Nick van den Berg

Nick van den Berg (born 24 May 1980) is a Dutch professional pool player. He was the runner up at the 2005 WPA World Eight-ball Championship, where he lost to Wu Chia-ching 11–5 in the final. He is a multiple time winner of events on the Euro Tour, winning 10 tournaments between 2002 and 2017, the fourth highest in the history of the tour. A six-time winner of the European Pool Championships, Van den Berg has represented Europe at the Mosconi Cup on eight occasions, winning the event on six occasions as well as tying the event in 2006.

In this Dutch name, the surname is van den Berg, not Berg.
Nick van den Berg
Van den Berg looking towards the screen
Van den Berg at the 2008 European Championship
Born (1980-05-24) 24 May 1980
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sport country Netherlands
NicknameEl Nino[1]
Professional2000
Pool gamesnine-ball, eight-ball
Best finishQuarter finals 2005 WPA World Nine-ball Championship

Career

Van den Berg's best performance in a world championship was in 2005, where he reached the final of the WPA World Eight-ball Championship. At the event, he defeated Christian Reimering 10–4,[2] Naif Aljaweni 10–4 and Francisco Bustamante 10–8 on route to a final against Wu Chia-ching.[3] Chia-ching would win the final 11–5, who won both the nine-ball and eight-ball world championships in the same season.[4]

Van den Berg has won ten events on the Euro Tour, with a further five silver and six bronze medals.[5][6] He won his first medal at a Euro Tour event in 2000, where he finished runner-up to Johnny Archer at the 2000 Italy Open.[7] He won his first event two years later in 2002 winning the Austrian Open.[1] In both 2002, and 2006 van den Berg was the most successful player, scoring the most ranking points over those two seasons.[1] Van den Berg's last tournament victory came at the 2017 Portugal Open, having not won an event since 2014. At the event, he defeated Konrad Juszczyszyn 9–5, Witalij Pazura 9–8, Tomasz Kapłan 9–6 and Mark Gray (9–3) to reach the final.[8] There, he faced David Alcaide, where he won 9–5.[8]

At the World Cup of Pool, van den Berg has partnered Niels Feijen on several occasions to make a Dutch team. At the 2013 World Cup of Pool, the pair defeated Scotland 7–2, India 7–5, Japan 9-8 and Finland 9–4 to play Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza in the final.[9][10] The pair led the final 7–3, but eventually lost the match 8-10.[9][11] The following year, they reached the final again, after a 9–1 victory in the semi-finals.[12] In the final, they played Karl Boyes and Darren Appleton, and lead at both 6-3 and 9–7, but lost on a deciding rack 10–9.[13][14]

Van den Berg represented Europe at the Mosconi Cup eight times between 2002 and 2017.[15] He made his debut in the competition in 2002, in what was Europe's first win since the 1995 Mosconi Cup.[16] In participating in the 2002 edition, aged 22, he was the youngest player to compete at the Mosconi Cup, until American Skyler Woodward in 2015.[17] At the event, he won three matches, including a 5–0 win partnering with Steve Davis, and losing twice.[18] He returned for the 2003 Mosconi Cup, but would only play in the 2006 edition before rejoining at 2010 Mosconi Cup for three seasons. He later also played in the 2015 and 2017 events.[19][17] In total, van den Berg has played in eight Mosconi Cup events, winning six, losing one in 2003 and tying one in 2006.[19][20][21]

Van den Berg has won the European Pool Championships on six occasions. He won the straight pool event in 2012, 2013 and 2015 nine-ball event in 2009 and 2011, Eight-ball in 2014, and straight pool in 2012, 2013 and 2015.[22][23]

Van den Berg lives in the Netherlands, and plays for Club 8, Amsterdam.[24] Whilst van den Berg has not officially retired from pool, he has not played in a professional competition since 2017.[24]

Titles

References
  1. "Player Profile". billiardapps.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  2. "World 8-Ball Championship Updates". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  3. "World 8-Ball Championship Final Day Updates". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  4. "Wu Chia Ching clinches thrilling victory". Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  5. "Hall Of Fame Eurotour – Medallists". billiardapps.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  6. "Player Profile". billiardapps.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  7. "Player Rankings". billiardapps.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  8. "Van den Berg, Ouschan win Portuguese Dynamic Open". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  9. "News: Filipinos win the World Cup :: ProPool.ru". propool.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  10. "It's Holland v Philippines for World Cup glory". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  11. "Philippines edge the Dutch in World Cup thriller". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  12. "It's England v Holland For the Betway Crown". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  13. "England steals Betway World Cup of Pool in final rack!". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  14. "News: Europe dominates the World Cup :: ProPool.ru". propool.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  15. "Tournament History". Matchroom Pool. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  16. "Steve Davis: Mosconi 2002 Was One Of The Best Moments Of My Career". Matchroom Pool. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  17. "Van den Berg and Filler complete automatic picks". Matchroom Pool. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  18. "Europe 12–9 USA". Mosconi Cup. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  19. "Europe one away from another victory". Matchroom Pool. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  20. "Nick van den Berg talks Mosconi Cup". Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  21. "Mosconi Cup XXIV". AzBilliards. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  22. "European Pool Championships". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  23. "Hall of Fame – Dynamic Billard European Championships". europeanpoolchampionships.eu. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  24. "Nick van Den Berg – El Nino". azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
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