U.S. Open Events Won by Shane Van Boening

[straightline]

he has different gears. in rotation he can be very fast and entertaining

Orcollo does seem a little out of place in this conversation. Guys like him are fully cognizant of the money behind him and the risks involved.

 

[8cree]

Evading the question, I'll tell you where I rank him.

Let's leave out the straight pool era for a moment. I've never had an easy time comparing Mosconi, Greenleaf and Crane to today's generation.

I think Lassiter and Sigel are the two best American 9ball players ever (yes, both were also great champions at 14.1). After that, you can take your pick between Shane, Varner and Earl for best ever American 9ball player. No matter how you slice it, Shane is a top five ever American player. Yes, I rate SVB above Archer and Hall.

Efren is still clearly the best ever by virtue of his all-around excellence. I believe that Filler will be remembered as a better player than all of these, and, at 26 years old, his resume of major titles includes many major titles that have eluded Shane (such as the China Open, UK Open, World Games gold medal, and the World Team Championship).

Guess I'd put SVB as about fifth, sixth, or seventh best in the 9ball era, behind Lassiter, Sigel, Reyes and Filler and on a par with Earl and Varner.

Yup, he's an all-time great!

Did Lassiter, Sigel, and the like fair well when they played overseas tournaments?

 

[1sttbone]

maybe someone can tell us about the players in china, japan, philipines, middle east, taiwan and europe that where geat lets say in wimmpes era.

 

[1sttbone]

svb playes against the best group of players ever assembled, from all over the world, some even paid by there governments to compete. lets give credit deserved to our great american player.

 

[Dimeball]

svb playes against the best group of players ever assembled, from all over the world, some even paid by there governments to compete. lets give credit deserved to our great american player.

well put... some just can't let of the past, fight to keep relevance where there is none. Some of the comments on this one are laughable!

 

[Bob Jewett]

Did Lassiter, Sigel, and the like fair well when they played overseas tournaments?

There were few overseas tournaments back in their primes. I don't recall of Lassiter ever playing outside the US. I think Sigel did play in Europe but after his prime.

 

[Taxi]

There were few overseas tournaments back in their primes. I don't recall of Lassiter ever playing outside the US. I think Sigel did play in Europe but after his prime.

The Philippines picked up on pool shortly after WW2, but other than that, were there any other countries where pool was even played by more than a handful of people outside of American Army bases? I remember visiting England in 1981, and in an entire month over there all I ever saw were snooker tables.

 

[briclops]

No, his record overseas was pathetic for about the first ten years of his career. He did finally break through at the 2022 World Championships, but his overseas record is still a fairly weak one, and he has no significant overseas titles since then. His resume is missing many of the crown jewels of our sport. He's never won at the All Japan, the China Open, the World Games, the World Team Championship, and has no Matchroom majors in the past two years.

There's really nothing to explain. SVB is an all-time great, but it is time wasted to compare him to an Efren, a Sigel or a Filler, each of them having a superior career performance at the majors.

Shane is the current World 8 Ball champion which was won in Austria if that counts for anything.

Due to lack of World 8 ball, 10 ball, and 14.1 titles over the last decade, SVB’s trophy case is potentially a lot lighter because of it. Shane is a special player and there is a reason why most of his matches are on the tv table no matter which country he is playing in.

 

[skogstokig]

The Philippines picked up on pool shortly after WW2, but other than that, were there any other countries where pool was even played by more than a handful of people outside of American Army bases? I remember visiting England in 1981, and in an entire month over there all I ever saw were snooker tables.

japan was probably pretty good well before any european country was. the all japan championship is old

 

[The_JV]

What a great thread. Fanboys vs the world....

IMO, there's no denying SVB's talent. I also have zero doubt that eventually he will be the undisputed North American GOAT.

That said, the 'other ' USopen titles benefit from the best example of name recognition anyone can dream of.

