TRAIN FINALLY MOVES OUT
by Mike Panozzo

When the U.S. squad huddled in the bowels of drafty old York Hall to prepare its line-up for Friday night's trio of singles matches in the 2000 Acclaim Mosconi Cup, team captain Earl Strickland and several U.S. team members agreed that, at 3-3 in the total match score, the strongest players should tee it up.

Michael Coltrain, a veritable liability in his first two doubles matches, disagreed. "I told them I wanted to go out first," said the 25-year-old North Carolina native, after coming back from a 3-1 deficit to knock off Sweden's Marcus Chamat, 5-3. "Why go with all our strong players right away? It's 3-3. The longer I wait, the more pressure there is. And if I did lose, we're only down 4-3. If they hold me 'til tomorrow night, and we're trailing by a few games, then there's even more pressure on me to win."

America's Michael Coltrain finally found his shooting eye against Sweden's Marcus Chamat Friday night at the 2000 Mosconi Cup. Photo by Lawrence Lustig

So out Coltrain went, facing Europe's weakest link thus far. The 25-year-old Swede pushed ahead 3-1 when he suckered Coltrain into a difficult safety off a push-out. Chamat appeared on his way to a 4-1 lead, when a position error left him snookered on the 6 ball. From that point on, Coltrain dominated the match.

"Even trailing 3-1 I felt okay," insisted Coltrain, whose win gave the U.S. a 4-3 lead in the race-to-12 team tournament. "I knew I would get more chances, and I was feeling more confident. My arm is still shaking, but I was telling myself I'd make the ball... and I did." "That was huge," said teammate Johnny Archer, who would follow Coltrain against Finland's Mika Immonen. "We were hoopin' and hollerin' in the U.S. practice room."

Following Friday's singles action, the final three doubles matches will be played Saturday afternoon. Single play will then resume through the conclusion of the competition.