Europe retained a 5-3 lead over USA on the second day of the Mosconi Cup thanks to Mika Immonen’s 5-0 win over Earl Strickland in match 8, the first whitewash of the 2008 tournament

Earlier, the former WPA World Pool Champion from South Carolina had beaten Malta’s Tony Drago 5-4.

With the score 4-4, Drago missed a pot on the 1 and Strickland, effortlessly sank the 9-ball with a sensational finish to reduce the deficit for USA.

At that point Europe were leading 4-2 overall after also winning the Doubles match 5. Niels Feijan and Ralf Souquet beat USA players Shane Van Boeing and Rodney Morris 5-3 in what looked a disastrous start to the competition by USA.

USA went on to win the Doubles match 7 as Johnny Archer and Jeremy Jones beat Europe’s pair Mika Immonen and Mark Gray 5-1.

USA still trailed Europe 3-4 overall.

The day’s final match 8 gave Europe an overall 5-3 lead with Immonen’s complete triumph over Earl Strickland.

Things got a bit nasty at the end. Earl and Mika exchanged words and as Drago taunted Earl, the USA player flicked the middle finger at the crowd. Finally, matchroom's martial arts expert and players' marshall, Paul Natzyl, ushered Earl to safety.