Van Boening, Patsura & Kibaraglu Claim Titles at Skinny Bob’s

Room owners Kim and Tracy Sanders welcomed back players and fans to their 2^nd Annual Skinny Bob’s Nine Ball Classic. Located in Round Rock, TX, $10,000 was added to four events – one pocket, nine ball, ladies nine ball and a nine ball mini.

Tournament sponsors included Hanshew Jump Cues, JB Cases, ABC Supply, GAF, Sanders Roofing & Exteriors, Mints Amusements, Simonis, Aramith, Savage Billiards, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore and PoolActionTV.com.

Defending one pocket and nine ball champ Fedor Gorst was there as well as newly minted Bayou State Classic Nine Ball champ Shane Van Boening. Former Texas Open Nine Ball champ Vitaliy Patsura, reigning Cajun Coast Classic Nine Ball champ Roland Garcia and former Space City Open One Pocket titlist John Gabriel joined the fray. 2019 Senior One Pocket winner James Davis Sr and fellow Texans Blaine Barcus, Tommy Tokoph, Lazaro Martinez III, Justin Espinosa, James Davis Jr, David Henson, Jude Rosenstock and Raed Shabib roamed the room.

Ladies including Ming Ng, Veronica Perez, Jennifer Kraber, Chris Fields, junior star Sofia Mast and Turkey’s Eylul Kibaroglu were also spotted.

The $500 added single elimination Nine Ball Mini began on Tuesday evening. Ukraine’s Vitaliy Patsura took the cash after defeating Austin’s Noah Contreras in the finals.

Drawing 24 players, the One Pocket division’s players auction, meeting and draw also took place the same night with play starting the following day. The format was double elimination with all races to three.

Top players Roland Garcia, John Gabriel and Tommy Tokoph drew first round byes while Mickey Krause and James Davis Sr. battled it out. Krause took the win 3-2. Up and coming Filipino star Mark Estiola and Patsura also went down the wire. Patsura prevailed 3-2.

In the second round, Shane Van Boening outlasted Tokoph 3-2 and Gabriel skunked Patsura 3-0.

Third round saw Gabriel get a dose of his own medicine as Raed Shabib blitzed him 3-0. Roland Garcia toasted Krause 3-1 as did Van Boening over Blaine Barcus by the same score.

Meanwhile, Ryan Braselman had been breezing past his opponents – Ryan Nelson (3-0), John Wright (3-1) and Noah Contreras (3-0). However, after joining the winners side final four, Garcia took him down. Van Boening did the same to Shabib – both matches were 3-0.

Moving into the hot seat match, it was all Van Boening as he kept Garcia scoreless 3-0. He headed west to await an opponent as Van Boening secured his seat in the finals.

In the top portion of the bracket on the one loss side, both Davis Sr. and Tokoph were mowing down their opponents. Davis Sr defeated Renato Camantigue 3-0 and went to the case game with both Patsura and Contreras (3-2). Tokoph got past Ryan Nelson 3-2, Aro Majumder 3-0 and Krause 3-1 before meeting Davis Sr. Tokoph was eliminated 3-0.

At the bottom of the chart, David Neumann and Rick Moreno were also tearing up their adversaries. Moreno beat Estiola 3-2, James Davis Jr 3-1 and Barcus 3-2. Neumann was the victor in matches with Andy Erdmann 3-0, Wright 3-1 and Gabriel 3-0. When Neumann and Moreno finally met, it was all Moreno as he took the match 3-0.

The next match between Braselman and Moreno was close as both players were at the top of their games. Down to the finish, it was Braselman who was finally victorious 3-2. The same round it was Shabib who knocked out Davis Sr. 3-1.

The next match was tight but in the end, Shabib won 3-2. Braselman finished in fourth place.

Waiting for Shabib was Garcia – each looking to make the finals. Taking no prisoners, Shabib defeated Garcia 3-0 leaving him with a third place finish.

As this was true double elimination, Raed would have to defeat Shane twice to win the tournament. However, Shane took no prisoners. He won the match 3-0 and claimed the title!

The $5,000 added Nine Ball division began on Friday night after the players auction, meeting & draw with play beginning the next morning. Drawing 95 players and played on nine foot Diamonds, the format for this event was adjusted to Matchroom’s specifications with alternate breaks, nine racked on the spot, players breaking from the box with the three point rule in effect. All races were to seven.

Making their way through the field to arrive at the final eight on the winners side were Rudy Sanchez, Michael Schneider, Fedor Gorst, Blaine Barcus, Vitaliy Patsura, Shane Van Boening, Lazaro Martinez III and Andrew Rodriguez. Rodriguez prevailed in a nailbiter with Martinez 7-6, Patsura over Van Boening 7-5, Gorst defeated Barcus 7-3 and Sanchez beat Schneider 7-2.

