VIDEO: Ko bests SVB in World 9-ball Final

By Ted Lerner 
WPA Press Officer

Doha, QATAR -- Showing why he is not only one of  pool’s most talented performers, but perhaps its most hardcore player as well, Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi captured his first World 9-ball Championship tonight in Doha, trading blows with the USA’s Shane Van Boening for two and a half hours before pulling away in crunch time to win 13-11.

Both players put in gritty, high-quality performances, with brilliant shot making under pressure, coupled with just a handful of errors from both superstars. The outcome was in doubt right down to the dramatic end, but it was Ko who seemed to will himself over the finish line for the historic win.

The win is the 26 year old Ko’s second world championship this year, after capturing the 10-ball world title in the Philippines back in February. That victory seven months ago served to fulfill the former teen prodigy’s long cherished dream of winning his first world title. Tonight’s win puts Ko in the pantheon of all time pool greats.

Shane Van Boening,  photo courtesy Richard Walker

For Van Boening the loss in his first ever World 9-ball final has to be a massive disappointment, especially considering that he had literally lapped the field in his prior matches, playing some of the most scintillating 9-ball seen in many years. But the American’s mastery of the break shot came to end against Ko, and he was forced to duke it out with the Taiwanese. Van Boening had more than enough chances to pull out the match, but with the pressure mounting late and the wear and tear taking its toll on both players, Ko had just that little bit extra to get the job done.

Taiwan's Ko Pin Yi wins big in Qutar. Photo by Richard Walker

Under normal circumstances a match up in the world finals between greats like Ko and Van Boening would be expected to be a tight slugfest from beginning to end. But prior to the final almost nobody in the Al Arabi Sports Club, and the tens of thousands tuning in around the world on the live stream, was giving Ko a chance. That’s because up until that point the American had been in a rarefied zone that few pool fans had ever seen, winning his five previous race to 11 matches by the almost preposterous total score of 55-14. Having figured out the break shot, Van Boening simply couldn’t be stopped and he carried an air of confident invincibility that made him appear untouchable.

The day began with the two semi-finals and the contrast couldn’t have been more different. Playing on the TV table against Pin Yi’s younger brother Ko Ping Chung, Van Boening again hit every break shot perfectly—wing ball down and open shot on the one. He quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the 20 year old Ko got one on the board. But then it was straight back to the race track and before anyone knew it the American had won the match 11-1. Van Boening was making 9-ball look like child’s play.

On the adjacent table Ko Pin Yi and former World 9-ball Champion Wu Jia Qing, as expected, put on a show for the ages.  Wu had Ko pinned down at 6-2, but Ko clawed his way back to 6-5. Leading 7-6 Wu played an errant safety and Ko got his first tie, and a shot of confidence to boot and he soon went ahead 8-7.The pair then took their games to the next level, trading pressure packed break and runs, safeties and clutch pots. Wu would never lead again as the two Taiwanese were tied at 8, 9 and then 10. Having won the lag, Ko had the last break and broke and ran for a well deserved spot in the finals.

An hour later the race to 13 final began and, based upon thumping Van Boening had given to Ko’s younger brother, and everyone else he had faced this week, almost nobody had picked the Taiwanese to pull off the win. Ko, however, is clearly not ‘everyone else.’

The Taiwanese won the lag and after a safety battle, grabbed the first rack to go up 1-0. Van Boening notched the next rack, and the pair traded frames with each holding serve until the score reached 4-4. But one thing was vastly different for the American in this match compared to all his previous matches. Although he was having some success on the break, he wasn’t nearly as flawless on that break as he had been throughout the week.

Then in rack 9 Ko was the recipient of several lucky rolls that would be the first of nearly a handful that would help propel him forward throughout the match. Ko scratched shooting at the 7-ball but was fortunate that the same ball ended up married to the 8-ball, leaving Van Boening only a difficult bank, which he missed. Ko then missed the subsequent shot, but this time the 7-ball got snookered. Ko eventually took a rack that he had no business winning to move up 5-4.

Ko Pi Yin, photo courtesy Richard Walker

Shane found his break and ran the next rack to tie it at 5-5. Then in the next frame Ko got lucky again. He went for a 2-9 pot, missed, only to see the 9-ball drop in the side for a fluke win and a 6-5 lead.

To his credit Van Boening kept his composure and it served him well. Two break and runs sandwiched around a Ko scratch brought the American his first lead of the match and an 8-6 advantage.

Just as he did against Wu earlier, however, Ko used the deficit as his motivation to stage a fight back. At the same time Van Boening lost his momentum and several mistakes cost him plenty. Ko won two straight to tie the match at 8-8.

Ko looked to be going up 9-8 before a shocking scratch while shooting an easy 8 gifted Van Boening the rack and a 9-8 lead. But then the American gifted one back in the next frame, losing position on the 7 and leaving a jump shot in the jaws. The match was now tied at 9-9 and the world title looked like it was going to come down to a flip of the coin.

With the pressure palpable Ko took back the lead in the next frame. Van Boening pounced on an errant 4-ball and tied it again at 10-10. Ko responded with a break and run. And then Van Boening did the same to tie it at 11-11. Showing incredible moxy, Ko then fired back with yet another break and run. The Taiwanese was one away from the crown.

The final frame served as a metaphor for Van Boening’s one and only match in the tournament where he experienced breaking struggles. With no open shot after the break, the American had to push out. Ko declined the shot and Van Boening’s  attempt at the two-ball went astray, leaving an open table for Ko. A battled hardened Ko took his time and picked off the remaining colors and claimed his very first World 9-ball Championship.

Ko Pi Yin takes the gold. Photo by Richard Walker

After soaking up the accolades and posing with his winner’s trophy and $30,000 check, Ko basked in the quiet satisfaction of a job well done. Yes he had made a few mistakes. Yes he had gotten some lucky rolls. But he had persevered. And that, above all, made this win that much more special.

