Groce and Van Boening Earn IPT Cards

Groce and Van Boening Earn IPT CardsBrian Groce of Columbus, IN, and Shane Van Boening of Sioux Falls, SD, are the newest members of the International Pool Tour, by virtue of their excellent performances at The Pool Room in Marietta, GA, at the IPT’s second tour qualifier. The one-loss side matches earlier saw Frankie Hernandez eliminating Clent McCullough 10-8, while Vilmos Foldes ousted Richard Broumpton 10-8. Foldes went on to meet Hernandez in a rematch, for Hernandez dealt him his first loss in the third round.Hernandez and Foldes traded games until the score seesawed to 8 apiece. Foldes broke and ran out to reach the hill, and then a half-hearted safety in the following rack made him the 10-8 victor. In the winners’-side finals, Groce started off the set behind, but soon he rectified that and reached a 6-3 lead with the help of three break and run-outs. From there, he allowed Van Boening several more racks, but the match was his with a 10-6 victory. Check out the IPT Qualifier B photo gallery.
Groce said after his match, “I think that the IPT is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to pool. I haven’t practiced pool in ten years, but I’ve been practicing every day for a month and a half. When I heard about this and I put my app in, I’ve been practicing every single day, and I didn’t think I’d ever do that. I thought I’d quit playing pool, and now I’m going to be a pool player, what I was meant to do. I think it’s the greatest thing ever, and I’d like to thank Mr. Trudeau for stepping up and doing this.”Foldes was runner-up in both matches at the first IPT qualifier, and he must have started off the one-loss side final match against Van Boening with this in mind, for he was up 5-1 in no time. Van Boening, though, had no thoughts of crumbling, and with Foldes’ break exhibiting problems, the 22-year-old from South Dakota started making a comeback. Still, it wasn’t until Foldes reached the hill 9-5 that Van Boening made his move. When Foldes came up empty on his final break, it was the last time he saw the table—Van Boening cleared that rack and then broke and ran the next four to win the match 10-9, in a stunning turnaround victory.“I feel good,” Van Boening said modestly after his match. “I had a comeback and beat him, and I ran four racks. I tried hard, and I feel good about it. I think I’m ready to play on the IPT. I’m very excited about it. I’ve been waiting awhile to get on it. My family grew up playing pool, and I’m sure they’ll be excited to hear about this.”Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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