 

[Jimmorrison]

Listing SVBs’ accomplishments and giving him credit, where due, isn’t being a fanboy. It’s just being a fan of pool. I wouldn’t classify the OP as a Fanboy. SVB has maintained his position in the hierarchy for two decades. He has arguably been either the best, or one of the best, and currently still is. Who else in the current top ten can say that?

 

[sjm]

Did Lassiter, Sigel, and the like fair well when they played overseas tournaments?

Yes, and Archer, Varner and Strickland also had games that traveled well Of corse, the level of competition has risen since their day.

 

[straightline]

One of them Lassiter /Willis road stories mentioned a Chinese guy in Honolulu they couldn't beat. Anybody know who the guy was?

 

[skogstokig]

One of them Lassiter /Willis road stories mentioned a Chinese guy in Honolulu they couldn't beat. Anybody know who the guy was?

and if it was before 1959, he was technically playing abroad

 

[The_JV]

Listing SVBs’ accomplishments and giving him credit, where due, isn’t being a fanboy. It’s just being a fan of pool. I wouldn’t classify the OP as a Fanboy. SVB has maintained his position in the hierarchy for two decades. He has arguably been either the best, or one of the best, and currently still is. Who else in the current top ten can say that?

No, but rallying the troops, grabbing the pitch forks and lighting the torches when someone expresses a different take on SVB is akin to being a fanboy. I didn't call out the OP as a fanboy. However there's clear examples of biased love for Shane in this thread. This is to be expected on AZB.

I'll say it again. IMO, Shane will be the undisputed North American GOAT, if he isn't already. However having an exceptional record on your home soil does not make you the default GOAT of an international game.

 

[Joshua James]

Shane Van Boening just won the US Open 1-Pocket event, giving him 3 wins out of the 4 US Open events played over the past 2 weeks.

If the AzB database is correct and I counted correctly, he now has 20 US Open victories:

8-Ball -- 3 wins: 2013, 2016, 2018​

​

9-Ball -- 5 wins: 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016​

​

10-Ball -- 5 wins: 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2024​

​

Banks -- 3 wins: 2018, 2019, 2024​

​

1-Pkt. -- 3 wins: 2012, 2018, 2024​

​

14.1 -- 1 win: 2019​

​

These 20 wins have been accumulated over an 18-year period. But note that some or all of the events other than 9-Ball were not played in many of those 18 years (and 9-Ball not in 2018 and 2020).

Why were some of the events not played every year?

 

[skogstokig]

Why were some of the events not played every year?

covid?

 

[Bob Jewett]

Why were some of the events not played every year?

The US Open 9-Ball was not played in 2018 because of the ownership transition to Matchroom. 2020 there was some kind of problem with travel.

The other Opens were not held for various reasons including that they didn't exist yet or that there was a change of organizer. Someone seems to have made a list of them here:

List of U.S. Open pool championships - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[AtLarge]

The US Open 9-Ball was not played in 2018 because of the ownership transition to Matchroom. 2020 there was some kind of problem with travel.

The other Opens were not held for various reasons including that they didn't exist yet or that there was a change of organizer. Someone seems to have made a list of them here:

List of U.S. Open pool championships - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thanks for that Wiki link, Bob; I had not seen that previously. I was glad to see that the SVB wins I posted (based on the AzB database) agree with that Wiki list.

 

[nmh2008]

The 2024 US Open 10-ball had a smaller first prize than Turning Stone. Despite its name, it is far from being a major. Countless CSI "US Open" events have been small field, small purse events and any attempt to equate them with the US Open 9-ball is ridiculous.

Calling anything other than the US Open 9ball a US Open is on a par with calling the Dragon 14.1 events produced by Charlie Williams after 2010 as World Championships.

Wow, Shane catching strays for playing exceptionally well in Vegas. I don’t believe that anyone was equating all 20 US Open events with the prestige of the 9-ball event but you were sure quick to downplay them! Shane is a frustrating player at times, but when your initial instinct is to downplay the accomplishment unprovoked, it is telling.