Kiamco, 4 other Pinoys, stay alive in World 9-Ball tilt
CEBU, Philippines - Cebuano cue master Warren Kiamco breezed through the Final 32 together with four other Flipino survivors in the knockout stage of the 2015 World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.
However, Kiamco, a one-time 'Athlete of the Year' awardee by the Sportswriters Association of XCebu, had to beat fellow countryman Raymund Faraon, 11-9, to progress into the next round. The same thing happened to Carlo Biado, who bested Lee Van Corteza, 11-5, in the other all-Pinoy duel.
Kiamco and Biado were joined into the next phase of competition by Dennis Orcollo, Jeffrey Ignacio, Oliver Medenilla.
Orcollo easily wiped out Qatar's hometown hero Mishel Turkey, 11-1, Ignacio upended Jason Klatt of Canada, 11-5, while Medenilla kept his title hunt alive after whipping Karol Skowerski of Poland, 11-4.
It was not all jubilation, though for the Filipino shotmakers as Kiamco's fellow Cebuano Antonio 'Gaga' Gabica of Lapu-Lapu City, and Johann Chua crashed out of the tournament.
Gabica fell prey to Ruslan Chinakhov of Russia, 5-11, while Chua got the axe from Japan's Yukio Akagariyama via a 5-11 decision.
Kiamco faces next Jalal Yousef, Biado takes on Ko Pin Yi of Chinese-Taipei, Ignacio battles Yapp Aloisius, Medenilla challenges Chang Yu Lung of Chinese-Taipei, while Orcollo goes up against Hunter Lombardo of the United States for a Final 16 spot.
The champion in the $200,000 event will pocket $30,000, while the runner-up will receive $15,000. (FREEMAN)
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