Mika Immonen

Mika Immonen (born 17 December 1972) is a Finnish professional Hall of Fame pool player, nicknamed "The Iceman."

Mika Immonen
Immonen at the 2008 Mosconi Cup
Born (1972-12-17) 17 December 1972
London, England
Sport country Finland
Nickname"The Iceman"
Pool games9-Ball, 10-ball, Straight pool
Tournament wins
World Champion9-Ball (2001), 10-Ball (2009), Straight pool (2016)
Ranking info
Highest WPA ranking1

Career

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

In 2002 he won the UPA International Ten-ball Championship.

He has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the Mosconi Cup, most recently in 2013. 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 a two-time Men's Division title-holder of the US Open Nine-ball Championship, where the world's top professional billiard players compete in Chesapeake, Virginia. In 2009 Mika won 14 straight matches, finishing with a close 13–10 victory over Ralf Souquet in the finals. On 26 October 2008, Mika claimed a 13–7 victory and pocketed the first-place prize of US$40,000 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.

Billiard Congress of American Hall of Fame class of 2014, at age of 41. Age limit for that HoF is 40.

In September 2016, in Astoria (New York), he won for the first time the World 14.1 Tournament title, beating in the finals Earl Strickland 300–270.

Titles
  • 2000 Sudden Death Seven-ball Champion
  • 2001 WPA World Nine-ball Championship
  • 2002 LG Flatron Challenge Champion
  • 2002 UPA International Ten-ball 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 Championship
  • 2009 Galveston World Classic 10-ball Champion
  • 2009 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship
  • 2009 WPA World Ten-ball Championship
  • 2009 Mezz Classic 10-Ball Event
  • 2009 Blackpool Open
  • 2009 Joss NE 9-Ball Tour Stop
  • 2009 Tri State Tour Stop
  • 2009 Predator Tour Stop
  • 2009 Joss NE 9-Ball Tour Stop
  • 2009 The Challenge of Champions
  • 2009 Qatar International Open Champion
  • 2010 International Challenge of Champions
  • 2010 Ozone 10-Ball Championships, Louisiana
  • 2010 Poison Doubles 8-ball Championships, Louisiana (with Rodney Morris)
  • 2010 Mezz Tour stop in Skyline Billiards
  • 2010 Mezz tour stop in Atlantic City Billiards
  • 2012 World Cup of Pool Champion (Doubles with Petri Makkonen)
  • 2013 Ultimate 10-Ball Championship | Men's Division (Champion)
  • 2014 BCA Hall of Fame inductee
  • 2016 World 14.1 Tournament

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]

References
  1. "Mika Immonen biography". Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  2. "insidepoolmag.com, Immonen is New U.S. Open 9-Ball Champion". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
  3. "gmanews.tv/story, RP's Alcano loses to Finn Immonen in US Open 9-ball final". Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
  4. "billiardsdigest.com, Big Win for Finn: Immonen Clobbers Alcano to Break U.S. Open 'Curse'". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
  5. AzB Staff (30 August 2009). "Cohen wins Predator 14.1 Championship". AzBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  6. "mastering-pool.com, Mastering Pool Instructional DVD Series". Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  7. "azbilliards.com, Immonen's Secrets Revealed in Mastering Pool Instructional DVDs". Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
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