South Dakota Man is the World Pool Champion of 2022

South Dakota's Shane Van Boening was on CBS News' Go Mineuts Sunday (Dec 4 2022)

Story Originally Published  Apr 21, 2022 

A Sioux Falls man has won the 9-Ball World Championship!

If you ever shot a game of pool at Lucky's in Sioux Falls with Shane Van Boening, you probably already know he's pretty good. He's known as the 'South Dakota Kid' and is now a world champion of 9-ball.

Shane Van Boening, former co-owner of Lucky's in Sioux Falls, traveled to Buckinghamshire, England with dreams of being named the best in the world at 9-ball billiards.

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To get to the top Shane had to compete against some of the best sticks on the planet. Van Boening worked his way up the charts like a great Led Zeppelin album and found himself in the World Finals competing against Albin Ouschan.

According to AZBilliards, the match was tense and was back-and-forth and tied for several rounds before eliminating Ouschan.

“I have been trying for years. Two times I’ve been in the final and two times in the final. I just knew I was going to win the World Pool Championship. I dreamed I would be World Champion. It teaches you to work hard, follow your dreams and never give up.” ~ Shane Van Boening, 2022 World Champion

The South Dakota Kid has done it in a dramatic fashion. He will now take some time at home in Sioux Falls and do some spring fishing and then it's back to work.

Van Boening will be competing again in November at Bally's in Las Vegas.

Shane, born in Rapid City in 1983, has made a name for himself since his debut on the professional pool scene in 2007.