Van Boening Takes Turning Stone Billiards Title

Dec 19, 2011

After a hill-hill, fourth-round loss to Shawn Putnam, Shane Van Boening came back through the one-loss side to take the Turning Stone Classic title over Raj Hundal in the finals. The $25,000-added tournament, held twice a year at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY, drew a packed field of 128.
At the start of Sunday’s matches, only four players remained undefeated. Mike “The Fireball” Dechaine suffered his first loss to Rodney Morris, both recently returned from the Mosconi Cup, 9-5, while Ralf Souquet, a Mosconi Cup veteran, was sent to the west side by Raj Hundal 9-5. Hundal went on to best Morris 9-4 and await a finals opponent.
On the left bracket, Darren Appleton, who suffered a third-round, hill-hill loss to Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour threat Dennis Hatch, won six matches in a row to reach Mosconi Cup teammate Souquet and fell 9-3 in fifth place. Tying with him was Dechaine, who came out on the short end of a hill-hill match against Van Boening.
Once on the west side of the chart, Van Boening disposed of top-notch players such as Larry Nevel 9-5, Bucky Souvanthong 9-6, Earl Strickland 9-4, and Dennis Hatch 9-2 to reach the quarterfinals. After disposing of Dechaine, he then had to face the determined Souquet, a past champion of the Turning Stone event. He made quick work of the German, moving on to the semifinals with a 9-3 win.
Defending champion Morris awaited Van Boening, but there was no repeat performance for the Hawaiian as “The South Dakota Kid” allowed him 5 racks in the race to 9. In the extended race-to-13 final match, Van Boening allowed Hundal a few chances, but when all was said and done, Van Boening took the final match and the title 13-9.
Article courtesy of Inside Pool
Main Event Payouts
1st Shane Van Boening $8,000
2nd Raj Hundal $5,000
3rd Rodney Morris $3,600
4th Ralf Souquet $2,600
5/6th Mike Dechaine $2,000
5/6th Darren Appleton $2,000
7/8th Dennis Hatch $1,600
7/8th Brandon Shuff $1,600
9/12th Jason Klatt $1,200
9/12th Shawn Putnam $1,200
9/12th Earl Strickland $1,200
9/12th Dustin Morris $1,200
13/16th Bucky Souvanthong $850
13/16th Johnathan Pinegar $850
13/16th Erik Hjorleifson $850
13/16th Stevie Moore $850
17/24th Mike Davis $550
17/24th Oscar Dominguez $550
17/24th Zion Zvi $550
17/24th Dan Thompson $550
17/24th Larry Nevel $550
17/24th Chris Lynch $550
17/24th Oscar Bonilla $550
17/24th Shane Winters $550
25/32nd Brian Brekke $300
25/32nd Randy Labonte $300
25/32nd Dave Fernandez $300
25/32nd Louis Ulrich $300
25/32nd Ruben Bautista $300
25/32nd Dan Heidrich $300
25/32nd Joshua Ulrich $300
25/32nd Russ Philp $300