“When I won the World 10-ball in the Philippines, that was great,” Ko said. “But winning the World 9-ball Championship, this is unbelievable. I’m really happy because before I came to Doha I wasn’t playing that good. But I worked really hard on my game, especially my break shot.

“I definitely didn’t play per perfect in the final. But I played really good in the semi-final and of course that is more important because that got me to the final. I was 7-6 behind when Wu made one safety mistake, and after that everything changed.

“In the previous matches I was playing perfect, just like Shane, who is such a great player, a real gentleman. But it’s the final of the World 9-ball championship and you know so many things can happen. I think we both played good and both made some mistakes. I feel that I got a few lucky rolls to help me win the match. There was a lot of pressure especially from 8-8 on. But at the end of the match I played good and I am happy I was able to stay patient. You just never know in 9-ball. The ball is round and you have to wait until the last 9-ball drops.”

An obviously gutted Van Boening knew he hadn’t played in the same swashbuckling style that had brought him to the finals, especially with the break shot. The American, however, still played a brilliant match. He also took the loss like a man, gave credit where it was due, and promised his fans he’d snap a world title off soon enough.

“He got a lot of fortunate rolls and he got lucky to hook me a couple of times after misses,” Van Boening said. "But I also made a couple of mistakes that I should have never have made. He played great and really didn’t make that many mistakes. I think I made more mistakes than he did and that is what cost me.

“He was breaking good and I was breaking bad. There were more people in here(the Al Arabi Sports Club) which changed the temperature and the break a little bit. I really think that was the difference. My break wasn’t working for me. I was having trouble getting a clear shot to run out. That’s the way the game plays.

“There’s nothing I can do. I’m not that disappointed. It’s an honor to play in the world championship finals. I know I can’t win every tournament. Either way if I win or lose it was fun to play in the finals. I’ll be back.”

**The 2015 WPA World 9-ball Championship was sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), the governing body of pool, and promoted and hosted by the Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation (QBSF).

The winner of the 2015 World 9-ball Championship received $30,000. The runner received $15,000. The total prize fund was $200,000.

RESULTS FINAL
Ko Pin Yi (TPE) 13 – 11 Shane Van Boening (USA)

RESULTS SEMI-FINALS
Shane Van Boening (USA) 11 -1 Ko Pin Chung (TPE) 
Ko Pin Yi (TPE) 11 -10 Wu Jia Qing (CHN)

American Pool History: A Timeline

Here's a work-in-progress timeline of American pool. Feel free to suggest more entries or corrections. One day I'll put this up more permanently on the regular poolhistory.com website.

1565
Pool makes its first appearance in North America, according to Frank G. Menke, a sports historian. A Spanish family brought it with them to St. Augustine, Florida. (Source: Life Magazine, Oct. 8, 1951).

1748
George Washington purported to have won a pool game. (Source: A Brief History of the Noble Game of Billiards, by Mike Shamos.)
 
1819
Michael Phelan, considered the father of American pool, is born in Castle Comer, County Kilkenny, Ireland.

1824
Michael Phelan and family join father John Phelan in New York City.

1827
The first slate tables appear. Previously, the playing surface of tables was cut from wood and then briefly with marble. However, marble was known to "sweat" in warm weather. [Source: Encyclopedia of Sports, by Frank G. Menke, 1939.]

1835
India wooden cushions are substituted for wooden cushions, which had been popular previously. The India rubber cushions provided a "spectacular bounce," according to sports historian Frank G. Menke. [Source: Encyclopedia of Sports, by Frank G. Menke, 1939.]

1850
Phelan, seen now as greatest player in the United States, publishes Billiards Without a Master.

1856
Phelan’s book, Game of Billiards, is published; he opens a room at the corner of Broadway and 10th, New York. It was considered the finest and most luxurious pool room in the world. He also publishes the first edition of Billiard Cue, the first billiard periodical.
 
1859
Jim Seereiter and Michael Phelan play in a four-day standing room only tournament in Detroit for an astronomical $15,000. Phelan won; in April Dudley Kavanaugh beats Michael Foley in another high-profile match, also in Detroit.

1863
Phelan retires from active competition; he also offers a $10,000 reward for anyone who can devise a suitable ivory substitute for the manufacturer of billiard balls. This effort has been credited with the eventual development of plastic. Dudley Kavanagh wins in a pro championship in Irving Hall, New York, June 1-9. He becomes second U.S. pool champion.

1865
Vulcanized rubber came into use for cushions, and remains the standard to this day. [Source: Encyclopedia of Sports, by Frank G. Menke, 1939.]

1865
On Sept. 7, Louis Fox and John Deery, joint holders of the world billiards championship of 1864, meet in Washington Hall, Rochester, New York, to decide the 1865 title. According to an account of sports historian Menke: "Fox, far in the lead and on his way to winning, found himself bothered by a fly, which, despite 'shooing,' continued to light on the cue ball. Fox, excitingly trying to chase the fly, miscued, and it was Deery's shot. Deery ran out the string to win the championship. The heart broken Fox rushed out of the hall to a river, leaped in, and was drowned." [Source: Encyclopedia of Sports, by Frank G. Menke, 1939.]
  
1869
Celluloid, the first industrial plastic, is discovered by New Yorker John Wesley Hyatt. Hyatt was attempting to come up with a substitute for ivory billiard balls, but his new substitutes sometimes exploded on impact.

1873
Jerome Keogh, inventor of straight pool and five-times billiard champion, is born.

1897
Keogh wins his first world championship.

1907
Eight ball is invented. The first three-cushion championship is established.

1910
The game of straight pool is invented by Jerome Keogh.

1911
The very first World 14.1 Tournament was held in 1911 and won by Alfredo De Oro. 

1912
Straight pool becomes the official tournament game of pocket billiards.

Alfredo De Oro

1913
Rudolf Wanderone, AKA Minnesota Fats, is born in New York on Jan. 13. Willie Mosconi is born in Philadelphia on June 27. The industry reports one of its best years, ever, for table sales.

