“The South Dakota Kid” Shane Van Boening “Shines” at the UPA Diamond Open 9-Ball Professional Players Championship, held at the “Greatest Show on Earth”

“The South Dakota Kid” Shane Van Boening “Shines” at the UPA Diamond Open 9-Ball Professional Players Championship, held at the “Greatest Show on Earth” Super Billiards Expo here in Valley Forge, PA. The pressure also reveals another diamond in the rough… “Get Some” Shaun Wilke.

Shane Van Boening shines against 64 of some of the best players in the world, on a world class stage. In the finals Shane defeated an up and coming phenom “Get Some” Shaun Wilke from Maryland for the 16th annual Pro event held at “Super Billiards Expo” which is produced by Allen Hopkins Productions.   

The Expo is also known as “The Greatest Show on Pool Earth.

This post has the entire Pro breakdown including a “New” ongoing contribution from Geoff Conway the newest addition to “Team NYC Grind”.

Please be sure to read the entire story to get a taste of all the Pro action at the event and what is hot in the pool world.On his road to the finals, Shane had impressive wins over several world class players. Shane defeated Mike Jackson 10-5, Randy Labonte 10-4, Ronnie Wiseman 10-5, Mika Immonen 10-9, Tony Crosby 10-6… before losing to “Get Some” Shaun Wilke in a tight Hill-Hill match.

“Get Some” Shaun Wilke was looked at as an underdog coming into this event. Shaun is known throughout the Northeast as a gritty top player who is certainly not short on heart or shot-making skills.

The knowledgeable fans of the Pro Arena had the pleasure to watch Shaun knock “The South Dakota Kid” to the “One Loss Side” setting up a Hot seat.

Shane then played spectacular against “The Rocket” Rodney Morris, who could not continue his impressive play throughout the event in this match as Shane dominated in a 10-3 win allowing him a “Re-Match”.

The match up would prove to be a tremendous challenge for Shaun Wilke from Maryland, as he looked to do the impossible by defeating the hottest player on earth in two consecutive matches on the big stage.

“Get Some” Shaun Wilke had a very impressive tournament run allowing him to reach the “Winners Side” Final first.

Shaun first defeated Stevie Moore in a tight “Hill-HIll” battle allowing him the opportunity to stay on the “Winners Side” in an impressive field.

Shaun Wilke then shut out Chris Lynch a top straight pool player from NY 10-0.

He then defeated Gabe Owen 10-5, Louie Ulrich 10-5 including clutching out in a battle between “The Silent Assasin” Tony Robles 10-7, before defeating “The South Dakota Kid” Shane Van Boening “Hill-Hill” 10-9, earning him the first spot in the Finals.

The Stage for the finals was a spectacular picturesque setting, as Allen and Dawn Hopkins along with the help of the amazing staff who contributed in the set up and running of the “UPA Sanctioned” tournament literally rolled out the red carpet.

All eyes were on this battle of David vs Goliath, who were playing in the Pro Arena of the Super Billiards Expo Center which was spectacularly set up with stadium seating which was the platform for 100’s of knowledgeable fans who were hungry to see the two hottest players lock horns.

Shane Van Boening is quickly building a very impressive resume that includes such titles as 2007 World 10 Ball Champion, 2007 US Open Champion, BCA Enjoy Pool Champion to name a few.

“Get Some” Shaun Wilke has been a top player for some time with many wins, but none at the Professional level. Shaun has been looking to take his game to the next level of late as he has been committing to play in more pro events to see what he has got. 

 
1st: “The South Dakota Kid” Shane Van Boening $10,000 2nd: “Get Some” Shaun Wilke $6,000
3rd: “The Rocket” Rodney Morris $5,000
4th: “The Ice Man” Mika Immonen $4,000
5th: “The Silent Assasin” Tony Robles $3,000
6th: “The Sniper” Tony Crosby $3,000
7th: Shawn Putnam $2,000
8th: Adam Smith $2,000
9th: John Morra $1,500
10th: “The Scorpion” Johnny Archer $1,500
11th: Louis Ulrich 1,500
12th: “The Babe” Gabe Owen $1,500
13th: Stevie Moore $1,500
14th: Ronnie Wiseman $1,250
15th: “The Korean Dragon” Charlie Williams $1,250
16th: Mike Dechaine $1,250
17th: “The Hatchetman” Dennis Hatch $1,000
18th: “Mr 403″ John Schmidt $1,000
19th: Tony Chohan $1,000
20th: Raj Hundal $1,000
21st: Mike Davis $1,000
22nd: Frankie Hernandez $1,000
23rd: Ralf Souguet $1,000
24th: Luc Salvas $1,000

From the Grape Vine _____________________________________________________________________________________________________MELT DOWN AT VALLEY FORGE

In the first round of the Pro action at the Super Billiards Expo, there was a surprising incident. During the match between Fabio Petroni and Gabe Owen, Gabe was winning 6-2 and was running out from the break, and was about to go up 7-2 as he was shooting the nine ball.

