Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Shane Van Boening will begin the defense of his World Pool Championship title against Japan’s Masato Yoshioka in Kielce, Poland from February 1-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics, DAZN in the USA as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
The American will look to become only the second player in history to defend the title following in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in a packed arena at Targi Kielce. 46 countries will be represented in the 128-player field as it is whittled down to the Last 64 over the first two days of action before it’s straight knockout to the end where one will claim the $60,000 first-place prize and the world crown.
The draw was completed with the top 64 players from the Nineball World Rankings against an unseeded player from the other 64 in the hat. Standout first-round ties include 2015 world champion Ko Pin Yi facing James Aranas of the Philippines whilst 2022 semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef faces the tricky prospect of Johann Chua. 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan was unseeded and will meet Michael Schneider.
World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide takes on Billy Thorpe and Shane Wolford‘s mission for a spot on Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup takes on Pia Filler. Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a year to remember last year and will begin his Nineball campaign against So Shaw of Iran.
Double elimination matches are all race to 9, with all matches from the Last 64 a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 13.
Table 1 will be live on broadcasters worldwide including Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA, Canada, and Italy, as well as on Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide. See where to watch here.
Table 2 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.
Table 3 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.
Alex Pagulayan proved the Lion still roars within him as he came from behind to steal the US Open 8-Ball Championship from Shane Van Boening, who had hoped for a second consecutive title and to earn back-to-back wins of both the US Open 8-Ball and US Open 10-Ball Championships.
Pagulayan’s path to the finals included wins over: Danny Stone, Australia, 8-6; Skyler Woodward, Kentucky, 8-2; and Denis Grabe, Estonia, 8-3; before losing to Dennis Orcollo, Philippines, 7-8. In the loser’s bracket, Pagulayan bested Thorsten Hohmann, Germany, 8-7 and Lee Vann Corteza, Philippines and then gained revenge on Orcollo in the semi-finals, beating him 8-6.
Van Boening’s path to the hot seat included wins over Sina Valizadeh, 8-2; Manny Perez, 8-5; Josh Roberts, 8-3; Lee Vann Corteza, 8-6; and Dennis Orcollo, whom he beat 8-4 to gain the hot seat, to meet Pagulayan in the finals.
Van Boening jumped out to a fast 7-2 lead, which may have seemed insurmountable to all but Pagulayan. But as Van Boening’s breaks came up dry, Pagulayan was able to capitalize, slowly closing the gap and soon the score was tied at 8-8. The score was tied again at 9-9 in the race-to-10 final, with Van Boening breaking. But once again the break failed Van Boening, with the cue ball scratching – giving Pagulayan an opportunity at the table, which was all he needed. With ball-in-hand, Pagulayan was able to run out to earn the US Open 8-Ball Champion title, cup and $13,500 purse.
The 2017 US Open 8-Ball was held at Griff’s in Las Vegas in conjunction with the 41st BCAPL National Championships, July 19-29 at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Sponsors include Viking, Kamui, Omega Billiards, Cyclop, Diamond, Simonis, and Predator.
Shane Van Boening of South Dakota will meet Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines for the hot seat match of the US Open 8-Ball Championship at 1 p.m. PST July 31.
Van Boening, who won the 2016 US Open 8-Ball & 10-Ball Championships, is hoping to repeat last year’s double dip. His path to the hot seat included wins over Sina Valizadeh, 8-2; Manny Perez, 8-5; Josh Roberts, 8-3; and Lee Vann Corteza, 8-6.
Corteza and Pagulayan join four others in the loser’s bracket, all hoping to grab a place in the finals.
Vinnie Calabrese of Australia has been an impressive talent throughout the tournament. Calabrese posted wins over Hunter Lombardo, 8-7 and Kim Laaksonen, 8-5 before losing to Corteza, 6-8. On the B side of the bracket, he beat: Danny Stone, 8-7; Justin Bergman, 8-6; and Nick Malaj, 8-7. Calabrese will play Denis Grabe of Estonia at 9 a.m.
Grabe has also put a lot of great talent out of the tournament, with wins over: Michael Yednak, 8-7; Francisco Bustamante, 8-7 and Thorsten Hohmann, 8-2, before losing to Alex Pagulayan, 3-8. In the loser’s bracket, he bested Dennis Hatch, 8-6 and now faces Calabrese in the morning. The loser of that match is eliminated and places 5th/6th.
Hohmann “The Hitman” of Germany is also fighting his way through the loser’s bracket. He beat Jesse Bowman, 8-4 in the first round and then was sent to the B side by Grabe, 2-8. Hohmann then beat Oscar Domiguez, 8-7; Kim Laaksonen, 8-4; and Josh Roberts, 8-4. He faces Rodney “The Rocket” Morris at 9 a.m. PST.
Morris, always a crowd favorite, beat Chris Melling, 8-3 and Justin Bergman, 8-6, before losing to Lee Vann Corteza, then he beat Danny Olson to guarantee himself at least 5th/6th and a chance to continue through to the finals.
The 2017 US Open 8-Ball is being held at Griff’s in Las Vegas in conjunction with the 41st BCAPL National Championships, July 19-29 at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The event featured more than 5,000 amateur players representing 47 states, nine Canadian provinces and 11 countries, competing in approximately 40 divisions, on 300 Diamond pool tables. The annual tournament also includes about 50 exhibitors. Sponsors include Viking, Kamui, Omega Billiards, Cyclop, Diamond, Simonis, and Predator.