1914
Dudley Kavanaugh dies in New York on March at age 80.

1916
Ralph Greenleaf competes in his first national championship tournament, held in October at Doyle’s Academy in New York. The 16-year-old Greenleaf was described as a “Boy Wonder” by the New York Times.

1918
Luther Lassiter is born.


1919
Greenleaf wins the first of his 13 world titles.

1929
Greenleaf, playing in Detroit, regains the title – his eighth. He defeats the scoreless Frank Taberski with a sensational 126-ball run.

Harold Worst, future three-cushion and pool champion, is born on Sept. 29 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

1933
Willie Mosconi makes his national tournament debut.

Willie Mosconi

1941
Willie Mosconi wins the first of 15 world titles.

1948
The Billiard Congress of America is established.

1953
Jerome Keogh, winner of five titles and the inventor of straight pool, dies at age 80 on January 12.

1954
Harold Worst wins the world three-cushion title during an event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1954
Willie Mosconi establishes the BCA-recognized straight-pool high-run record of 536 balls. He accomplished the startling feat in Ohio, on an 8 by 4 table.

1956
Willie Mosconi suffers a stroke.

1961
George Jansco conducts the first of his famous hustler tournaments in Johnston City, Illinois. The tournaments, which lasted about a decade, would eventually attract nationwide attention.

20th Century Fox releases “The Hustler.” The film, starring Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman, would reinvigorate the public’s interest in the sport.

Rudolf Wanderone begins making the fanciful claim that he was the real-life inspiration for the film’s Minnesota Fats character.

1963
Luther Lassiter wins the first of his seven Billiard Congress of America-recognized titles. He won many more non-sanctioned events.

1965
Three-cushion champ Harold Worst briefly conquers the world of pocket billiards with victories at the Las Vegas Stardust tournament in June, and in Johnston City in October and November.

1966
The Bank Shot and Other Great Robberies, the fanciful memoirs written by Minnesota Fats and

Philadelphia newspaper writer Tom Fox, gets published.

1969
George Jansco dies. Brother Paulie takes over management of Johnston City tournament.

1972
After reading newspaper reports of widespread gambling, federal agents on Oct. 26 raid the Johnston City tournament. The '72 tournament would be the last.

1978
Willie Mosconi and Minnesota Fats would play the first of several televised challenge matches. It was the most-viewed pool match in U.S. history.

1984
Earl Strickland wins the first of his historic five U.S. Opens.

1986
The Color of Money, a sequel to The Hustler, opens to favorable reviews. The film stars Tom Cruise with Paul Newman reprising his role as Fast Eddy Felson.

Allison Fisher

1993
Willie Mosconi dies in Haddon Heights, New Jersey on Sept. 16.

1995
Allison Fisher wins the first of her more than 50 Women's Professional Billiard Association titles.


1996
Minnesota Fats dies on Jan. 18.

2000-2001
Allison Fisher wins 8 consecutive major pro pool tournaments. 

2007
Shane Van Boening wins the first of his five U.S. Opens.

EUROPEAN ROMP!

Team Europe Beats USA, Wins Mosconi Cup

Team Europe

BY LUKE RICHES

World Pool & Billiard Association

LAS VEGAS -- EUROPE has successfully defended the PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup following a convincing 11-7 victory over the USA at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Holland’s Niels Feijen, in his seventh Mosconi Cup, downed the winning 9 ball.

With two singles and two doubles wins, Feijen won the Mos Valuable Player Award. "I just want to thank the crowd, the British and Europeans and you need them to make it," he said after his 6-3 victory over Rodney Morris to seal the Mosconi Cup. 

The Americans, who had trailed 10-5 at the start of the day, won the opening two games to leave the Europeans looking a little edgy.

Niels Feijen

"Even this morning, there was pressure on us and we knew they would come out strongly. There was some heat to get over the finish line but these guys are just so good,” continued Feijen.

Johnny Archer, playing in his 15^th Mosconi Cup, was stoical in defeat. "We lost a couple of matches we should've won and they blitzed us in a few matches," he said. "We all gave it our best and will do it again next time. Hats off to their team, they hung in there when things didn't look good."

The opening match of the day saw Shane Van Boening keeping US hopes alive as he comfortably beat Nick Van den Berg 6-2. Veteran Johnny Archer also beat Darren Appleton Sunday, and in the process effectively quashed the hopes of a repeat MVP trophy for the stellar English player.

So in the end it was Niels Feijen who was left to finish off Team USA.  He beat Hawaiian Rodney Morris 6-3 to give the Europeans the decisive 11th point. "Being the Most Valuable Player is something I've been dreaming about this for seven years, every year I've played in it," said Feijen.

Sunday's Match Scores:

Nick Van den Berg 2-6 Shane Van Boening

Darren Appleton 3-6 Johnny Archer

Niels Feijen 6-3 Rodney Morris

The World Pool and Billiard Association(WPA) is the international governing body of the sport of pool.  Please visit the WPA site at www.wpa-pool.com. Follow the WPA on Twitter: @poolwpa

SVB extracts $5,000 from Strickland

South Dakota Kid wins 9-ball Challenge Match

After losing to Earl Strickland earlier this year in 10-ball, Shane Van Boening took his revenge with a 75-67 victory over the mercurial Hall of Famer in  a Las Vegas challenge match on Sunday.

Both players put up $5,000 in the winner-take-all event sponsored by theactionreport.com. Play began on Friday and continued throughout the weekend.

Van Boening mostly led throughout, although the tight Diamond table installed in The Action Report's Las Vegas studio seemed to flummox both players. Van Boening was up by only 50-48 at the end of Saturday’s play

Van Boening continued to lead Sunday, methodically stringing together racks despite his opponent's almost constant griping. The length of time it took Van Boening to rack the balls and Van Boening's softer-than-usual break seemed to particularly irk the older player. “Look at that – he’s got an eight-minute rack, and a two-mile-per-hour break,” Strickland complained at one point.

