Favorite Memory of 38th U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship

My favorite memory this year and every previous year was spending time with my father and CCB friends.

My favorite memory from the tournament this year is watching Shane play Chris Melling and sitting ringside for the match. I never get tired of watching Shane play.
 
Jayson Shaw is the one I'll remember most from this Us Open. He might just win something big in 2014.
 
sjm said:
Jayson Shaw is the one I'll remember most from this Us Open. He might just win something big in 2014.
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Good one.

I always enjoy the newest "young guns"

I wrote an article for Inside Pool or another magazine about this, YEARS ago.

There was a pretty good class at that time included, Coltrain, Corey, Shannon, and a couple others.

Now they are old timers and these new YOUNG GUNS are coming in. Included in that group IMO, is Skylar, and Landon.

Ken
 
I was only able to make it for a day this year, due to work and life getting in the way.

My favorite memory was spending time Friday morning with my CCB buds, playing our annual event. That was my motivation for making the drive just for the day.

My tournament memory was watching Danny Mastermaker, a terrific young player from the RVA area make a run to 17-24th place. He lost to Shane in the 5th round and then to Tommy Kennedy; so, the eventual winner and a former champion. Not a bad appearance!

Brian in VA
 
Brian in VA said:
I was only able to make it for a day this year, due to work and life getting in the way.

My favorite memory was spending time Friday morning with my CCB buds, playing our annual event. That was my motivation for making the drive just for the day.

My tournament memory was watching Danny Mastermaker, a terrific young player from the RVA area make a run to 17-24th place. He lost to Shane in the 5th round and then to Tommy Kennedy; so, the eventual winner and a former champion. Not a bad appearance!

Brian in VA
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Brian, I did not know the CCB folks still have their annual get-together. That's great! :cool:

BTW, those U.S. Open trophies are first class. I always admire the workmanship. Having pool in the East Coast for me sure is a bonus, and I like the fact that they are in the shape of the beautiful State of Virginia. :smile:

Virginia might be for lovers, but it's great place to play pool.:yes:
 
Memories

I will remember this open for some of the lesser known players that I enjoyed on the stream. I almost turned off the Wang/Akagariyama match because I thought it wasn't going to amount to much. I was totally off base. Akagariyama can shoot and I knew that but I had no idea Wang would take it to him. I think it finished 11-9 but Wang was in control most of the match.

Also, I watched Line Kjoersvik play David Hughes and win. I was really impressed with her and her composure at the table. Everything is very calculated and up to that point, she had the best break on the TV table.

I looked her up and apparently, she plays out of a pool room in Villa Rica. I just got a new client over there so I'll have to stop by and say hello.

These were just a couple of the matches but they were all entertaining.
 
dawgcpa said:
I will remember this open for some of the lesser known players that I enjoyed on the stream. I almost turned off the Wang/Akagariyama match because I thought it wasn't going to amount to much. I was totally off base. Akagariyama can shoot and I knew that but I had no idea Wang would take it to him. I think it finished 11-9 but Wang was in control most of the match.

Also, I watched Line Kjoersvik play David Hughes and win. I was really impressed with her and her composure at the table. Everything is very calculated and up to that point, she had the best break on the TV table.

I looked her up and apparently, she plays out of a pool room in Villa Rica. I just got a new client over there so I'll have to stop by and say hello.

These were just a couple of the matches but they were all entertaining.
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Gosh, you're right. The ladies who did compete this year had a good showing. Monica Webb is another lady pro who had some excellent matches. I hope both come back next year! :cool:
 
JAM said:
Gosh, you're right. The ladies who did compete this year had a good showing. Monica Webb is another lady pro who had some excellent matches. I hope both come back next year! :cool:
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I wonder why more women didnt play?

I understand the money question, but I thought this was in back yard of alot of women players.

Seems like they fought for the right to play in it and then dont play?

Ken
 
My thoughts on the 2013 US Open

I like to add my thoughts to this thread about the US Open since I was there the whole week.

I watched the match between Lee Van Corteza and the Japanese player and Lee Van went through the racks with perfection. He made balls on the break and ran out effortlessly. The Japanese player had a couple of opportunities late in the match, but I think he was so shell shocked by Lee Van’s performance that he missed a couple of shots that I could have made and Lee Van continued on to a 10-0 score. In the last rack Lee Van had to cut a ball thin into the side pocket and go three rails back to the other end of the table and the ball just caught the point going in after the cue ball travelled to perfect position. That’s when the fan in the audience yelled “you stink” and it brought laughter from the audience and Lee Van himself smiled. The Japanese player won that game and made the score 10-1 to the applause of the crowd. He’d avoided being blanked on the TV table! Lee Van won the next rack and won the match 11-1.

