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.

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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.

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