Shane Van Boening

The greatest American player of his generation and arguably one of the world’s top five players for more than a decade, Shane Van Boening has won virtually every significant title in the game, including the World 9-Ball Championship and the World 8-Ball Championship, as well as five U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship titles.

Born July 14, 1983, with a hearing impairment to a pool-playing family in Rapid City, S.D., Van Boening began playing pool as a young child and quickly became one of the country’s best bar table players, winning numerous national amateur titles. Venturing into the professional arena in the early 2000s, the “South Dakota Kid” immediately established himself as a top tier player, qualifying for the lucrative International Pool Tour in 2006 and broke into the winner’s circle in 2007 with his first U.S. Open 9-Ball title, the Sands Regency Open and the Predator International 10-Ball title.

Van Boening appeared in his first Mosconi Cup in 2009, pocketing the winning 9 ball in Team USA’s win in Las Vegas. He has since participated in 16 more Mosconi Cups and has played more than 100 Mosconi Cup matches, the most of any player.

Van Boening reached the title match of the World 9-Ball Championship in 2017 and 2018, losing on both occasions. He finally claimed the elusive crown in 2022, avenging his 2018 finals loss to Austria’s Albin Ouschan to win the title. Van Boening went on to add the World 8-Ball title to his resume in 2023, defeating Sanjin Pehlavonovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the final.

Van Boening won three consecutive U.S. Open 9-Ball titles from 2012-2014. In 2016, Van Boening claimed his fifth U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, tying childhood idol Earl Strickland’s record.

A master of all games, Van Boening has earned two Master of the Table titles at the annual Derby City Classic (2011, 2012). He has won the event’s 9-ball title four times (2009, ’12, ’14 and ’16) and the one-pocket crown twice (2011, 2012). Van Boening has dominated in late promoter Mark Griffin’s U.S. Open events, winning the U.S. Open 10-Ball crown six times, the U.S. Open 8-Ball title three times, the U.S. Open One-Pocket title three times, the U.S. Open Bank Pool championship twice and one U.S. Open Straight Pool crown. He’s captured the Turning Stone Classic six times.

In all, Van Boening has won more than 100 pro titles. He has been named Player of the Year by both Billiards Digest and AZ Billiards six times.

Biography courtesy United States Billiard Media Association