World 9-ball championship Gabica, 6 other Pinoys advance

CEBU, Philippines -  Cebuano cue master Antonio "Gaga" Gabica and Dennis Orcollo led four other Pinoy players who advanced into the final 64 knockout stage of the $200,000 WPA World 9-ball Championship at the Al Saad Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

Gabica, last year's runner-up, handily beat Michel Bartol of Croatia, 9-3, while Orcollo, the 'Robocop" from Butuan City, progressed into the money round after eliminating Taiwan’s Ko Ping Chung, 9-5.

They will be joined into the next round by Cagayan de Oro City's Elmer Haya, Carlo Biado, Raymund Faraon, Jeffrey de Luna, and Johann Chua.

Haya pulled off a nervy 9-8 win over Artem Koshovyi of Ukraine, Biado outlasted Tom Storm of Sweden, 9-7, Faraon bested Young Hwa Jeong of South Korea, 9-7, while De luna prevailed over another Cebuano player Israel Roa, 9-3, in an all-Pinoy duel.

Chua, for his part, was impressive for the second straight day, handing Taiwan’s Lo Li Wen his exit paper in this week-long tournament featuring the greatest billiards on the planet.

Chua, who booked a spot in Doha only after winning a last minute qualifier, said his confidence level is high and that he is playing without pressure.

“There’s no pressure on me right now because I was supposed to be dead,” Chua said in a report by Ted Lerner posted on wpa-pool.com, the event's official website.

“I got lucky to get into the tournament. In the qualifiers I was playing afraid and if I have a difficult shot I play safe because I don’t want to lose. But here in the main tournament since I’m not supposed to be here I just play loose. Instead of playing safe, I might go for the tough bank shot. So that’s my mindset. There’s no pressure. A lot of people don’t believe I can win this tournament. But for me I can win. I always have confidence,” added Chua in the same internet report.

Cebu's pride Warren Kiamco and fellow countryman Elvis Calasang faltered in the third day of action, but still have a chance to barge into the main event if they win their matches today. Kiamco lost to Neils Feijen of The Netherlands, 6-9, while Calasang fell prey to Wu Jiaqing of China, 7-9. (FREEMAN)