Shane Van Boening (Luke Thompson)
The $5,000-added Dynaspheres Cup 10-Ball Championships, held under the auspices of the Maryland-based Billiard Sports Network this past weekend (May 1-2) at Center Pocket in Bowie, MD had a little bit of everything going for it. The most prominent thing it had going for it was Shane Van Boening, who went undefeated through a field of 128 to claim the event title. Though it was a fairly diverse group, geographically, it featured a list of prominent Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Florida-based players, a few women from the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) and a small contingent of junior players.
Although predominantly made up of US Players (92%), the field also featured two players each from Puerto Rico and India, as well as one player each from Ecuador, South Korea, the Philippines, Egypt, Scotland and England. By the time the field had whittled down to 12; four on the winners’ side of the bracket and eight on the loss side, it was all US of A. The final four standing were two guys from the New York City area and a pair of Shanes; one a wily veteran from South Dakota and the other, a recently-graduated-from-juniors player from Virginia.
It’s tough to beat a guy who, through eight matches, racing to 9, is winning just about four out of every five games he plays, while giving up an average of only 3.6 racks per match (63-24/79% game-winning average). And so went Shane Van Boening’s tournament, commencing with victories over Jeffrey Pry, Sr., Ryan McCreesh, Bryan Jones, Clint Palaci and Matt Krah, to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Derick Daya.
NYC’s Joey Korsiak, in the meantime, who’d end up winning just over half of his games and giving up 6.36 racks per match, on average, got by Larry Richards, Jimmy Conn, Shayne Morrow, Scott Haas (double hill) and Kevin West, to arrive at his winners’ side matchup against fellow NYC competitor, Raphael Dabreo.
Van Boening downed Daya 9-4, while Korsiak was sending Dabreo to the loss side 9-6. Van Boening sent Korsiak to the loss side, claiming the hot seat 9-6.
On the loss side, DaBreo ran into Matt Krah, who, after his winners’ side quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Van Boening, had defeated one of the junior players, Landon Hollingsworth and Mark Nanashee, both 9-2. Daya picked up Shane Wolford, who followed his winners’ side quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Dabreo with victories over Chip Klein, double hill, and Kevin West 9-7.
The circle had closed, so to speak. The final six competitors were either still on the winners’ side (Korsiak and Van Boening), or had only seen action, at most, in two matches on the loss side Dabreo & Krah, Daya & Wolford). Wolford advanced to the quarterfinals 9-1 over Daya. Dabreo eliminated Krah 9-5 and joined him for their rematch.
Dabreo and Wolford put on a hell of show in those quarterfinals. Old school vs. new generation stuff. It came within a game of double hill, but in the end Dabreo advanced for another rematch, against Korsiak in the semifinals. It seemed as though the hot seat match had taken somethinout of Korsiak that he couldn’t get back. That, or Dabreo was just on a determined roll for a shot against Van Boening. Either way, Dabreo advanced to the finals 9-4.
There was an element of dominance in that final match, but Dabreo didn’t just lie down, either. Van Boening’s overall 79% game-winning average was only 64% in the final. He did, though, complete his undefeated run with a 9-5 victory.
Tournament director Steve Fleming and Billiard Sports Network’s Jake Lawson and Josh Setterfield extended thanks to the ownership and staff at Center Pocket for their ongoing hospitality throughout the Dynaspheres series of events, as well as title sponsor Dynaspheres Balls, Lucid Ballsports (Predator Arena Light), Gina Cunningham (Keller Williams Integrity), East Coast Prime Meats, Courtyard by Marriott (Bowie, MD), Hampton Inn by Hilton (Bowie, MD), Luke Thompson Photography, MB Cues/Mike Burton, Integrity Cues, Break Out Billiards Apparel, WhoDem Billiards Apparel, AZBilliards, Premier Billiards, CueScore.com, The League Room, Championship Fabric, LLC, Jacoby Custom Cues, Vyc’s Cue Repair, S&T Billiards and JB Cases.
The next event in the Dynaspheres’ series, scheduled for the weekend of June 4-6, will be the $1,500-added Dynaspheres Cup 8-Ball Championship, to be hosted by Center Pocket in Bowie, MD. This Open/Pro event, limited to the first 128 entrants, will feature races to 7 on both sides of the bracket, and be played on the room’s 7 ft. Diamond tables.
