Strickland blew leads of 6-2 and 10-7 against the 24-year-old from Helsinki. The upset may have surprised some onlookers, but former world champion Oliver Ortmann of Germany was not shocked. "I don't think Earl likes playing Mika," Ortmann said before the match started.

"I think Oliver said that because he has seen me play Strickland before," said Immonen, whose win in the 1996 Peace Cup in Taiwan is his lone international title. "I beat Strickland twice in a PCA tournament last year in Kansas City. It's tough to keep your concentration against Earl. But when I see him talking during the match, I think he's starting to get annoyed and is losing his concentration. I tend to get stronger, because I see an opportunity."

Strickland's complaints were aimed at the equipment, a sentiment shared in part by Immonen.

"The table was difficult to gauge," Immonen said. "We both lost position several times because the cushions were reacting strangely."

Strickland was not nearly as diplomatic in his criticisms.

"The conditions in this room were terrible tonight," Strickland. "I don't want to play here; it's very disturbing to play here." Strickland went on to chastise many of the spectators that sat near his table, many of whom were players in the tournament. Strickland plays tomorrow at 1 p.m. versus Ming-Wei Chen of Taiwan while Immonen awaits his next opponent as the tournament moves to single-elimination.

Match Of the Day on the women's side: Helena Thornfeldt, fresh off her win at the Gentleman Jack Challenge in Dallas, fell to Jennifer Chen, 11-4 in rather expedient fashion. "I played really well forthe first few matches," said Chen, "but I kind of played bad near the end. I got lucky to win the last match." In the final game, Thornfeldt had a straight-in on the 7 ball, but rattled it out, giving Chen a relatively easy run-out to seal the match.