Pinoys crash out of World Pool tiff

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines crashed out of the $300,000 World Pool Team Championship after losing to Japan, 3-3 (7-5), in a dramatic shootout the other night at the Tongzhou Luhe High School gymnasium in the Tongzhou district of Beijing, China.

Manned by Hall of Famers Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django"

Bustamante along with Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo and Rubilen Amit, the Phl squad sustained its sizzling run with a 4-0 whitewash of Norway only to fumble at the hands of Japan's Yukio Akagariyama, Toru Kuribayashi, Naoyuki Oi, and Chihiro Kawahara in the quarterfinals.

The Filipino cue masters rallied from being down, 1-3, tying the count at 3-all to forge a sudden-death duel.

The two sides fought on even terms in the shootout resulting into three deadlocks, the last was at 5-5, as Japan swept the next two racks to seal the deal.

Reyes and company received $12,000 for making it to the final eight, while Japan joined Great Britain, China 2 and Chinese-Taipei into the semifinal round.

Great Britian's Darren Appleton, Daryl Peach, Chris Melling, Mark Gray, and Kelly Fisher broke the hearts of host China 1 via shootout, 3-3 (6-3), while

Chinese-Taipei, powered by Chang Jung Lin, Fu Che Wei, Ko Pin Yi, and Chieh Yu Chou, eliminated Sweden, 4-1.

The hometown fans still have something to look forward to as China 2,

composed of Liu Shasha, Chen Siming, Dang Jinhu, Dai Yong, and Han Haoxiang, booted out Canada, 4-2.

The champion of the six-day tournament sanctioned by the World Pool and Billiards Association (WPA) will take home $80,000, while the runner-up will receive $40,000. (FREEMAN)