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2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championships
Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation
Al Sadd Sports Club
Al Sadd Street
Sport Roundabout
Doha
Qatar
www.qbsf.qa - facebook - live stream - brackets
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www.kozoom.com

Monday - Friday 7 - 18 September 2015

Photography courtesy of �Richard Walker - used by Pro9 with express permission
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Taiwan�s Ko Pin Yi wins his first World 9-ball Championship with a gritty 13-11 win over the USA�s Shane Van Boening.

Showing why he is not only one of pool�s most talented performers, but perhaps its most hardcore player as well, Taiwan�s Ko Pin Yi captured his first World 9-ball Championship tonight in Doha, trading blows with the USA�s Shane Van Boening for two and a half hours before pulling away in crunch time to win 13-11.

Both players put in gritty, high quality performances, with brilliant shot making under pressure, coupled with just a handful of errors from both superstars. The outcome was in doubt right down to the dramatic end, but it was Ko who seemed to will himself over the finish line for the historic win.

The win is the 26 year old Ko�s second world championship this year, after capturing the 10-ball world title in the Philippines back in February. That victory seven months ago served to fulfill the former teen pool prodigy�s long cherished dream of winning his first world title. Tonight�s win puts Ko in the pantheon of all time pool greats.

For Van Boening the loss in his first ever World 9-ball final has to be a massive disappointment, especially considering that he had literally lapped the field in his prior matches, playing some of the most scintillating 9-ball seen in many years. But the American�s mastery of the break shot came to end against Ko, and he was forced to duke it out with the Taiwanese. Van Boening had more than enough chances to pull out the match, but with the pressure mounting late and the wear and tear taking its toll on both players, Ko had just that little bit extra to get the job done.

Under normal circumstances a match up in the world finals between greats like Ko and Van Boening would be expected to be a tight slugfest from beginning to end. But prior to the final almost nobody in the Al Arabi Sports Club, and the tens of thousands tuning in around the world on the live stream, was giving Ko a chance. That�s because up until that point the American had been in a rarefied zone that few pool fans had ever seen, winning his five previous race to 11 matches by the almost preposterous total score of 55-14. Having figured out the break shot, Van Boening simply couldn�t be stopped and he carried an air of confident invincibility that made him appear untouchable.

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