Van Boening Earns Another Billiard Title
By InsidePOOL Staff
InsidePOOL Magazine’s 2007 Player of the Year, Shane Van Boening, scored another home run at the Diamond Open 9-Ball Professional Players Championship when he defeated Shaun Wilkie in the finals. This event brought 64 of the top men in pool out to the 16th Annual Super Billiards Expo and was sponsored by Iwan Simonis, Diamond Billiards, Viking Cues, Mueller Recreational Products, and the Delta 13 Rack.
First up in the quarterfinal match were Rodney Morris and Mika Immonen vying for the chance to play Van Boening in the semifinals. A few errors on Immonen’s behalf saw Morris gain a 5-1 and then a 7-2 lead. At that point, Immonen caught a gear and began forging a comeback, but not in time to catch “Rocket,” who ultimately won 10-7.
Super Billiards Expo image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/super-billiards-expo-2008/)
But it was a different Morris who showed up at the semifinals, for nothing he did seemed to come out right. Tied 3-all, the score flew up in Van Boening’s favor after a foul and then a scratch on the break by Morris, followed by Van Boening dropping the 9 ball on the break. Several more dicey decisions on behalf of Morris put Van Boening en route to the finals with a 10-3 win.
In the extended race-to-13 finals, Wilkie, who seemed to have a large fan base in the crowd, grabbed hold of the lead and brought the score to 4-1. The scales tipped the other way, though, and Van Boening clawed back to make it 4-all and then surpass his opponent, winning another four racks in a row. They traded the next few games, bringing the score to 11-7 Van Boening, and then Van Boening reached the hill when Wilkie slammed the 8 ball in an attempt to get position on the 9 and missed. In the final rack, despite having one inning at the table, Wilkie was unable to stop the onslaught, and Van Boening took home another title with a 13-7 victory.
Open Results:
1st
Shane Van Boening
$10,000
2nd
Shaun Wilkie
$6,000
3rd
Rodney Morris
$5,000
4th
Mika Immonen
$4,000
5-6th
Tony Crosby
$3,000
Tony Robles
7-8th
Adam Smith
$2,000
Shawn Putnam
9-12th
Louis Ulrich
$1,500
Johnny Archer
John Morra
Gabe Owen
13-16th
Mike Dechaine
$1,250
Ronnie Wiseman
Steve Moore
Charlie Williams
17-24th
Luc Salvas
$1,000
Raj Hundal
John Schmidt
Frankie Hernandez
Ralf Souquet
Mike Davis
Dennis Hatch
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