PHILIPPINES' Dennis Orcollo finished fourth after bowing to American Shane Van Boening, 5-11, in the one-loss side of the 41st Annual Open 9-Ball Championships at Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Virginia, USA.
The match figured in a series of deadlocks in the first eight frames but Van Boening snatched a 6-4 advantage and rallied to break away.
Former World 8-Ball champion Orcollo, who hails from Surigao City, managed to win another rack but still trailing, 5-10. Van Boening, however, never looked back by sealing the 16th frame to secure the match and the US$50,000 champion's prize.
In the winners' side, Jung Lin Chang of Chinese Taipei escaped past Jayson Shaw, 11-10. Chang was way ahead, 8-2, then got to the hill, 10-4, until Shaw got his acts together to stage a huge comeback and force a 10-all deadlock.
Shaw, however, succumbed to a crucial miss on the three-ball which Chang capitalized to wrap up the match. Still with only one loss for the week, Shaw next took on Shane Van Boening. Shaw jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Van Boening got out of the gate to take us to 6-1. Then Van Boening began stringing racks. 6-1 became 6-2, then 6-3, then 6-4, then 6-5.
Shane was two balls away from leveling the score at 6 when he miscued on the 7 ball. Shaw finished that rack out to make the score 7-5. Shaw was running out the next rack when he overcooked his position on the 9 ball and scratched. SVB now trailed 7-6 with the break.
Van Boening then played Great Britains's Shaw who cruised to a 9-6 lead but scratched, allowing Van Boening to narrow the gap, 9-6. The latter went on to tie the match, 9-all, and never looked back to secure the finals berth.
In the titular showdown, Van Boening bested Chang, 13-9.
Chang settled for the runner-up prize of $24,000 while Shaw received $11,500 and Orcollo got $8,000 in the cuefest sanctioned by the World Pool Association.
It was Van Boening's fifth U.S. Open 9-Ball title after also bagging the 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2007.
