Player: Shane Van Boening
Event: 2019 U.S. Open
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Date: April 25, 2019



It's not hard to find highlights of Shane Van Boening at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships. The South Dakota Kid has amassed quite the catalog of fantastic shots in his career, which includes winning the preeminent event on American soil.

Looking back to 2019, since the event wasn't held last year thanks to the global pandemic, Van Boening was trying to right the ship in his Round-of-16 match against China's Wu Jiaqing. After jumping out to a 7-4 lead in the race-to-11, Van Boening watched Wu blast his way to the hill, winning six straight racks.

In the 15th game, the American misplayed position on the 5 ball and got on the wrong side of the side pockets for position on the 6, sitting a half ball off the footrail.

With an elbow loosened up out of necessity, with elimination a 9 ball away, Van Boening eyed a circuitous route for position. He powered the 5 into the right side pocket, loading the cue ball with high, right English. The cue ball bent from its tangent line toward the left long rail, with the sidespin helping to open the angle. Hitting the headrail a diamond from the corner, it slipped past the 7 by a hair and then ricocheted off another rail before rolling into perfect position on the footrail.

It looked to be an easy out, but even a five-time U.S. Open champ makes mistakes. Van Boening eventually erred on the 9 ball in this rack, handing the table back to Wu. He sliced in the match-winner to advance, eventually working his way into the final before dropping the championship to Germany's Joshua Fuller.


(Video clip provided by Accu-Stats Video Productions.)

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