After being knocked to the loser’s bracket in the third round, Shane Van Boening plowed his way through eight more matches to collect his third consecutive US Open 10-Ball Championship title. 

 

The 2018 US Open 10-Ball Championship started Wednesday at Griff’s in Las Vegas, NV with a field of 45, which included many of the best pool players in the world. 

 

Van Boening, of South Dakota, had wins against Chip Compton, 9-4, and Donny Mills, 9-0, before being sent to the B-side of the bracket by Mosconi Cup hopeful Mitch Ellerman. But it doesn’t matter where Van Boening sits in a bracket, or his competition ahead, don’t count him out. Van Boening plowed through the loser’s bracket to meet Alex Pagulayan in the finals. He posted wins against: Josh Roberts, 9-6; Warren Kiamco, 9-8; Ian Costello, 9-3; Thorsten Hohmann, 9-7; Dennis Hatch, 9-2; and Eklent Kaci, 9-6. Van Boening met Ellerman again in the semi-finals and cast his revenge, winning 9-3, to meet Alex Pagulayan in the finals. 

 

Pagulayan’s path to the hot seat included wins over: Bret Huth, 9-3; Max Adams, 9-1; Oscar Dominguez, 9-7; Ian Costello, 9-4; and Dennis Orcollo, 9-6. 

 

But Van Boening’s determination to win that third consecutive US Open 10-Ball title proved to be too much Saturday for Pagulayan, who fell, 11-2 in the single-race final. 

 

Ellerman, of Las Vegas, made the most of his home-field advantage to make his way through the winner’s side of the bracket, beating Kurt Kobayashi, 9-2; Billy Thorpe, 9-8; Shane Van Boening, 9-7; Corey Deuel, 9-6; and Dennis Hatch, 9-6, before losing to Pagulayan in the hot seat match, 7-9. Ellerman was unable to repeat the win over Van Boening in the semi-finals, losing 9-3, for a very respectable third place finish. 

 

2018 US Open 10-Ball Championships results: 

 

1 Shane Van Boening, South Dakota

2 Alex Pagulayan, Canada

3 Mitch Ellerman, Nevada

4 Eklent Kaci, Albania

5 Dennis Orcollo, Philippines

5 Dennis Hatch, Indiana

7 James Aranas, Philippines

7 Thorsten Hohmann, Germany

9 Omar Alshaheen, Kuwait

9 Ian Costello, California

9 Corey Deuel, California

9 Ernesto Dominguez, California

 

The US Open 8-Ball Championships started Saturday at 5 p.m. and continues through Tuesday at Griff’s in Las Vegas. For live stream of the event, go to http://www.playcsipool.com/live-streaming.html.

 

For more information, photos, contact Mary Coffman, CSI Marketing Manager at 509-308-9814 (cell); or by email at maryc@playcsipool.com.