Shane Van Boening
Shane Van Boening will head into stage two as the table leader at Premier League Pool, amassing a total 13 points from a possible 15 – the joint highest at this stage in Premier League Pool history, live from US 1 Billiards, West Haven, Connecticut on Matchroom.live, DAZN in the United States and networks around the world.
The five-time US Open champion was beaten just twice across the week, with countryman Fedor Gorst taking a 5-2 victory late on Friday on table one. For Van Boening, he advances with the same record as Joshua Filler in 2022 and Sanjin Pehlivanovic last year in Leicester, United Kingdom.
With points carrying over into stage two, a two-point lead to Joshua Filler at the top of the table could prove crucial for the South Dakota Kid, who recorded an impressive 5-1 win over the Killer to open the evening session.
Filler is supported by Chinese Taipei brothers Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung in 3rd and 6th respectively, separated by a point. The two played out a mouth-wateringly rare contest on Friday evening, with US Open Pool champion Ping Chung emerging victorious against his older World Pool Master brother.
Gorst advances in fourth place, tied on 10 points with Pin Yi and 6th placed Wiktor Zielinski – the trio separated by Rack Difference.
Skyler Woodward sits in 7th after a strong string of form midweek, whilst Mario He and defending champion Francisco Sanchez Ruiz secured their spots in the weekend’s action on the final day. Sanchez Ruiz defeated Woodward and Ko Pin Yi on Friday, with two-time World Cup of Pool winner He beating Gorst before a hill-hill thriller with Filipino Michael Feliciano.
The final qualification spot would be taken to the wire, with two-time World champion Albin Ouschan sweating the action of Friday evenings final match between Spaniard David Alcaide and Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Tuan.
Anh Tuan had put together a resurgent run of form to battle back from a slow start to the week, defeating Spanish Open winner Dang Jin Hu, Ouschan, Sanchez Ruiz, Ko Ping Chung and Filipino prospect Bernie Regalario for a consecutive five-match winning run. In defeating Mario He on Friday, a victory over Alcaide would’ve taken him above Ouschan to eight wins across the week.
On paper it appeared that the stars were aligning for the Vietnamese shooter, with Alcaide heading into the final match with a 0-14 record – odds no bookmaker in the world would have offered against the reigning European Open winner. But the night proved to be Alcaide’s who, drafted in late to replace a withdrawn Neils Feijen through sickness, would finally claim a precious first point on the board to help his Mosconi Cup winning teammate Ouschan through to the last 10, enjoying jubilant scenes with the crowd and Team Europe cohort at the close of play.
The top 10 are back in action on Saturday and Sunday, once again playing each other to determine the final six for Monday’s finale. You can keep track of all the scores and live table via WNT Live Scoring here. Sign up for a free account to receive access to the 2024 Mosconi Cup priority ticket window.
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