MAKING A WELCOME return to the Dynamic Billard Euro Tour this week is Finland’s Mika Immonen, one of pool’s modern greats with a resume that would make any player green with envy. The 50 year-old Finn has won it all in a trophy-laden career that got underway with victory in the first-ever Euro Tour event way back in early 1992.
Since then, ‘The Iceman’ has won just about everything the game has to offer including the WPA World 9-Ball Championship, back-to-back US Open titles and multiple Mosconi Cup wins amongst others. Like the vast majority of European superstar players down the years, his title trail started and continued on the Euro Tour.
Aside from his maiden ET win, Immonen recorded two other victories as well as four runners-up spots and seven third place finishes. The majority of Immonen’s European success came in the 1990’s before he moved to the USA to pursue opportunities there.
Looking back to his maiden victory in Waregem, Belgium in 1992, Immonen said, “The first ever Euro Tour was one of the kick-starters of my areer. It was a really cool moment to come back from a two set deficit against a very highly-rated player at the time in Tom Storm.
“So, to come back and beat him 3-2 in the final was epic. It’s nice to have that first Euro Tour ever. It was such a long time ago and makes me feel a little bit old but I’m staying in good shape.”
Immonen (File: Eurotour North Cyprus 2016)｜©EPBF
Immonen is back in his home country to represent Finland in the forthcoming EPBF European Championships which run from the 5th to 11th of June and it was an easy choice to enter the Dynamic Billard Tampere Open.
“I’m playing the European Championships and since I’m a patriot, I think it’s the right thing to do. I’m happy to be back and Tampere is a fun little town and I have many friends from there and many good memories – I’ve won some championships there before and it’s been awhile since I’ve competed in Tampere so that’s cool.
“I still do really enjoy the game and I’ve found a new sparkle in my game in the last year or so. I was a bit burnt out here and there and thinking about quitting altogether but now I’m enjoying it and not stressing too much.
“I do hold my ground though and won’t let anybody bully me on the table. It’s nice to get a little persistent against these young guys; maybe some of them don’t know what I was doing in the ‘90s and 2000s. They’ve probably never even seen me! But it’s good to be back.”
Immonen Back On Euro Tour｜©EPBF
Despite his successes, Immonen can often seem a misunderstood character to some, something he puts down to his complex nature; “I’m still very competitive and I like to play to the best of my abilities at all times. I’m very focused and driven but I do wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m a real person, I’m human and I aspire to be excellent although I’m not always there. It’s a constant battle within yourself like any competition and anything that you do in life. Anything that sets you up for a proper challenge will make you question yourself a lot. Part of what makes me a champion is that you have to put those questions aside and knowing that what you have in the first place should be enough motivation.
Despite travelling the world in pursuit of titles for the best part of 30 years, Immonen has no plans to give it up, “I actually enjoy travelling even more than I did in my early career. Now I know what I like and know what my outside of sports things and inclinations are. I know how to enjoy life and I like to see myself as a renaissance man in all areas of life. I’m enjoying it and making the best of it and that’s the bottom line,” he added.
Immonen’s challenge for the Dynamic Billard Tampere Open breaks off this Friday 27th May. The event concludes on the evening of Monday 29th with the semi-finals and the final, and it’s doubtful there’ll be any surprises if the Iceman is still there, in the thick of it.
Immonen (File: Eurotour Italian Open 2016)｜©EPBF
All the matches can be viewed live by visiting www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/ and clicking on the ‘LIVE’ button. This will take you through to viewing options. In addition, selected matches will be streamed on Facebook Live on the EPBF page.
The semi-finals and final, played out on Monday night, will be live or highlights on the following television stations across Europe;
SportKlub HD – Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece
Eyecons – Netherlands
SportKlub – Poland
ORF – Austria
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com