Shane Van Boening added another title to his ever expanding resume on Saturday night when he defeated Lee Vann Corteza 7-6 in the finals of the Derby City Classic 9-Ball Division.
Van Boening took his first loss of the event midway through the day when he dropped a 7-5 match to Johnny Archer. Van Boening quickly avenged that loss when he drew Archer again in the next round and handed him a 7-5 loss to eliminate Archer from the event.
Van Boening went on to make quick work of last year's winner, Ralf Souquet, 7-3. Meanwhile, Corteza eliminated Adam Smith 7-5 to set up the match in the finals.
Corteza has had Van Boening's number in a number of recent matchups between these two players, both on and off the tournament floor. This time started out looking like another Corteza win as he took a quick lead and he looked to be in control of the match until he missed a ball to go ahead 6-3 and let Van Boening back into the match. Van Boening reached the hill first at 6-5, but Corteza quickly joined him on the hill with a beautiful table length 2-9 combo after a safety attempt from Van Boening.
Van Boening made the first mistake in the case game when he missed a 2-ball, but Corteza made the last mistake when he scratched on the same 2-ball and left Van Boening ball in hand with an open table. Van Boening smoothly finished off the rack for the tournament win and a $16,000 payday.