Briefly it appeared that Strickland, Hulk-like, actually was becoming stronger as he became angrier. After falling behind 63-58, The Pearl suddenly won six in a row, complaining and glowering with every sunk nine-ball.

But that rush Sunday would be Strickland's last. After a miscue and few other unforced errors, The Pearl allowed the always dangerous Van Boening to quietly trot to victory. Strickland continued to complain afterwards. "I'm willing to say that I'm a f***ing  a**hole, but there's a lot of a**holes," he acknowledged shortly before the recording ended.

Strickland beat Van Boening in a similar winner-take-all 10-ball event conducted last March in Youngstown. Both players put up $10,000 for that event.

 

-- R.A. Dyer

Van Boening wins $20K Challenge Match

SVB outshoots Pagulayan 30-17 on Final Night

During the early going, American 10-ball hero Shane Van Boening seemed stuck in low gear. Facing Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan in a three-day race-to-100 marathon last weekend, the wiry pool shark from Rapid City, South Dakota would put together two racks in succession here, three racks there. And the misses were aplenty.

SVB outscored Pagulayan on Friday thanks only to dramatic 7-pack at the very end of the night. On Saturday SBV won one game fewer than Pagulayan.

"He's weak. He's broken down," commentator Billy Incardona noted of the South Dakota Kid's early performance.

But all that changed Sunday, the last day of the much anticipated Action Report challenge match, when the man many believe to be America's greatest 10-ball player suddenly found his groove. Van Boening buried opponent Pagulayan beneath a torrent of pocketed balls on his way to what suddenly became an easy victory.

Final score after three days: Shane Van Boening: 100. Alex Pagulayan 84.

For his effort in the two-man ActionReport.com tournament, Shane Van Boening goes home with $20,000. Pagulayan goes home empty-handed. Both players put up a $10,000 entry fee. The event was streamed over the Internet from Las Vegas.

What had began as a trickle ended in a flood.

Pagulayan, a former U.S. Open nine-ball champion, Canadian snooker champion and World Pool Masters champion, is a dangerous opponent who beat Van Boening during an earlier Action Report challenge match. The first two nights of the rivals' latest confrontation where characterized by exchanges of safeties. Bothh players also appeared flummoxed by the extra-tight table pockets.

Van Boening, also a former U.S. nine-ball champion, committed several unforced errors during those first nights, and maintained a slim lead thanks only to his thunderous break and a big 7-pack on Friday. But he immediately won the first half dozen games Sunday, and then never let up. Pagulayan was stuck in his chair for most of the night.

In all, SVB outscored Pagulayan 30-17 during the final night of the event.  He played quick, and played aggressive. His famous break smashed open the balls so thoroughly that those that weren't pocketed immediately ended up spaced on the table as if he had positioned them by hand.

"He blew him out tonight," Justin Collett, the event promoter, said of SVB's performance Sunday night.

The Action Report has sponsored similar challenge matches over the last several years, including those pitting Van Boening against 9-ball legend Earl Strickland and Van Boening against two-time U.S. Open champion Mika Immonen.

The outcome Sunday corresponded closely with fan predictions at the poolhistory.com Facebook page. By an 8-1 margin, fans predicted Van Boening would come out on top. The average margin of victory for Van Boening, among those predicting he would ultimately prevail, was 17.24 games. The actual margin of victory was 16 games.

-- R.A. Dyer

Van Boening retains razor thin lead

After 10 hours, Pagulayan picks up a single game

After running neck and neck with opponent Alex Pagulayan, American Shane Van Boening regained a razor thin lead in the The Action Report's winner-take-all challenge match underway this weekend in Las Vegas.

The score now stands at 70-67, Van Boening's favor. The competitors finished up the second night's set at about 3:30 a.m. Central Standard Time, after more than 10 hours of grueling play. The 10-ball marathon concludes tonight, with victory going to the first player to notch 100 victories.

But getting to 100 will be tough.  Van Boening appears almost equally matched with Pagulayan, with the lead see-sawing back and forth Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Van Boening began the night four games ahead, and ended it only three games ahead. The score was completely tied on several occasions Saturday.

Pagulayan's greatest barrage came late in the session, and concluded with a long-rail combo that opened a 66-61 lead, the largest margin of the evening. But Van Boening grinded back, eventually tied the score and then finishing out the evening on top. It appeared that Van Boening made more unforced errors throughout the evening, but was carried through by the power of his thunderous break.

Play resumes tonight at 6:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, with the winner pocketing $20,000 and second place going home broke. Both players paid a $10,000 "entry fee" to compete in the two-man tournament.

The pay-per-view event is sponsored by The Action Report, which earlier streamed similar challenge matches featuring Earl Strickland and Mika Immonen. Participants of an informal poll on the poolhistory.com Facebook page picked Van Boening as the heavy favorite to win the event. You can also pick a winner at the separate poll, listed on the right-hand panel of this page.

-- R.A. Dyer

Van Boening takes lead in Challenge Match

But "The Lion" Pagulayan led during much of the first night action

After struggling for much of the night, American pool star Shane Van Boening dramatically ran seven racks straight to take a 35-31 lead during the first night of his challenge match with Alex "The Lion" Paguluyan in Las Vegas.

Van Boening -- or SVB as he's known to many fans -- continues the winner-take-all 10-ball contest with Pagulayan tonight. Both players have put up $10,000. The winner goes home with $20,000. The loser goes home busted.

Van Boening looked off his game for much of the night, missing several shots and making position errors on others. On several occasions he failed to run out with just a ball or two left.

For a long stretch Van Boening trailed the steady-playing Pagulayan by about five games, and he seemed utterly incapable of closing the gap.  "He's weak. He's broken down. The (tight) pockets are stopping his barrages," commentator Billy Incardona noted about halfway through the grueling 7 hours of play Friday night.

But then Van Boening, trailing 31-28, came roaring back, stringing together a 7-pack to finish out the set. "Damdest thing I ever saw," said event promoter Justin Collett.

