While perusing the weekend tournament updates on AzBilliards, I noticed something that caught my eye.
First, CONGRATS TO MIKA!! (That’s nothing new.) Not only for returning to Finland for the Brunwick Iceman Open named in his honor but for, of course, snapping the thing off. Now, if you follow pool, you know there really is nothing unusual about Mika winning a big tournament. The part that piqued my interested was, “In the semifinals, he defeated his twin brother, Kari.”
Really?!??? Mika has a twin brother?
Me: “Marc, did you know Mika has a twin brother?”
Marc: “Yeah, but they don’t look anything alike.”
Am I the last to know this? There are two Icemen?
Well, inquiring minds want to know. So, I spent the next 20 minutes determined to see how unalike they really look. This was the only photo I could find of them together (snatched from Mika’s Facebook page, captioned, “This was a flyer to me & my Brothers Birtday party. 30×2=60. The picture itself is slightly old. Notice the outfits!“):
Awww... Aren't they adorable?!
And here they are now:
Kari pic by unknown, Mika pic by Biboy Soriano
I managed to find this photo of Kari on the net under the alias of “Kari Paloheimo”. And yes, my husband was right. They don’t look anything alike. Obviously, they’re fraternal twins.
Mika’s bio reads:
“Mika and Kari showed early athletic prowess along with a healthy competitive streak and both enjoyed competing in basketball and ice hockey among other popular sports. It would be an unbearably cold winters night that would find a then 16 year old Mika and his friends seeking refuge in the newly opened Blliard Parlor near his childhood home.”
Read the complete tournament write up on AzB here: Iceman returned home to win tournament named in his honor
Watch the brothers’ semi-finals match on ustream here (I think it’s them): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rz-players
From Mika’s blog: I had to play my twin brother Kari. Its not easy to form killer instinct against your “own blood”.
Read his entire post here: Brunswick ICEMAN Open
