Taiwan's Pin-Yi Ko came back from an early five rack deficit to defeat Shane Van Boening 21-17 at the Kamui 10-Ball Challenge, held at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Most fans in the audience held Van Boening as the favorite in this match, due to his experience in one on one challenge matches and Ko's lack of success in events on American soil. That bet looked to be a good one early, as Van Boening took control after a Ko safety in rack one and ran out that table and the next two. Surprisingly though, neither player would manage to best that two rack package over the next four hours.
After eleven racks, Van Boening held a comfortable 8-3 lead. Ko seemed a little uncomfortable early in the match, making two fairly major mistakes already. Ko underdrew a position shot in rack four, but managed to complete the rack. He would not be as lucky after missing position bad in rack nine and missing his next ball.
That five rack lead would dwindle as the long match went on. Ko had multiple chances to tie the match as he got back to within one at 10-9, 13-12 and 14-13. An ugly exchange of misses in rack 28 finally led to Ko tieing the score at 14-14.
Van Boening was uncharacteristically struggling with his break as the match went on. Although he was making two and three balls each break, he was leaving himself no shot on the first ball of the rack each time.
After a time-out, Ko took his first lead at 16-15 with a table run in rack 31. Ko stretched his lead to two racks at 18-16 before Van Boening got back within one rack at 18-17.
While it was Van Boening playing his best early in the match, it was Ko who ended things the same way that Van Boening started them. A scratch on the break by Van Boening in rack 36 would be Van Boening's last trip to the table as Ko ran that rack and proceeded to break and run the next two for the 21-17 win.
Professonal play continues on Friday as the CSI Invitational 10-Ball Championship kicks off with sixteen of the World best players competing in a round robin 10-Ball event.
The Kamui 10-Ball Challenge is a production of Cue Sport International (CSI). CSI is the parent company of the BCA Pool League and the USA Pool League. CSI also produces independent events such as the US Bar Table Championships, Jay Swanson Memorial, US Open One Pocket Championship, US Open 8-Ball Championship, US Open 10-Ball Championship, CSI Invitationals, and CSI Challenge Matches. Visit www.playcsipool.com, www.playbca.com, and www.playusapool.com for more information about CSI and its divisions. Also, visit the CueSports International YouTube channel for lots of great content.