American Shane van Boening in action during the semi-finals of the 2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Arabi Sports Cub yesterday. Right: Wu Jia Qing of China beat Singapore’s Aloisius Yapp 11-7

By Mikhil Bhat
Doha

And then there were four. Yesterday started with 32 hopefuls at the 2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championship and by the end of a long day, 28 of them fell by the wayside.
The first to get through to the last four stage was American Shane van Boening. Today, the 32-year-old will bid to become the first American since 2002 to win the World 9-Ball title. Earl Strickland, the only man ever to have won the title thrice, beat Francisco Bustamante of the Philippines to bring the glory the United States.
Van Boening demolished Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines 11-1 to reach the semi-finals. With amazing breaks and almost no mistakes by the American, Orcollo could not get on to the scoreboard till his opponent had already made it 10-0. “In 2009, I got into the semi-finals here at the Qatar Open. So I definitely want to go one better this time and that too at a world championship,” said Van Boening, who is hearing-impaired.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself, I have been playing well. I have a good momentum going. The break is working really well. I have been getting almost 80-90 percent of my shots at the one-ball, so that’s good. Hopefully, I can use all of it to win the world championship and tomorrow is my chance.”
Boening will face Ko Pin Chung, who beat Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk 11-5, in the semifinals today. Once he had booked his spot for tomorrow, Chung was eagerly awaiting the match at another table to get over. He had a reason to cheer there too. His elder brother Ko Pin Yi beat Canada’s John Morra 11-6 to join his younger sibling in the semis.
“This year I won the World 10-ball Championship in the Philippines. So I am feeling good with my game,” Yi said after the match.
Chung, who will play the semi-finals on his 20th birthday today, felt he was a bit lucky to get through to the last four. “I was playing against Mike Dechaine in the last 16 stage. I think I played bad and so I was lucky to get through,” Chung said. Talking about his chances here, Chung said, “I reached the semi-finals in the 10-Ball Championship too. So two semi-finals now. Hopefully I can go one better here.”
The two brothers have been traveling the world together and having family along helps. “I maybe the older brother, but he also plays well and we often share notes about each other’s game,” Yi said.
But will they share notes if they face each other in the finals today? “I think we will just concentrate on playing our best,” Yi said. On the subject of facing each other, the two brothers have faced each other thrice, with younger Chung having an advantage of 2-1. The 26-year-old Yi will face former champion Wu Jia Qing for a shot at the grand prize in the final.
Wu became the youngest player ever to win the world title in 2005 when he beat the then compatriot from Chinese Taipei Kuo Po-cheng at the age of 16 years and 5 months.
A lot has changed for Wu since that day, July 10, 2005, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Wu has moved from Taipei to China, done a stint in the Taiwanese army, changed his name from Wu Chia-Ching to Wu Jia Qing and has also lost a lot of weight.
“Earlier I used to worry about touching a ball whenever I tried balancing myself on the table because of my huge body. Now I don’t have to worry about that. I move around the table well,” Wu said after his 11-7 win over Singapore’s Aloisius Yapp. “More than that for two years in between people always kept asking me about why did I change my nationality from Taiwan to China. I just wanted to player. It was purely a player’s decision to get more international exposure,” he said.
Talking about his chances today, he said, “I am not thinking too much about winning the title even now. I am just thinking about eating, sleeping, training and joining the tournament.”