Shane Van Boening and Wi Jia Qing (JP Parmentier/Vincent Rochefort)
Wu Jiaqing will face Wang Can in the quarter-finals of the partypoker US Open 9-Ball Championship after dumping American No.1 Shane Van Boening out of the tournament at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Convention Center, Las Vegas, live on Sky Sports and DAZN.
Van Boening ran the first two racks of the match and lead for most of the match, but at 7-4 down Wu fought back with four consecutive racks to lead for the first time. Two more games went in Wu’s favour to take the World Cup of Pool winner to the hill, but the former World Champion wasn’t left with a shot on the 1 after breaking for the match.
That allowed Van Boening a route back into the match and the South Dakota Kid looked to be taking it but missed the 9, provoking gasps from the 600-strong crowd. Wu was left a long cut on the 1 ball to the bottom left pocket. He called for his shot-clock extension, took his time and rolled the winning ball home.
Earlier, Wang had defeated Ryan Hsu for his place in the quarter-finals. Hsu had taken a 2-0 lead but Wang took five straight racks to gain the upper hand in the match. The Chinese went in off during the 10th rack to offer Hsu a lifeline, but Wang was soon back at the table and won five racks without reply to seal the victory.
Play continues with all four quarter-finals scheduled for Thursday. All matches at the partypoker US Open 9-Ball Championship are race to 11, winner breaks, except the final which is race to 13. Live scores are available now at www.matchroompool.com.
Players are playing for their share of a $300,000 tournament purse. The winner will take home $50,000, the famous US Open green jacket and the newly-commissioned Barry Behrman trophy.
Tickets for the 43rd partypoker US Open 9-Ball Championship are still available at www.matchroompool.com from as little as $10 with VIP packages also available for the final three days of the tournament.