Alex Pagulayan (File photo courtesy of Karl Kantrowitz)
Only four remain undefeated at the 2017 US Open 10-Ball Championship. Shane Van Boening is the sole US player still on the A side of the bracket as the final day of the tournament begins. He is joined by Philippine players Lee Vann Corteza, Warren Kiamco and Canadian Alex Pagulayan.
Streaming continues Wednesday from 9 a.m. through the finals, which are scheduled for 7 p.m. PST. Purchase the live stream package for both events for less than $9 per day! PPV packages are also available for each event or per day. For complete prices and to purchase the live stream, go to playcsipool.com. Tournament brackets can be seen at ctsondemand.com.
The 2017 US Open 10-Ball Championship is being played at Griff’s, at 3650 South Decatur Blvd. in Las Vegas. It will be followed by the US Open 8-Ball Championships July 29-31.
The tournaments are played with Cyclop balls on 9-foot Diamond tables covered with Simonis Cloth. The US Open 10-Ball format is race to 9, double elimination and the US Open 8-Ball format is race to 8, double elimination. The finals of the US Open 10-Ball will be a single race to 11 and the finals of the US Open 8-Ball will be a single race to 10.
The 2017 US Open 10-Ball & 8-Ball Championships are being held in conjunction with the 41th BCAPL National Championships, July 19-29 at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The event will feature more than 5,000 amateur players representing 47 states, nine Canadian provinces and 11 countries, competing in approximately 40 divisions, on nearly 300 Diamond pool tables. The annual tournament will also include about 50 exhibitors.
The sponsors for the US Open 10-Ball and 8-Ball Championships are Predator, Omega Billiards, Cyclop, Kamui, the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and Simonis.
Warren Kiamco, California Billiards Owner Chris Swart and Thorsten Hohmann
It may only be a perception, but the West State Billiards/POV Pool's West Coast Swing seemed to take a bit of a toll on the players, winners included, who moved on to the fourth event of that Swing; the $10,000-added 9-Ball Challenge, which drew 77 entrants to California Billiards in Fremont, CA from July 7-9 (slightly overlapping the One Pocket tournament). Dennis Orcollo, who'd won the 5th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial which launched the Swing, and then, went undefeated to win the One Pocket event, finished in the tie for fifth in the 9-Ball Challenge, while Jayson Shaw, who'd won the 10-Ball Challenge was knocked out in the quarterfinals, both of them by a 'fresh' Corey Deuel. The door was open, and in stepped 'fresh-as-an-elder daisy' Warren Kiamco, who, following a hot seat loss to an also-fresh Thorsten Hohmann, came back to double dip him in the finals and claim the title.
Kiamco's five-match trip to the winners' side semifinal in this event went through (among others) Deuel, and Alex Pagulayan (back-to-back) to end up against Orcollo. Hohmann, in the meantime, whose four-match trip to the winners' side semifinal had included only person with a Fargo rating (Shane Van Boening) faced off against Sina Valizadeh. Kiamco sent Orcollo to the loss side 9-5, as Hohmann was sending Valizadeh over 9-4. Separated by only three points in their respective Fargo ratings, Hohmann (783) and Kiamco (786) locked up in a terrific 9-4 hot seat match that eventually sent Kiamco to the semifinals.
Over on the loss side, Orcollo ran into Deuel, who'd been downed by Kiamco 9-7 on the winners' side, and, in order, had downed Billy Thorpe 8-4, Santos Sambajon 8-6, Van Boening 8-4, and Amar Kang 8-2 to reach him. Valizadeh had the misfortune of running into Shaw, who was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that included back-to-back wins over Sky Woodward (8-5) and Pagulayan (8-6).
Shaw shut Valizadeh out and in the quarterfinals, faced Deuel, who'd eliminated Orcollo 8-6. Deuel then defeated Shaw 8-6, only to run into an obviously determined Kiamco, who defeated him a second time, 8-5 for a second, and, as it turned out, third shot against Hohmann in the hot seat.
The Warrior and the Hitman started out as might have been expected in the opening set of the true double elimination final; trading racks to a 2-2 tie. Kiamco scratched on the break of rack #5 and Hohmann took advantage to move ahead by two. But that, as they say, was all she wrote for that set, as Kiamco went on a nine-game run that forced a second set.
In the second set, a race to 8, there was only one tie; at 1-1. From that point, Kiamco started a four-rack run that saw him sink at least two, and often three balls on his break. In game #7, Kiamco scratched shooting at the 7-ball, which opened the door for a three-rack run (very quickly) that pulled Hohmann within one at 5-4. Hohmann broke dry in rack #10, which gave Kiamco an opening that led to two racks in a row, putting Kiamco on the hill at 7-4. Kiamco ended up in a bad position, shooting at the 2-ball in rack #12 and a couple of back-and-forth safety shots later, Hohmann won his fifth, and final game. About halfway through what proved to be the final rack, Hohmann hooked himself shooting at the 5-ball (literally, behind the 8-ball), and Kiamco was able to pull out the final win and claim the event title.
The West Coast Swing moves on, figuratively, to a marathon. Orocollo and Tony Chohan will take center stage beginning tomorrow (July 11) in a $100,000, head-to-head One Pocket match, labeled as "The Big One." The two will play for four days at California Billiards, in an attempt by one of them to win 40 matches. The production team is expecting one, or possibly both of them to reach 10 wins in each of the four days. The event, as have all of the West Coast Swing events, will be streamed live and free by POVPool.com.
The West Coast Swing will wrap up at Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, CA with a $3,000-added 9-Ball Challenge this weekend (July 15-16).