The following round saw Gorst defeat Sanchez 7-4 and Vitaliy beat Rodriguez 7-2. Gorst and Vitaliy advanced to the hot seat match while their opponents headed to the one loss side.

Patsura then thumped Gorst 7-2 and moved into the finals undefeated. Fedor moved west to await an opponent.

After being unceremoniously dumped into the one loss side, earlier in the tournament, Garcia won six in a row to face Van Boening. After defeating Tokoph 7-2, Shane had victories over Martinez (7-4) and Sanchez (7-3) to face Roland and won 7-3. He then defeated Fedor – also 7-3 – and found himself back in the finals.

Since this was true double elimination, Shane would have to defeat Vitaliy twice to win the tournament.

Van Boening won the lag, broke and ran out. Vitaliy then won the next two games to take the lead but Shane tied it up at two apiece. They traded games until Van Boening pulled away to to take a two game lead – 5-3. They traded games again until Shane reached the hill 6-4. Patsura won the following game to make it 6-5 but Van Boening took the next one to close out the match 7-5 and force one more for the cheese!

The second match began just like the first until Shane led 4-2. Vitaliy then won the next three games to lead 5-4. Van Boening then tied it at five apiece and then again at 6-6! What a match! One game for it all!

It was Patsura’s break in the case game. He broke the balls – the one shot in the side with the nine following it – almost! Then everyone’s attention flew back to the cue ball. It almost scratched – it laid deep in the corner. Facing a severe back cut into the opposite corner, he made the two as the cue ball bumped into balls. He was left with a tough off angle 3-7 combination and the 4-9 tied near the side rail on the other end of the table.

He overcut the combo and left Shane a back cut on the three into the side. The three was very makeable but the seven was blocking the path to break up the 4-9. Nothing’s ever easy, is it?

Shane ended up playing three rail shape underneath the four and tried to cut it into the opposite corner pocket – a very difficult shot. You could have heard a pin drop in the room as Shane stroked the cue. He finally pulled the trigger – and missed!

Leaving Vitaliy a routine out on the final few balls, he ran out to take the title! Relief for Patsura – a heartbreak for Shane.

The final division of the tournament – the $1,500 added Ladies Nine Ball Championship – began on Saturday night following the players auction, meeting and draw. The tournament featured 26 players and was also played on nine foot Diamonds. The format was alternate breaks with all races to seven.

This event was all about junior champ Sofia Mast and Turkish champ Eylul Kibaroglu. Mast’s path to the finals included wins over Camille Campbell and Michelle Cortez – both 7-5. She then smoked Jennifer Kraber 7-2 and Makenna Sanders 7-1.

Kibaroglu blew through the bracket with defeats of Rachelle Dytko and Ally Mann – both 7-1. Cheyenne Valdez was next (7-0) and then Ming Ng (7-2). The hot seat match was all Kibaroglu as she dominated Mast 7-2. Sofia headed west as Eylul made herself comfortable in her finals berth.

Sofia then cooled her heels as she awaited the results of the Ming Ng-Tara Williams match. It was close and then Tara pulled away to close the match out at 7-5. Ming finished in fourth place.

Tara was no match for Sofia as she cruised back to the finals – score was 7-2. Tara was left with a third place finish.

Again, as this was true double elimination, Mast had her work cut out for her. She would have to defeat Kibaraglu twice to claim the title.

Sofia won the first game and Eylul answered with a game of her own to tie it up. In the third game, Sofia overran her position on the nine. She was left with a tough cut it into the side but missed. Eylul came to the table and faced a long shot on the nine but pocketed it with ease making it 2-1. She then won the next three games and extended her lead to 5-1.

The next three games went back and forth but Kibaraglu reached the hill first – score was 6-2. Sofia made another nice out to make it 6-3. Eylul won the next game and closed out the match at 7-3 to claim the title!

As an aside, I’d heard quite a bit about these two young players. Both played so well – it was wonderful to watch them showcase their tremendous skills. I have no doubt that the winner’s circle will play prominently in their futures!

What an event! PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Kim and Tracy Sanders in addition to General Manager Shayla Neris and her staff for treating all the players and fans like royalty.

We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing another excellent job.

Calling the balls and strikes were Larry Schwartz, Ray Hansen and Mary Kenniston. Thanks to them for their great commentary.

And, last but not least, we’d like to thank our sponsors and fans. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Savage Billiards, Lomax Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Durbin Custom Cues, Bull Carbon, Diamond Billiard Products, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.

Our next scheduled event is The Rack One Pocket Classic to be held in Livonia, MI. With $7,000 added, the dates are April 3rd-7th. Plus, there’s a two man tournament in the works – so, stay tuned!