Mika Immonen

Mika Immonen, 2001 WPA World Nine-ball Champion, July 22, 2001

Mika Immonen (born 17 December 1972) is a Finnish professional pool player, nicknamed "the Ice Man."

He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales in 2001. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deuel in the US Open Nine-ball Championship

He has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the Mosconi Cup, most recently in 2010. During the 2008 event Mika was crowned MVP, forever banishing bad memories of a costly miss in the final game of the 2006 event.

In early 2009, Mika was awarded the title of Player of the Year. Subsequently, he also claimed that title for season 2009 and was awarded early 2010.

Mika was born in London, England, and is also an extremely accomplished snooker player, having amassed more than 100 century breaks.^[1]

Mika is the current (2009) two-time Men's Division title-holder of the US Open Nine-ball Championship, where the worlds top professional billiard players compete in Chesapeake, Virginia. This year Mika won 14 straight matches, finishing with a close 13-10 victory over Ralf Souquet in the finals. In last years event, Mika claimed the 13-7 victory and pocketed the first-place prize of US$40,000 on October 26, 2008 against runner-up Filipino Ronato Alcano, who settled for $20,000.^[2][3][4]

Immonen nearly won his second world title at 2009 World Straight Pool Championship, but was defeated in the finals by Stephan Cohen of France.^[5] Also in 2009, Immonen bested Darren Appleton to win the International Challenge of Champions, a tournament where he once reached the finals in 2002 but lost the sudden-death rack to Efren Reyes.

In Late November 2009 Mika finally won his second World Title in Manila at the WPA World Ten-ball Championships. He Dominated the Philippine hope Lee Van Corteza in the finals 11-6.

Titles

• 2000 Sudden Death Seven-ball Champion
• 2001 WPC 9-Ball Champion
• 2002 LG Flatron Challenge Champion
• 2003 On Cue; Philippines vs. Europe
• 2003 Philippine Open Champion
• 2004 Atlanta Open Champion
• 2004 UPA Pro Tour Champion
• 2005 Atlanta Open Champion
• 2006 Norway Open Champion
• 2006 Weert Open & invitational 7-ball Champion
• 2007 Derby City Straight Pool Champion
• 2007 Korean Pro Tour Champion
• 2008 US Open 9-Ball Champion
• 2008 IPT Pro-Am Champion
• 2008 Mosconi Cup MVP
• 2008 All Japan Champion
• 2009 Galveston World Classic 10-ball Champion
• 2009 US Open 9-Ball Champion
• 2009 World 10-Ball Champion

Instructional Releases

In late 2008 Mika teamed up with Intrinsic Media to produce MASTERING POOL,^[6] a 3-part pocket billiard instructional series. The DVD series is packed with tips, techniques, systems, 3D animated diagrams, and expert commentary by Immonen himself.^[7]

Sponsors

• Mezz Cues
• Kamui Tips^[8]

External links

• Mastering Pool Instructional DVD Series
• 2008 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship Double Elimination Tournament Bracket
• 2008 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship image gallery

References

1. ^ Mika Immonen biography
2. ^ insidepoolmag.com, Immonen is New U.S. Open 9-Ball Champion
3. ^ gmanews.tv/story, RP's Alcano loses to Finn Immonen in US Open 9-ball final
4. ^ billiardsdigest.com, Big Win for Finn: Immonen Clobbers Alcano to Break U.S. Open 'Curse'
5. ^ AzB Staff (August 30, 2009). "Cohen wins Predator 14.1 Championship". AzBilliards.com. http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?id=6903. Retrieved 2009-08-31. 
6. ^ mastering-pool.com, Mastering Pool Instructional DVD Series
7. ^ azbilliards.com, Immonen's Secrets Revealed in Mastering Pool Instructional DVDs
8. ^ mikaimmonen.com, Sponsors

Preceded by Chao Fong-pang	WPA Men's World Nine-ball Champion 2001	Succeeded by Earl Strickland
Preceded by Shane Van Boening	US Open Nine-ball Champion 2008, 2009	Succeeded by Darren Appleton
Preceded by Darren Appleton	WPA World Ten-ball Champion 2009	Succeeded by Huidji See

Persondata
Name	Immonen, Mika
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Date of birth	17 December 1972
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