Play resumes tonight at 6:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, and ends when one of the competitors wins 70 games. The race-to-100 event finishes Sunday. The pay-per-view event is sponsored by The Action Report, which earlier streamed similar challenge matches featuring Earl Strickland and Mika Immonen. You can find out more here.

Participants of an informal poll on the poolhistory.com Facebook page picked Van Boening as the heavy favorite to win the event. You can also pick a winner at the separate poll, listed on the right-hand panel of this page.


-- R.A. Dyer

Readers favor Van Boening over Pagulayan in 100-game winner-take-all match

The race-to-100 challenge match between Shane Van Boening and Alex Pagulayan gets underway this weekend in Las Vegas. Each of the players has put up $10,000. First place pays $20,000. Second place pays zilch.

An informal poll I conducted today on the Pool History Facebook Page finds Shane favored by a more than 8 to 1 margin, or by nearly 90 percent of all respondents. One bold pool fan even predicted Shane wins by 37 games.  The average margin of victory for Shane, among those predicting he ultimately prevails, was 17.24 games. The average margin of victory for Alex, among those calling the three-day challenge for him, was 10.33 games.

I think that folks may be taking Alex too lightly. The young Filipino has won just about everything there is to win. He is a dangerous competitor. Shane also was beaten rather soundly at 10-ball by Earl Strickland, in a similar challenge match last March.

That said, I did watch Shane beat Alex during three consecutive nights in the Derby City action room, back in 2008. Shane also rolled over Mika Immonen in a separate challenge match held last year in New York.

These great challenge matches are sponsored by Justin Collett and theactionreport.com.

-- R.A. Dyer

Eccentric Pearl Beats Young Gun

Strickland stuns fans, beats SVB in Challenge Match

Wearing ear muffs and arm weights, Earl "The Pearl" Strickland stunned pool fans this week with an underdog victory over Shane Van Boening, the young gun from South Dakota considered by many as America's greatest 10-ball player.

The two pool giants met in a 100-game winner-take-all challenge match held Friday through Sunday in Youngstown, Ohio. The game was Boening's specialty, but it was conducted across a massive 10-foot converted snooker table.  The format appeared to have favored Strickland, who took an 11-game lead the first night and then never relinquished it. Strickland ended up winning 100-83, a 17-game difference.

Fewer than 40 percent of respondents to a poolhistory.com poll predicted that the aging Strickland would win the match.  He also was the underdog on various pool forums. One fan predicted that Van Boening would take such a commanding lead that Strickland would quit him early.

But it was not to be. Wearing absurd green ear muffs and bulky arm weights for reasons that remain somewhat unclear, Strickland plowed through rack after rack. He beat Van Boening soundly the first night, played him about even the second, and then ran over him again on Sunday.

Van Boening closed to within 7 games on that final night of play but then abruptly faded. His game and confidence seemed to have completely abandoned him by the end with unexpected misses, loose safeties and unforced scratches.

Stickland, by contrast, appears to be mounting a major career comeback. His game was top notch, his position play sharp. He nearly lost his cool after a few missed shots, but the notoriously volatile player never become so unhinged as to derail his overall game. The victory builds upon a second place finish in the Derby City One-Pocket division in January and last year's victory at the U.S. Bar Table 8-Ball championships.

Strickland does, however, appear to have become a bit more quirky with age. Besides donning the green ear muffs, Strickland also was wont to examine the racked balls with a small magnifying glass. He'd gesture to fans with it between games, proclaiming "that's a good rack!"  Strickland also made use of massively long cue that looked more appropriate for pole vaulting than 10-ball. "It looks like a javelin," quipped one commentator for theactionreport.com, which sponsored the pay-per-view event.

But Strickland's victory was no laughing matter. The colorful Hall of Fame player is the only man alive to have won the prestigious U.S. Open Nine-Ball Championship on five separate occasions. Is there a sixth in the offing?


-- R.A. Dyer

Eccentric Strickland defying Predictions

Crowd pleasing star so far beating Van Boening

In defiance of the predictions, Shane Ban Boening so far is getting his clock cleaned in the 100-game shoot-out with the very much older, very much more volatile Earl Strickland.

The 100-ball challenge match, held in Youngstown, Ohio, has now finished its second day. Strickland leads 70 games to 60. At one time Strickland held a 16-game lead. The match resumes tonight and can be viewed online at theactionreport.com.

Shane Van Boening, considered by many as America's greatest player, nonetheless appeared somewhat flummoxed by the larger scale of the 10-foot table used in the $20,000 winner-take-all event.  The South Dakota Kid remained relatively impassive for the entirety of the evening, although a painful grimace would creep across his face after his failed shots, of which there were several.

Strickland, meanwhile, seemed mostly in command, if not exactly at ease. Wearing large green ear muffs to stifle out the crowd noise, and with weights on his shooting arm, the increasingly eccentric Hall of Famer would captain the cueball around the table clutter like a schooner in a busy harbor. Between games he would produce a magnifying glass to examine the racked balls, earning him the nickname "Earl-lock Holmes" by some of his snarkier fans. He also wagged his finger on occasion at a distracting crowd member -- and even complained about theactionreport camera operator. But through it all he never lost his cool, despite predictions by some that his famous volatility would be his undoing during the long event.

In fact, Strickland continues to defy predictions. An informal poolhistory.com poll had fans favoring Van Boening over Strickland by 25 percentage points. In a separate contest sponsored by poolhistory.com, Van Boening is nearly a 2-1 favorite. Fans calling the match for Van Boening predicted he would win by about 15 games (see the chart at right). The younger player did manage to close to as few as 5 games before Strickland again opened up a sizable lead. On balance, Van Boening picked up one game from the previous night's outing.

The evening's competition was characterized by plenty of safety play in which both players made use of the long table to force tough shots. Frequently, either Van Boening or Strickland would find themselves confronted with tough shots in which the cue ball was parked at the center on one end rail, and the object ball parked on the other.  The night's competition ended with a Van Boening scratch on the three-ball, just as he was reaching across the table using the bridge. The score then stood at 60-69, but Strickland followed up the error with a quick run-out, bringing the score to 60-70.

