Van Boening Takes Texas Open
Texas Open / Round Rock, TX
by Skip Maloney
Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening had to beat Gabe "The Babe" Owen twice to win the Texas State Open at G Cue Billiards in Round Rock, TX.
Shane Van Boening battled Gabe Owen twice to capture first place in the Texas Open, which concluded in the early hours of Tuesday morning after Labor Day weekend. The $3,250-added event drew 128 competitors to G-Cue Billiards in Round Rock, TX.
Late Monday evening, Van Boening and Owen emerged as the undefeated finalists in their respective 64-player brackets; Owen with a 54-30 record and Van Boening with a slightly better 54- 20 record. Van Boening had only given up 13 total racks in his first five games until he ran into Charlie Bryant among the tournament’s final four on the winners’ side. He sent Bryant west 9-7 and then faced Owen for the first time in the hot seat match.
Owen, in the meantime, had battled past Dave Henson 9-4 and Ismael Paez 9-7 to reach the hot seat match. He was dispatched to the semifinals with a 9-6 win by Van Boening. Paez and Bryant had moved to the one-loss side to face Glenn Atwell and Shawn Putnam. It was Atwell and Putnam advancing to the quarterfinals, won by Putnam 9-3. Owen dropped Putnam into third place with a 9-7 victory and moved back to face Van Boening. The two battled in the finals to a second 9-6 win for Van Boening, which secured the first-place prize.
Results:
1st Shane Van Boening
2nd Gabe Owen
3rd Shawn Putnam
4th Glen Atwell
5th Charlie Bryant
Ismael Paez
7th James Roberts
James Davis, Sr.
9th Cliff Joyner
Raphael Martinez
David Henson
Tracy Sanders