Lee Van Corteza is a class act. He never says a word (maybe a smile if something doesn’t go right) and he just takes care of business on the table. He came from behind to win some pressure packed matches to keep himself in the running to get to the finals. He was trounced by Johnny Archer 11-2 and that would have weakened a lot of players, but not Lee Van. His match with Nils Feijen was a pressure cooker. You had to win by 2 and Nils was ahead 10-9 and broke and made the 9 ball and scratched! He would have won the match and then played Jason Shaw to get to the finals if he hadn’t scratched. That scratch by Nils gave Lee Van the opening he needed and he came back and beat Nils to get to the match with Jason Shaw.

Jason is a great player, but his fast paced game was his undoing. He was ahead of Lee Van (I don’t remember the exact score) and he missed or scratched and let Lee Van get to the table and start winning games. Lee Van beat Jason to get to the finals against my favorite player Shane Van Boening.

I’d been watching Shane play all week when I could and he was playing close to perfect 9 ball. I was pulling for Shane to win this year for one reason I wanted an American to win back to back like Mika and Darrel had done recently. Shane was the only man who had a chance to do that since he was the defending champion.

I was a little concerned about Lee Van in the finals remembering what he did to the Japanese player (he won 10 in a row) and I knew if Shane made any mistakes Lee Van could take over and possibly win it all. Shane played outstanding until the end when he got to 12. I don’t know if nerves got the best of him or what, but he missed a couple of balls and Lee Van started closing the 12-6 gap down to 12-10. Shane finally ran out, after a couple of misses let Lee Van close the gap in the score, like he'd done so many times in the match and won 13-10 and I think everyone in the room was happy for him. He stated in the interview that one of his goals was to equal Earl Strickland’s record of 5 US Open titles and I don’t see a thing stopping him. I’ve been going to the US Open for over 20 years and I’ve never seen anyone play better than Shane Van Boening. With his big break and his shooting and position play he’s going to win many more titles and the USA is fortunate to have such a fine champion representing them.

James
 
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SCCues said:
I like to add my thoughts to this thread about the US Open since I was there the whole week.

I watched the match between Lee Van Corteza and the Japanese player and Lee Van went through the racks with perfection. He made balls on the break and ran out effortlessly. The Japanese player had a couple of opportunities late in the match, but I think he was so shell shocked by Lee Van’s performance that he missed a couple of shots that I could have made and Lee Van continued on to a 10-0 score. In the last rack Lee Van had to cut a ball thin into the side pocket and go three rails back to the other end of the table and the ball just caught the point going in after the cue ball travelled to perfect position. That’s when the fan in the audience yelled “you stink” and it brought laughter from the audience and Lee Van himself smiled. The Japanese player won that game and made the score 10-1 to the applause of the crowd. He’d avoided being blanked on the TV table! Lee Van won the next rack and won the match 11-1.

Lee Van Corteza is a class act. He never says a word (maybe a smile if something doesn’t go right) and he just takes care of business on the table. He came from behind to win some pressure packed matches to keep himself in the running to get to the finals. He was trounced by Johnny Archer 11-2 and that would have weakened a lot of players, but not Lee Van. His match with Nils Feijen was a pressure cooker. You had to win by 2 and Nils was ahead 10-9 and broke and made the 9 ball and scratched! He would have won the match and then played Jason Shaw to get to the finals if he hadn’t scratched. That scratch by Nils gave Lee Van the opening he needed and he came back and beat Nils to get to the match with Jason Shaw.

Jason is a great player, but his fast paced game was his undoing. He was ahead of Lee Van (I don’t remember the exact score) and he missed or scratched and let Lee Van get to the table and start winning games. Lee Van beat Jason to get to the finals against my favorite player Shane Van Boening.

I’d been watching Shane play all week when I could and he was playing close to perfect 9 ball. I was pulling for Shane to win this year for one reason I wanted an American to win back to back like Mika and Darrel had done recently. Shane was the only man who had a chance to do that since he was the defending champion.