To everyones surprise… Fabio jumps to his feet, grabs the end rail with both hands, and proceeds to head butt the rail four times, and staggers back to his chair with his hands  clasped on his bleeding injury.

It took a little while due to the confussion , before the officials finally called for medics, and removed Mr Petroni from the arena.

Fabio was laid down on the floor in the corridor, where it took about twenty minutes before he was taken away to hospital. Fabio was kept in overnite for observation purposes.

The match was forfeited and given to Gabe Owen. Gabe Owen has played Fabio a total of two other times before this event losing to Fabio both times.

On a lighter note the  rumour that this sudden surge of energy was as a result of drinking the new Rodney Morris “Extreme Focus” drink are totally unfounded and pure speculation.

On a recent posting on Fabio’s website, he let his fans know that he learned that he has Bipolar Disorder, and attributed his uncharacteristic burst of frustration to the inability to handle the disorder appropriately.

Fabio Petroni apologizes to Allen Hopkins, his staff and the players as well as all fans of pool. He then mentions that he is now feeling better and that the doctors are taking care of him.

Fabio’s next Pro event will be on March 29th and 30th in Bologna, Italy for the Fibis Event’. ____________________________________________________________________________

RAJ HUNDAL

Raj Hundal from England, a frequent visitor to the states in recent years, was playing in this years event to the US pool fans delight.

Raj was playing well, until he met an “In Form” Mike Dechaine from New England, who sent Raj home early by defeating Raj 10-6 stopping Raj in 17th place.

Raj is spending most of his time in India, promoting the sport of pool in co-operation with Charlie Williams of Dragon Promotions. He is concentrating on the Punjab area where his parents were born, and is giving exhibitions and generally trying to establish a bigger awareness, creating leagues, and larger competitions throughout the country.

India has some very good pool players, who play in the Worlds Fair events, as well as throughout Europe. Raj mentions that there is an opportunity for explosive growth in the country and is very optimistic in the progression of the sport in India.

Raj is also partners with Rodney Morris, in the “Extreme Focus” Energy drink venture that they have recently launched. Extreme Focus comes in many flavors and is currently differentiating itself from many other drinks in several ways including having “No Caffiene”.

The new drink was for sale throughout the Valley Forge Convention Center, and was available free to all the players in the tournament.

The new “Energy Drink” is to be distributed world wide, and is slated to be a player in the Energy Drink Market.

Raj flew back to London on the 17th en-route to Sweden for a tournament being held in Marcus Chamut’s pool room, which is situated about an hour from Stockholm.

For more information on his schedule , and progress log onto RajHundal.com

THE RAJ HUNDAL V JOHN SCHMITT MATCH

Raj was in real good form against John , winning rack after rack until the score stood at 9-2, Raj needing only one game to win the match. John however, was having none of that a surged back winning seven straight games, to take the match to the hill 9-9.With John the breaker for the final set, he is just about to break when he decided to take a short break.Unfortunately this was his big mistake. Raj jumped out of his seat as if to say where are you gioing, and in so doing noticed that the rack was out of square.On Johns return Raj pointed the error in the rack and asked him to rack it correctly, Having made a ball on every previous break John subsequently broke and did not make a ball, leaving Raj to run out the rack to squeak out the win.John was not a happy camper when he left the arena, and was not available for comment.
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“The Rocket” RODNEY MORRIS”

The Rocket” also accompanied Raj on his his trip to the UK on the 17th. The trip will be lined with business meetings and promotion revolving around the new energy drink that they have just launched.

From there Rodney will play in a pool event in Sweden. (See last paragraph of Raj Hundal piece)Rodney’s next event in the states is the Seminol tourny in Atlanta, held at Mr Q 11 pool room, April 4th.

Then onto the Pheonix Desert Shoot out (http://upatour.com/tour-schedule.php) April 24th through the 27th , which is a UPA event.Immediately after the Desert Shoot Out, Rodney Morris will be heading off to the World Masters, which will be held in Las Vegas from May 7th through the 9th.

Rodney will then play in the 10 Ball event to be held at the Riviera Hotel with a $15,000 first place prize.I guess we can look forward to the Extreme Focus Classic somewhere down the road, subject to the success of the drink.

The new energy drink has a web site ExtremeFocus.com which is still in construction that will provide information on all the details of the drink.”The Sniper” TONY CROSBYTony had a great event overall. Tony lost to Shane Van Boeing in the winners side semi-final after defeating Jeremy Sossei, Charlie Bryant, Raj Hundal and Adam Smith.

