergman, and why now
- He was seventh on the US qualification list after Manila, per Rack 9's count, but took the fourth American place after Thorsten Hohmann turned his spot down in a Facebook statement. Rack 9 reported Bergman's selection on 5 November.
- His last Mosconi Cup point that mattered came on day two in Las Vegas in 2019: with Shane Van Boening just beaten 5–1 by Joshua Filler, Bergman and Van Boening came straight back to beat Filler and Jayson Shaw 5–1. "That's a huge point," Bergman said at the time. "We could have been down 5–2 so we had to win that." The USA went on to win 11–8.
- He was picked again in 2020 but a positive COVID-19 test ruled him out before a ball was struck, so Orlando is his first Mosconi Cup on the table since that win.
Van Boening as "field captain"
Ruysink has also made it clear who runs the dressing room when he is not at the table. "He will definitely be my field captain," he told WNT of Van Boening, praising his attitude and his willingness to adapt to tighter pockets and break changes. Van Boening arrives fresh from October's Reyes Cup win with Rest of the World, where he partnered Fedor Gorst and, on the final day, Francisco Sánchez Ruiz — two players he now has to beat.
The numbers Team USA are fighting are stark: Europe have won all six editions since that 2019 win, including 11–3 in London last year. The 2026 Mosconi Cup runs 27–30 November at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, with Niels Feijen captaining Europe. Sánchez Ruiz, Filler and Aleksa Pecelj qualified automatically for the Europeans; the captains each add wildcards to make five a side.
Champion of Champions — Group Four today
Back in Leicester, Chris Wakelin already knows he is in the semi-finals after seeing off Barry Hawkins 4–1 and defending champion Mark Selby 6–2 on Monday. Today's group decides who he meets on Friday evening at the Mattioli Arena.
- 13:00 GMT: Neil Robertson v Panchaya Channoi (best of seven)
- From about 15:00 GMT: Judd Trump v Jak Jones (best of seven)
- 19:00 GMT: the two winners meet in the best-of-11 group final
Last call for the Mosconi hopefuls in Vietnam
The Universal Open Ho Chi Minh breaks off tomorrow at Sniper Billiards Club: 128 players, $63,000 in prize money, $15,000 to the winner, double elimination down to 64 and then straight knockout to a race-to-13 final. Billiard News points out that it and the following week's Universal Bangkok Open (17–21 November) are the last two ranking stops before Orlando — and for Olivér Szolnoki, fourth on Europe's list and one place outside the automatic spots, that makes it a shop window for Feijen. Live on WNT TV.
Coming up
- Indore, India: the IBSF World Snooker Championships start with qualifying on Friday 13 November at the Yeshwant Club; the men's main event and the women's championship begin on 17 November, with both finals on Saturday 21 November.
- Yanggu, Korea: the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President's Cup national billiards championship finishes tomorrow, the last leg of a fortnight of carom in Yanggu that began with Eddy Merckx's World Cup win.
- Korea, PBA: the sixth PBA and LPBA tour stops are at KINTEX in Goyang later this month (LPBA from 21 November, PBA from 23 November).
Robertson and Channoi will be at the table by the time most of you read this. Live scores on the WST app; full report tonight.
Sources: World Nineball Tour, Rack 9, Billiard News, World Snooker Tour, Totally Snookered, Snooker Org, IBSF, PBA. Feature image: "Shane Van Boening" by RailbirdJAM, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