I was a little concerned about Lee Van in the finals remembering what he did to the Japanese player (he won 10 in a row) and I knew if Shane made any mistakes Lee Van could take over and possibly win it all. Shane played outstanding until the end when he got to 12. I don’t know if nerves got the best of him or what, but he missed a couple of balls and Lee Van started closing the 12-6 gap down to 12-10. Shane finally ran out, after a couple of misses let Lee Van close the gap in the score, like he'd done so many times in the match and won 13-10 and I think everyone in the room was happy for him. He stated in the interview that one of his goals was to equal Earl Strickland’s record of 5 US Open titles and I don’t see a thing stopping him. I’ve been going to the US Open for over 20 years and I’ve never seen anyone play better than Shane Van Boening. With his big break and his shooting and position play he’s going to win many more titles and the USA is fortunate to have such a fine champion representing them.

James
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Thanks for the cool write-up on your trip. So you're now a Shane believer, huh? :) I think everybody is that's seen him play.

I'm glad you had fun. I was fun watching the Accu-Stats.

I am going to try to go next year, if I can. :cool:
 
James, U are certainly spot on with your assessment of the week that belonged to Shane.

I watched Shane's Friday night match and it was a real treat to watch it with a friend of mine
out in California.

I try my best to visit the TAR Studio in Vegas when Shane matches up. What a thrill to sit only a
few feet away from Shane and Efren a few months ago.

If I wasn't a bit under the weather I would B in Vegas to watch Shane and Corey.
Justin is a fine host at the studio and makes everyone feel comfortable. So glad that he loves
the game enough to bring the Best right into our living rooms.

So James get the popcorn ready 4 the weekend of Nov. 1st 2nd and 3rd.

Noel
 
JAM said:
Thanks for the cool write-up on your trip. So you're now a Shane believer, huh? :) I think everybody is that's seen him play.

I'm glad you had fun. I was fun watching the Accu-Stats.

I am going to try to go next year, if I can. :cool:
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I've been a fan of Shane's since I saw him win his 1st US Open title. He plays a little different from most pro players and i've admired his stroke (pausing at the cue ball) and shot making ability since I first had the chance to see him play. He won the last 2 US Opens and didn't lose a match. Last year his break was simply the best of all the pros. He made the corner ball on every break on the TV table and some of the players thought he may have been cheating racking the balls, no way. He just powered the corner ball in. This year the table was a little different and Shane had to adapt his break resorting to the cut break in some of his matches and i'd put his shot making up against any other pro.

Do try to make it next year if you can it was a great time.

James
 
My favorite part was watching the finals stream; Shane was either on the hill or ready to get on the hill. He missed an off angel cut down the rail on the ball before the nine.

After that it seemed that he was a mere mortal for a while, and he had some trouble getting back on track. I think he missed the next 2 or 3 shots.

Kinda nice to know that the top players can miss and screw up like us (me anyway).
 
Maxx said:
My favorite part was watching the finals stream; Shane was either on the hill or ready to get on the hill. He missed an off angel cut down the rail on the ball before the nine.

After that it seemed that he was a mere mortal for a while, and he had some trouble getting back on track. I think he missed the next 2 or 3 shots.

Kinda nice to know that the top players can miss and screw up like us (me anyway).
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Oh, man, you're so right on with that observation. I was bitting my nails.

Here is one game that had me on the edge of my seat, with Shane going for the hill spot, with Lee Vann at 6:

Between the two of them, there have been 23 errors committed so far in this match, which is quite uncharacteristic.

Not a good time for Lee to break dry. Nothing drops.

Shane can see the 1 in the corner pocket. He'd like to go two rails and hit the 9, but he gets snookered. A very dangerous shot with tricky position. He gambled on getting straight in on the 2-9 combo, and it didn't work. He'll hit the 2. Where it stops, nobody knows. He studies it long and hard. Runs the clock down. He is on his second 40-second, i.e., an extension. He makes a good hit, misses, and leaves Lee a bankshot on the 2.

If he banks it with high left, he might go one rail and hit the 4, and that will get it. Well, he hit the 3. He is not snookered. He plays a safety. Excellent safety.

Shane is kicking off the left-hand cushion, hoping to get a good hit. He makes a good hit on the 3 and slops the 7 in the side pocket. He can see the 3. Beautiful slice in the corner pocket. Now what? He shoots the 4 and leaves it in the jaw of the pocket. It never went down.

Lee has duck soup. Pockets the 4, but the cueball doesn't land where he wants it to. He snookers Shane, who can't see the 5 ball. Shane massés over the balls, makes a good hit, but he leaves Lee a shot, not an easy shot, but a make-able cut in the corner pocket.

Lee aims and overcuts the ball.