This means that in order to win the 100-game challenge, Van Boening now needs 40 games but Strickland only needs 30. The third and final set of the pay-per-view event can be viewed live tonight at TheActionReport.com.

-- R.A. Dyer

Fan Predictions: Van Boening vs Strickland

The first round of predictions are in.  Most readers forecast a win by Shane Van Boening in his upcoming 10-ball shoot-out with Earl Strickland. The 100-game challenge match will be held March 18-20 in Youngstown, Ohio. SVB and The Pearl will be meeting across a 10-foot table. It's a $20,000  winner-take-all contest.

I received about 20 votes in just a few hours. The average of predictions for those who pick Shane is 100 games for Shane, and 84.8 games for Strickland. (See the chart above). Of those who pick Strickland, the average outcome is 100 games for  the veteran and 87.4 games for Shane. (See the chart below). However, Shane so far is preferred by an almost two-to-one margin.

There's still plenty of time to make your prediction. To the reader who comes closest I'll send a free book. We're getting so many entries I might even send out several books.  To submit your prediction, just go to the Pool History Facebook page at this link. You can also comment at the bottom of this post. Please post your name, then Strickland's score first, then Van Boening's. That way I won't go blind reading all the entries.

Good luck!

-- R.A. Dyer

Win a Free Book

Strickland vs Van Boening: Call The Winner
The details have all been ironed out for another high-profile shoot-out, this time featuring two of America's greatest players. Veteran Earl Strickland, the five-time
winner of the U.S. Open, meets Shane Van Boening, considered by many as today's top player. The contest: a race-to-100 10-ball match. Strickland and the young hotshot meet March 18-20 in Youngstown, Ohio. To make the game even more interesting, the contest will be held on a 5 by 10 table. The $20,000 winner-take-all match is sponsored by The Action Report, which recently webcast Van Boening's 100-game shoot-out with Mika Immomen.

Free Book and Pool History Poll
I'll send out a free book to whomever most closely predicts the final score. Just sign up on the Pool & Billiard History Facebook Page and post your prediction there. Here's the link. I've also posted up a poll at the upper right. You can predict the winner and then check back later to see the ongoing tally. I'll keep the poll open until midnight March 17, the night before the shoot-out begins.

A bit more background? Earl "The Pearl" Strickland won the U.S. Open in 1984, 1987, 1993, 1997 and 2000. He's also been a decisive part of the U.S. Team for The Mosconi Cup. With Earl, the Americans amassed a record of nine wins, three losses and one tie. Without Earl, the Americans' record was a piddling 2-2. Strickland has been off his game for much of the last decade, but then began making a serious comeback last year. Strickland placed second to Van Boening in the One-Pocket division at this year's Derby City Classic, won the Jacoby Custom Cue tour stop in January and won both the U.S. Bar Table 8-ball Championship and the Steve Mizerak Championship in 2010.

Van Boening, by contrast, has won just about everything there is to win. He took Derby City's Master of the Table award this year and won both the U.S. Bar Table 10-ball and 9-ball championships last year. He also is a past U.S. Open winner and currently is the highest ranked American on the Billiards Digest Power Index.

-- R.A. Dyer

Orcollo's Last 9-ball Run Out at Derby City

Dennis Orcollo, left, and Lee Van Corteza

Dennis Orcollo was nearly unstoppable in nine-ball at Derby City this year. His only defeat during the entire event was to fellow Filipino Warren Kiamco -- and even then Orcollo shined. Kiamco had Orcollo way down and Kiamco was on the hill when Orcollo came roaring back to within one game of victory. Orcollo also ran over Mika Immonen and, as you can see in the video above, the great Shane Van Boening. Orcollo beat SVB in the nine-ball final 7-1. The video above shows Orcollo's last run-out. Fantastically, Orcollo jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the match after Shane left a shot in the first game. Orcollo finished that rack and then broke and ran four more.  I also saw Orcollo in action at Derby City giving Chris Bartram the 8 and the 10, playing 10-ball in a race to 30. I think they were wagering $3,000. Bartram, one of the nation's great road players, got the worst of it. The exchange made a believer out of me about Dennis Orcollo.

-- R.A. Dyer

U.S. Open: Immonen looks for 3-peat

Van Boening remains in hunt

Video from azbilliards.com

Mika Immonen made it Thursday to the final 8 of undefeated players in this year's U.S. Open, having grinded out a late 11-10 victory over former champ Gabe Owen.  The dwindling group of undefeated players after the fifth day in Chesapeake looked like a United Nations contingent: they included American Corey Deuel, England's Darren Appleton, young Canadian Jason Klatt , Spaniard David Alcaide, Lo Li-Wen of Taiwan and Germany's Ralf Souquet (the second place finisher in last year's open) and Germany's Thorsten Hohmann.

U.S. favorite Shane Van Boening also remained in the hunt, but from the one-loss side. On Thursday he ran over two very capable opponents, including road player Chris Bartram. Bartram was the only person to have beaten Mika Immonen during the U.S. Open in 2009. Unimpressed, the "Dakota Kid" eliminated Bartram in an 11-0 shut-out. Peruvian Manny Chau didn't fare much better. Chau fell to SVB by a lopsided 11-1. 

A Van Boening victory against Gabe Owen today could set up an interesting matchup with player of the decade Johnny Archer. Archer was sent Thursday to the one-loss side by Lo Li-Wen of China. But he remains very much in contention.  Other players still alive on the one-loss side include former U.S. Open champs  Owen,  Rodney "The Rocket" Morris and Nick Varner. Also alive on the one-loss side are "Korean Dragon" Charlie Williams, newest Hall of Fame inductee Francisco Bustamante,  Filipino Ronnie Alcano, crowd favorite Efren "Bata" Reyes, and Jesse Engel, a relative unknown from Minneapolis.

