Galveston World Classic: Mika on Mika

Still recovering from the Galveston World Classic, trying to figure out player stats and more for piece in an upcoming edition of Billiards Digest. Along the way I've come across a good description of a key 10-ball match between Mika Immonen and Shane Van Boening. Mika himself posted up the first-person account on his blog, aptly titled "Mike's Blog." You can find it here. Mika acknowledges problems with his 10-ball break, and an early thought that Shane would run away with it after the Dakota Kid ran up an 8-4 lead. "I had two hill-hill battles with him preceding this event, and it looked like this one was not going to be any different," the Iceman wrote about his thinking before the match began.

Immonen, Billiard Digest's 2008 Player of the Year, went on to win the 10-ball event. Skip Maloney, of AZ Billiards, has a good description of Mika's dramatic final against Warren Kiamco posted here. And remember to look for more details about the tournament in an upcoming edition of BD.