Once in the “One Loss” side, he was faced with the challenge of playing “The Rocket” Rodney Morris, who played a tremendous set en-route to a 10-4 win knocking Tony out of the event with a 5th place finish.Tony who owns and markets the STROKE IT WEAR leisure sports apparel, and is now marketing a new “BREAK/JUMP” stick called the “SNIPER“. The “New” stick has a 14 mm diameter fenolic tip, and and is of three piece construction.The stick is endorsed by Rodney Morris, Cory Duel, Buddy Hall, Helena Thornfeldt, Donny Mills and Jason Richco US amateur Champion.For information on his sweaters and jump sticks log on to (http://www.strokeitwear.com/) Strokeitwear.comTony’s next event will be the Atlanta Seminol tournament at Mr Q 11 April 4th ____________________________________________________________________________________________________
“The Scorpion” JOHNNY ARCHERHad who is always a fan favorite and playing well came in 9th in the event, and mentions that his next tournament will be at the Atlanta Seminol event to be held at “Mr Q” on April the 4th. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 ”The South Dakota Kid” SHANE VAN BOENINGWhen asked how winning the 2007 US Open had changed his life, Shane responded that it hadn’t. He mentioned that it was an invaluable experience, but his goal remains to play in as many tournaments as possible and trying to win each one he plays in.

We think he is good at fulfilling his predictions, as he recently has won about everything he enters. It was impressive to see Shane continue his world class form as he goes on the win the UPA sanctioned Diamond Open 9-Ball Professional Players Championship. At the Super Billiards Expo here in Valley Forge, PA.

While Shane acts humble about the impact of winning the US Open, the fact is that winning the US Open 9 Ball Championship has earned him an automatic entry into two prestigious events. The win qualified him to be a part of the Mosconi Cup as well as spot in next years Challenge of Champions at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

It is always a pleasure to watch Shane and in my opinion “The South Dakota Kid” Shane Van Boening is presently the Tiger Woods of the pool world!!! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________“Mr 403″ JOHN SCHMIDTHas informed me that he will play a full schedule for the rest of the year, as opposed to his usual entry into only seven events per year. (I guess the golf courses of America will be seeing very little of “Mr 403″ this year)John came in 17th place in this years Valley Forge event, and is very happy with his new sponsor “OB1 Shafts and Sticks”. Johns next trip is to an Opening in Richmond, which will include a clinic and exhibition. After that he will be at the UPA sanctioned Desert Dust Off in Pheonix._____________________________________________________________________________________________________

“The Hatchet Man” DENNIS HATCH  

Dennis Hatch a winner at this event two years ago, was a no show on the first day of the Pro event which started on Thursday.

Dennis had to change course due to the emergency hospitalization of his mother in Buffalo NY. The problem was believed to be heart related, but after extensive tests, Dennis’s mother was found to have chronic pneumonia which was great news when comparing what was first believed to be the problem.

After realizing that his mother was in the capable hands of the doctors, and with his mothers blessing… Dennis drove through the night to play in the event.

After a grueling emotional roller-coaster and a long ride Dennis arrived at three in the morning the night before having to play a 1:30pm Friday match which he ended up winning 9-2 over Dror Dobronsky. Since Dennis started out on the “One Loss” side, he had quite a road ahead of him,, but Dennis was playing with the fire and confidence to make a imbrobale run to come back to shock the tournament and the crowd.

Dennis then won all of his 5 matches that he played on Friday including wins over Fransisco Tomati 10-5, and Dee Adkins 10-6, before losing a nail biter “Hill-Hill” match to “The Babe” Gabe Owen 10-9 the next day.

In that match Dennis was up 9-7. With the score at 9-7 -Gabe broke, made a ball and was running the balls out when he missed a straight down the rail shot on the six.

Most of the fans were thinking that Dennis was about to win the set, but the balls didn’t roll that way for Dennis. The six ball ended up behind the nine ball with Dennis hooked!Dennis kicks at th six and almost makes it down town, but the ball wiggles in the pocket, leaving Gabe an easy out, making the score 9-8.

With the score 9-8 Dennis broke and didn’t make a ball. Gabe then ran out. Dennis breaks the next game making a ball, but leaving himself no shot.

A long safety battle ensues, with Gabe finally getting the upper hand (by luck) when he left Dennis hooked after a three rail kick on the one.

Dennis made a beautiful kick on the one ball, making it, but leaving himself jacked up over the eight ball when shooting the long two ball.Dennis missed the two ball, leaving Gabe the run out. This lined up hill hill match, with Gabe breaking.

In the final rack Gabe missed an early shot to let Dennis a shot to back at the table. Dennis then missed a 4 ball while trying to get perfect on the 5. Gabe grinded out the clutch winThe result of this match was quite an upset given the way Mr Hatch had been playing on Friday, winning all of his five matches in easy fashion.