Shane returns to the table. Clock is running out. No extensions left. He's in a pickle. Clocks runs down to 4 seconds. He plays a safety and leaves the cueball on the end rail. Not a good spot to be in for poor Lee.

Lee can see it, hits it, but leaves Shane a duck, 5 in the corner. It's do, re, mi from here, 7, 8, and 9 drop.

Shane 12 and on the hill, Lee 6.

Then Lee Vann proceeds to win 4 more games, bringing the score to 12 to 10, Shane's favor in this race to 13 for the championship. What is notable here is that if Lee Vann wins the next game, bringing the score to 12-11, the rules are that the winner has to win by 2 games ahead for the title. If Lee Vann can tie the score, making it 12-12, then it becomes a bloody battle to see who can jump out 2 games ahead. The entire Open, Lee Vann had several matches where he came from behind and conquered his oponent, so this was very do-able, and the spectators all knew it.

Lee Vann breaks the balls, but it's an illegal break. Shane recognizes that he's on the hill, and there's tension in the air. He elects to take a time-out to gather his thoughts. :grin:

Shane returns.

It was announced that the break was illegal. Shane has the option to turn it back, but he doesn't because the 1 ball is an easy straight-in shot in the corner.

The other balls are all clumped in the middle of the table, though. This will be a tough pattern to run out.

Shane makes the 3 in the corner. The ball travels around the table, giving him a nice angle to get to the 5 in the corner.

Shane continues to pocket balls. The balls seem to be working in his favor. He pockets the 6 in the corner. Perfect straight-in shot on the 7. 8 and 9 are laying sweet for him.

Shane takes his time on this 8 ball, and he makes it. Now he looks at the 9. He settles himself, chalks the cue. He makes it. He wins.

Shane is our new U.S. Open 9-Ball Champion, his third Open title.

Shane 13, Lee 10. Shane wins!


It really was an exciting finals. I can't remember a time when I have enjoyed a match as much as this one. :cool:
 
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JAM said:
It really was an exciting finals. I can't remember a time when I have enjoyed a match as much as this one. :cool:
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I was pulling for Shane, but if someone else won Lee Van was a player i'd like to have seen win. I had hopes that Johnny Archer would have made it to the finals and played Shane, but it didn't work out even though Johnny had a great US Open. Johnny played great and it would have been a dream match up in the finals (Shane vs Johnny), but most of us know 9 ball and the best player doesn't always win due to the break and rolls at critical times.

James
 
Brian in VA said:
My tournament memory was watching Danny Mastermaker, a terrific young player from the RVA area make a run to 17-24th place. He lost to Shane in the 5th round and then to Tommy Kennedy; so, the eventual winner and a former champion. Not a bad appearance!
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I didn't get to see much of him in this tournament but I've seen him in others and he's capable of perfect play,
for a while. Saw him do a race to 7 where he kept control of the table the entire time except for a single miss.
The opponent had two kicks and that was it. On accustats it'd probably be like .980.
If he could play that well every round of the US Open, he'd probably win.

JAM said:
After he gets to a score of 10, keeping his opponent benched, he breaks the balls and scratches. Somebody from the audience yells out "You stink" in jest. Then entire audience erupts in laughter. :D
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One thing I meant to mention in my other post that I love about the open:
Some people don't like a dead quiet atmosphere. And I see their point. But I love the quiet, serious
atmosphere at the open. The TV table has a low murmur (you can't get like 100 seated by each other without
some chatter) but there's no music and no "normal voice" conversations.

So when some guy pipes up like that it's extra funny. In Shane's match vs. Melling I believe Shane had laid down
a strong safe and Melling's kick went wide and hit another ball, then scratched.
Ken Shuman was standing by to watch the hit and says "foul. Ball in hand."
After a second someone yells "Great call Ken!" and the audience cracks up. He took a little bow and grinned.

JAM said:
I actually am familiar with Xscribe. The problem with it is that when it translates the spoken word, there are numerous "untranslates" and words misspelled, sometimes due to poor audio, sometimes due to accented speech, requiring a scopist to go through the document for a final copy.
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This stuff is getting pretty good now. I'm impressed with the voice recognition built into Android phones these days.
Not sure who Google bought/licensed but it works. But yeah, if you speak rapidly and without enunciating,
the results can be baffling. "I got ten bucks on Melling" becomes "I gotten buxom smelling".
 
JAM, my favorite memory of the 2013 US Open was your rack-by-rack update and analysis of the finals match. it was very suspenseful! :thumbup:
 
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