In fact, it was this last player that helped legends Mike Sigel and Earl Strickland to the exit door. Engel is just 18 years old. According to a short article on the NYC Grind website, the Minneapolis teen-ager now plays on the Seminole Pro Tour and was runner-up in the 19-and-under division at the  BEF Junior National Championships in 2009 and 2010. You can read the article here. 

Besides Sigel, Strickland and Bartram, other notable eliminations Thursday included Mike Dechaine, Stevie Moore and Filipino Lee Van Corteza. The last woman standing was Gerda Hofstatter, who ended up with 65 game wins to 96 losses. She was eventually eliminated by Adam Smith in a close match. "I got the $1,000 bonus for highest woman (finisher), and I also got into the money in the main field," said Hofstatter. "I (also) earned a few hundred bucks and a priceless experience."

Meanwhile, two of the more interesting television matches Thursday included Reyes 11-7 defeat of Spaniard Marc Vidal and Sigel's last stand against a player from the Czech Republic.

Reyes versus Vidal

Crowd favorite Reyes started out slow in his match, fell behind early, and for the first five games or so appeared extremely uncomfortable. After grinding out a particularly tough victory in the 10th game, the Magician asked for a time out. He returned girded for battle, and eventually pulled away from Vidal in about the 15th game. Vidal had proven adept at escaping from many of Reyes' traps, often by spinning the cue ball around obstructing balls. But victory nonetheless slipped away. Reyes beat Vidal by a four-game margin.

Sigel versus Hybler

The legendary Captain Hook met Roman Hybler of the Czech Republic during a late game on the one-loss side. Sigel trailed for much of the match, but key errors by the Czech player allowed Sigel to stay in it. Sigel won the fourth game with a spectacular combination on the two. After that it was a dog fight. Late in the set Hybler stepped away to take a break. Sigel, citing the rules, continued to play and sank the nine-ball in Hybler's absence. "The guy left and I just shot," Sigel said to a tournament director. The game was counted in Sigel's favor, but he nonetheless fell to Hybler after both got to the hill.

Follow the action

I've posted AZbilliard's excellent video round-up of Wednesday's action above. (Still waiting on the Thursday's update.) You also can keep up with the tournament at Accu-Stats, which is webcasting several matches each day. You can find the link here. I'll also be occasionally updating the Pool History Facebook page with news from Chesapeake. You can check out the page here

-- R.A. Dyer

U.S. Open Underway in Chesapeake, VA

First upset: Van Boening loses to Dechaine


Video from azbilliards.com

My friend Samm Diep, founder of  Pooltipjar.com,  provides the first day highlights for the 2010 U.S. Open in Chesapeake, Virginia. Check out her video report from AZbilliards.com, above. The story of the day was Shane Van Boening's 11-3 upset loss to Mike "Fireball" Dechaine of Maine. Van Boening, a former U.S. Open winner,  never got close. The Dakota Kid now has an uphill battle to win the tournament through the one-loss bracket.

By contrast, Mika "Iceman" Immonen easily swept past opponent Joey Arbuckle 11-4. Immonen has won the U.S. Open the last two years in a row and is in the hunt to win it again this year.

WPBA pro Jennifer Barretta also made news. Women are competiting in the prestigious event for the first time in history, and Barretta, by beating David Ross 11-5 in her opener on Sunday, joined in that history by becoming the first woman ever to win a U.S. Open match.

Promoter Barry Behrman is offering an added $1,000 prize to the woman who finishes highest in the event.  The overall champion will take home $40,000. The second place finisher wins $15,000.

In defiance to the shoddy economy, the Open this year has a full 256-player field for the first time in a decade. You can check out the progress of your favorite player here, at azbilliards.com. Accu-Stats is also webcasting on a pay-per-view basis. Here's the link.

-- R.A. Dyer

We Lose Again?

Pool Synergy 12: Pool & Television

By R.A. Dyer

Eddy & Charlie: "We lose again?"

Remember this scene? Fast Eddy is shooting pool. He’s been at it for hours, days even. At first Eddy wins big. But the Fatman keeps coming at him, keeps stroking balls, confidently, quickly, one by one. And eventually it all goes south for Eddy. Charlie the stakehorse sits dejectedly to one side. At Charlie’s feet are enough cigarette butts to fill a small pot hole.

The end comes miserably for Fast Eddy.

“We lose again, Charlie?” he asks, already knowing the answer.

“We lose again,” says Charlie.

We all face defeats. Some are trivial. Others sting. The worst are those that come when victory seems so tantalizingly close. These are the soul crushing defeats of come-from-behind candidates, of foreclosed homes and failed marriages. These are the overtime losses that keep the hometown team out of the Super Bowl, of finishing second best.

To me, that scene in The Hustler has always been a metaphor for just this sort of loss. This month's edition of Pool Synergy is devoted to what could be another: the very real possibility that pool will vanish from television.  Our Pool Synergy host predicts that soon, very soon, most American TV coverage for pool will be a memory. “It’s fairly safe to say that sometime within the next couple of years, the only billiards events we'll see here in the states will be trick shots and speed pool,” he writes.

His question: what impact will this have on our sport?

Quick review. Pool Synergy is a monthly collaborative effort in which online pool writers take on a single theme. This month our host, the anonymous founder of the Pool Cue News and Review blog, poses a question that I believe can be answered with but a single word. No essay required. The loss of TV coverage for pool would be disastrous.

But there is hope. Our anonymous host takes it as an article of faith that coverage will fade away. The eternal optimist in me rails against this proposition. I agree our industry has entered into some dark days. But I also believe the changing nature of television should open up new opportunities.

In 1978 Minnesota Fats faced Willie Mosconi in The Great Shoot-Out. It was the most watched pool competition in U.S. history, its rankings commensurate to some World Series games. (Read all about it in The Hustler & The Champ.) But that was the age before cable, TiVo and youtube. Those days are history. Today, television is granular, a medium in which giant ratings are almost unheard of, but where there’s space for relatively low-rated events like hot dog-eating contests, hot rod shows and poker. There’s never been a time with so much bad TV. Or so much good.

