Van Boening claims second US 10-Ball Championship title
Jul 23, 2016
Shane Van Boening of South Dakota did what he did best Thursday at the US Open 10-Ball Championship at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino — break with consistency; pocket balls with deadly accuracy; and place the cue ball with precision. And so Van Boening was able to pocket a second US Open 10-Ball Championship, and the $10,000 prize that accompanied a silver cup.
Van Boening’s tournament started strong, with wins over Chad Sholders, 10-4; Tommy Tokoph, 10-7; Georgi Georgiev, 10-5; Amar Kang, 10-6, and Sky Woodward, 10-5, before being bested by runner-up Rodney Morris in the hot seat match, 10-7. Morris forced Van Boening to the loser’s side of the bracket where he beat Canadian John Morra 10-6, to ensure himself a spot in the finals and another shot at Morris.
Morris’ path to the hot seat included wins over Mitch Ellerman, Brandon Shuff, Vilmos Foldes, Jason Klatt and Morra.
The finals match remained close until the score was tied at eight games each, when Van Boening broke and ran the rack to move ahead in the single race-to-13 final match. Van Boening capitalized when Morris made mistakes and played solidly to capture every game until he pocketed the final 10 ball and the championship title.
Van Boening, who won his first US Open 10-Ball Championship in 2011, also has four US Open 9-Ball Championship titles; a US Open One Pocket title and a US Open 8-Ball Championship title, which he hopes to replicate this weekend. The US Open 8-Ball Championship starts Saturday at 10 a.m.
“I’ll always support (Mark Griffin’s) events and play in them,” Van Boening said. “He’s done so much for me.”
The 52-player field started play Wednesday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.
The 2016 US Open 8-Ball Championship July 23-25 in the Predator Arena in The Rio Pavilion. The tournament is played with Cyclop balls on 7-foot Diamond tables covered with Simonis Cloth. The US Open 10-Ball format is race to ten, double elimination and the US Open 8-Ball format is race to eight, double elimination.
The final standings and payouts in the tournament were: 1. Shane Van Boening, $10,000; 2. Rodney Morris, $6,000; 3. John Morra, $4,000; 4. Sky Woodward, $2,500; 5/6th Oscar Dominguez, Rodrigo Geronimo, $1,500; 7/8th John Schmidt, Amar Kang, $900; 9/12th Jason Klatt, Taylor Anderson, Jesse Bowman, and Billy Thorpe, $600.
The 2016 US Open 8-Ball & 10-Ball Championships are being held in conjunction with the 40th BCAPL National Championships, July 20-30 at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The event features more than 5,000 amateur players representing 47 states, nine Canadian provinces and 11 countries, competing in approximately 40 divisions, on 300 Diamond pool tables. The annual tournament also includes about 50 exhibitors.
The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino is the official host venue. Other sponsors include Viking, Kamui, Omega Billiards, Cyclop, Diamond, Simonis, and Predator.
Several challenge matches are also scheduled, including the Pick Your Poison Challenge, which has Hohmann facing Van Boening, in a race to 21, 8-ball; the Tiger Challenge, where legend Francisco Bustamante will take on Rodney ‘The Rocket’ Morris in a race to 21 in 10-ball; and the OB Challenge, which features Justin Bergman of Fairview Heights, Il. against Corey Deuel of San Leandro, Calif.
General admission for spectators not participating in the amateur tournaments is $25 per person per day. Day passes are available at the CSI registration desk in the rotunda outside the Pavilion. Event VIP seats are available for $200 and are available online athttp://www.playcsipool.com/2016-vip-seats.html.
For more information, photos, or to set up interviews, contact Mary Coffman, CSI Marketing Manager at 509-308-9814 (cell); or by email at maryc@playcsipool.com