Dennis’s next big event will be the UPA sanctioned Desert Shootout in Phoenix in early April._____________________________________________________________________________________________________”Kid Delicious” Danny Basavich  How great it was to see “Kid Dilicious” Danny Basavich, back  in the saddle  in his first tournament since his heart attack over a year ago.

It was good to see all of his twitching movements and the neck rolls, and that inquisitive look at his tip, every time he chalks his cue and of course that oh so slow play. You can see the yawns on the opponents face every time he takes another lap around the table to look at it from just one more angle.

As annoying as it can be to his opponent.. his fans have come to love the way he dances around the table, as only Mr Delicious can.

Kid Delicious was recently featured on Nightline as well as ESPN because of the success of the book written on his life’s adventures in pool, along with the breakthrough momentum from Lionsgate in the creation in the movie based on the adventures of Danny and “Bristol” Bob Begay.

Danny is a loveable character that we welcome back to the scene, and hope to see much more of him in upcoming events. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________  

“The Silent Assasin” TONY ROBLES”The Silent Assasin” Tony Robles was playing superb throughout the event with wins over Rodney McLamb 10-6, Larry Nevel 10-5, Mike Davis 10-9 as well as Shawn Putnam 10-9, before losing to “Get Some” Shaun Wilkie who was having the tournament of his life.

In this match the score was 7-7 when Tony was left a jump shot that he hit, but missed leaving Shaun a shot, which he then proceeded to run out taking control of the set en-route to a 10-7 win.

After losing to Shaun, he was pushed to the “One Loss Side”, and was matched up with Mika Immonen. Tony historically has a favorable win-loss record against “The Iceman” MIka Immonen, but in this match Mika played a near flawless set against “The Silent Assasin” to end Tony’s chances at the title.

Tony has been busy promoting his newly launched (www.predator9balltour.com) Predator 9 Ball Tour, which Tony describes as a success. Tony mentions that everyone in the tour is generally having fun. ‘

They are having fun palying even with all of the top players in the area. Tony mentions that he has many palyers who are C’s and D’s which pay a lower entry which leads to more players in the field.

They also love the fact that we are using the alternate break format. This gives them a chance to break every other rack, which increases their chance of beating a pro, which has happened a couple of times already.

In the four Predator Tour events to date, Tony and his tournament director William Finnegan have drawn 75, 83, 66, 84 players respectively.

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“Jersey Joey” JOEY TESTA “Jersey Joey” Joey Testa

 

 

Joey was playing extremely well, and was drawing large crowds of fans in each of his matches.

Joey is an up an coming player to watch, as he has been taking his game to a different level.In his first match he had to play NY’s own Frankie Hernandez. This match was back and forth as Joey was able to pull out a Hill-HIll 10-9 win.

In the match… Joey jumped out in the beginning.Joey had Frankie 5-2. Missed a couple of shots on him… and it looked like Frankie felt that Joey couldn’t seal the deal. Frankie then jumped out to a 7-5 lead.

Joey then won 3 games in a row to make it a 8-5 lead. Then Frankie made it 9-8 after a costly safety error while the score being 8-8. At 9-8 Frankie broke and came up dry, and Joey ran out that rack. In the last rack of the game Joey broke and ran out for the exciting “Hill-Hill” win.In Joey’s second match he played Luc Salvas in which he wins 10-5.

Luc played great overall and with the addition of a couple of costly scratches on the break for Joey testa and a few missed balls Joey wasn’t able to gain control of the match. Luc was too potent a force for Joey to overcome in this match.

In his third match he played Brett Stotlemeyer. Joey jumped out to a 5-2 lead. Joey missed a 3-6 combo which was costly. Joey could have gone up 6-2 with that combo. He then got his composure together and ran out that rack.

A couple of more racks later Joey was down 9-6. Joey had a medium tough shot on the one, which he missed. Brett ran to the 6 ball, but missed the 6. Joey closed the gap to 9-7 with Joey breaking after running that out.

Joey then broke and ran out to tighten the score to 9-8. Joey grinded out the next game to tie the match at 9-9 drawing a nice sized crowd.

In the Hill-Hill match, there was an exciting safety battle. Joey blinked first and made the first mistake by leaving Brett a shot.

It looked as if Brett was going to grind out an impressive win over Joey Testa, but uncharicteristicaaly missed a very makeable 6 ball.

Joey was visibily surprised, composed himself and ran out the remaining balls for the win.Joey Testa then was faced with Ralph Souquet who ultimately defeated Joey by the score of 10-7. Joey was down 5-1 and closed the gap to 7-6, but ultimately Ralph was too much from the young man from Jersey on this day._____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks to Geoff Conway for his contribution of “From the Grapevine” and his contribution to the sport. Stay tuned to continued contribution from Geoff as well as several many other members of “Team NYC Grind”(From left to right) Jeremy Sossei, Jerry T and Geoff Conway