Blink and you'll miss him! Jayson Shaw - Europe's high-flying Scotsman - has his sights set on regaining the Mosconi Cup - live on Sky Sports this Monday
Thursday 21 November 2019 13:12, UK
Scottish professional pool player Jayson Shaw is targeting Mosconi Cup glory in Las Vegas next week as Team Europe look to regain the title from USA.
USA ended their nine-year drought when they lifted the trophy in Europe for the first time in 14 years at Alexandra Palace last December.
The annual transatlantic nine-ball showdown heads to Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino this year - live on Sky Sports Arena (408) & Sky Sports Mix (free for all Sky customers on channel 145) from 7pm this Monday - as USA look to defend their crown following their momentous win in London.
But Shaw and Europe only have one thought and that's winning back pool's most famous trophy. The team have been preparing for the event by staying at their Los Angeles house, complete with pool tables and swimming pool.
The Glasgow-born star, who is one of the hottest properties in the game, explained that it's an important part of the bonding process before they head to Vegas.
"I can't wait for the Mosconi Cup to start," the 31-year-old told Sky Sports' Raz Mirza. "Obviously losing last year was a bit disappointing having not lost for eight years so this year we feel like we're really ready. Not like we weren't ready last time, but I feel like we really want it back this year."
Last year did not go according to plan for Team Europe and things didn't help when Mario He pulled out of squad after receiving notification of a failed drugs test, which "threw a spanner in the works," according to Shaw.
"I've played all around the world, but playing at the Mosconi Cup is a completely different animal. You're playing for the team so it's one of those ones where you don't want to let them down."
With Stephen Hendry dominating the snooker landscape back in the 1990's, Shaw was heavily influenced by his professional pool-playing father into taking a different route on the baize.
"When I was sixteen they had a tournament to qualify for the US Open and I won it," explained Shaw. "I qualified for that tournament every year until about 2010 when they stopped having that qualifier and then I got into American pool. I saw how well a few of the English guys were doing and I thought 'you know what, I'm going to go and see if I can go and do it myself'. I knew I had the talent.
"I've got a couple of sponsorship deals since which was what really got me going and gave me a lot of confidence. I just went from there, worked hard, and put the time in."
Shaw revealed the European team were glued to the TV on Sunday night watching Judd Trump's superb performance to retain his Northern Ireland Open crown with a 9-7 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan.
The world champion hit four centuries as he repeated his 2018 win over O'Sullivan to secure his third ranking title of the season.
"We were talking about who played snooker and I was telling the boys that I used to work in a club where the top snooker players would practice, like John Higgins, Stephen Maguire, Graeme Dott and Jamie Burnett. I played with all these guys for a year but it was just so hard just to make money out of it at the time."
Shaw was contacted about playing Ronnie O'Sullivan for his show 'American Hustle' a couple of years ago but the Scot was already in China. If the opportunity came up again, Shaw said he would "do it in a heartbeat".
This will be Shaw's fourth-year playing Mosconi Cup where he has a growing reputation of attempting outrageous trick shots. "I don't like trick shots, I'd rather they be easy," he joked.
And Shaw ended the interview by giving his prediction ahead of the showdown in Vegas, adding: "They've got a strong team, but we're coming hard this time and we're ready to bring that trophy home. I think it's going to be 11-6 or 11-7 to us."
For those on the move, we will have the Mosconi Cup covered via our website skysports.com/more-sports, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or our Twitter account @skysportspool for latest news and reports.