It’s been said that reality TV may presage the fall of Western Civilization. But what about reality TV devoted to professional pool? I opened the question recently to folks on my Facebook page. The response was enthusiastic. Said one reader: “It is incredibly frustrating to hear that the country's most popular sport (yes, pool is played by more Americans than football, baseball, soccer, basketball, or midget horseback racing) is lacking so heavily in TV coverage, yet there are shows about 'ice road truckers'? Ridiculous.”

I’m also heartened to see what The Action Report is doing. The recent challenge match between Shane Van Boening and Mika Immonen provides an excellent road map for what could sell on cable. Same rules: $10,000 entry fee. Winner takes all. I imagine hand-held camera shots of serious looking men counting cash stacked in piles. As an added touch the TV producers could have the cash prominently displayed throughout the entire contest. The camera could pan back to it before each commercial break. A little bit of pre-match trash talk also would help.

Why wouldn’t that work? Am I dreaming? It would have the same feel as the Fast Eddy versus Minnesota Fats challenge match in The Hustler, but made for reality TV. It seems to me that such events would be relatively inexpensive to produce, and that venues would jump at the chance to host them because of the potential TV exposure. You could even pit a top woman pro against a top man. Bill it as the battle of the sexes. Imagine the drama. Imagine the pathos. And because of the granular nature of today’s TV audiences, the producers no longer need out-of-the-park ratings to declare success.

The down side would be that two-person events would limit exposure for other players. But such events could become a first step, something to help our sport rebuild in the new media age. In my dream world, broader coverage would follow. I agree with one reader, who wrote me recently that he wanted more “real” pool on TV – games like some straight pool, one pocket or some bank pool. “When I watch pool I want to see the skill, the heart, and the look of determination on the players faces,” he said.

The challenge match format could fit the bill.  The alternative is that our sport will continue its fall into irrelevance. The result, in a word, would be disastrous.

We lose again Charlie?

Van Boening beats Immonen in Shoot-Out

Sledgehammer break makes the difference

Van Boening

The break. That was the story of this week's three-day shoot-out between Shane Van Boening and Mika Immonen. As predicted, Shane's powerhouse 10-ball break shot served him well during the 100-game challenge match. The $10,000 buy-in event concluded last night at New York's Amsterdam Billiard Club with Shane on top, 100-79.

The lanky Van Boening rarely failed to make a ball off his ear-splitting opening shot, and typically would sink two or three. This was too much of an advantage to overcome, especially considering that Immonen's break appeared to have completely abandoned him for long stretches.

Van Boening had a 10-game advantage after the first day, kept that advantage for the second, and then went up by as much as 25 on the last day. The final margin was 21 games.  Both players appeared to be playing somewhat more loosely by the end, especially after the outcome was no longer in doubt. On several occasions Van Boening passed up obvious safeties in favor of difficult but makeable shots.

Immonen

But there was no trophy for his troubles. Instead, The Action Report founder Justin Collett quietly handed the Dakota Kid an envelope stuffed with cash, his reward for the grueling winner-take-all event.

Both players arrived Tuesday after placing well in separate events. Van Boening had flown in from Central America, where he had won the Nicaraguan Open 10-ball event. Immonen, meanwhile, finished second to Oliver Ortmann in the World straight-pool event held a few days earlier in New Jersey. Both now head to Chesapeake, Virginia for the U.S. Open 9-ball event, which begins Sunday.

For pool fans, the much anticipated competition between Van Boening and Immonen had the feel of a major prize fight.   The two are considered among the best in the world, both having been named players of the year by Billiards Digest. Between them, Van Boening and Immonen have won the last three U.S. Opens in a row.

Fans polled on this site gave a slight advantage to Immonen and some predicted a blow-out for The Iceman.   "Mika is coming back after a long race," said one, after watching the Finnish player go down by double digits on the first day.

The winner of a poolhistory.com contest to name the final score was New Jersey resident Thomas Kozloski, who predicted a 100-86 margin in Van Boening's favor. Nobody predicted a wider margin in the American's favor, although he had plenty of fans.

"Hell yeah, go Shane," one said late Thursday. Another was even more succinct. Upon learning that the Dakota Kid had pulled ahead by 18 games and was only 12 from victory, Helene Zhu commented on the Pool History Facebook Page with just one word: "Wow."

You can read more about the fan predictions in earlier posts on the Pool History blog, which you can find here and here.

-- R.A. Dyer

Immonen Favored by Slim Margin

But Nearly Half Predict Van Boening to Win in NYC

Fans are almost equally divided as to who will win the big shoot-out that begins tonight between champions Mika Immonen and Shane Van Boening. According to an informal survey conducted by the Pool History Blog, fewer than 52 percent called it for Immonen and slightly more than 48 percent called it for Van Boening. 

The 10-ball event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, will continue over three days at New York City's Amsterdam Billiards. Victory goes to the first player to win 100 games. Both players have put up $10,000. The event is being webcast as a pay-per-view event by The Action Report.

"Both are consistent and awesome pool players, but I'll have to go with Shane for sure," said one reader, who predicted Van Boening would come out on top 100-91. "I know Mika is an awesome player and anything can happen, but I'll still pick Shane in a close one."

"I give Mika the edge only because he has more experience and in a long race like this, I think a few situations will come up where experience will make the difference," said another, who predicted Immonen would win 100-94. 

Readers were also asked to predict the final game tally for each player. Those predictions were then averaged. Again, Immonen held a slight lead in this category. (See the graph at the top of this post.) Fans predicted that Van Boening would win 90.79 games and Immonen would win 95.93 games. Although the challenge match is to 100 games, neither player is predicted to win 100 because of the effect of averaging. 

Both Van Boening and Immonen have been named Billiards Digest players of the year. Between them, they've also won the last three U.S. Opens in a row.

The Pool History blog will send a free book to the fan who most closely predicts the final outcome.

-- R.A. Dyer