Ailing Chamat topples Bata; Manalo wins

Marcus Chamat of Sweden bucked a bum stomach and a shaky start to down Efren "Bata" Reyes, 9-7, at the start of the fifth Motolite Battle of Champions Philippine International Open 9-ball Championships main draw yesterday at the Robinson’s Galleria Trade Hall.

A victim of mild food poisoning the other day, Chamat rallied from three racks down to score the first big upset in the double elimination tournament sponsored by Motolite, Café Puro and Emperador Brandy.

He did that by gaining on Reyes’ three straight breaks on the 5th, 7th and 9th.

Chamat got a chance to close out the match as Reyes missed a tough shot on the blue two with the table offering an easy layout.

But an errant shot on the pink four by the Swede allowed Reyes to close in at 7-8.

The alternate break format, however, prevented Reyes from inflicting further damage as Chamat pulled off some tricky shots to earn the clincher.

Reyes took the first three racks after winning the lag, thanks to a muffed bank shot by Chamat on the nine-ball in the second frame.

But a slow start against one of the most feared cue artists in the world failed to faze Chamat.

Chamat, a semifinalist in the world pool last year, broke back on the fifth and knotted the count with a golden break on the following rack.

The lead swelled to 6-4 and 8-6 after winning two more racks off Reyes’ break on the ninth and 13th.

The Filipino pool icon’s last good stance happened on the 12th where he broke his opponent to level at six-all.

Chamat’s victory overshadowed Marlon Manalo’s masterful 9-4 demolition of American Corey Deuel.

The win extended Manalo’s unbeaten run to 17. His streak earned Manalo consecutive titles in the US pool circuit.

Also winning their opening round matches were Mika Immonen of Finland and Rodney Morris of the US.

Immonen, a frequent visitor in the country, nailed a golden break to wrap up a 9-7 victory over local upstart Roberto Gomez while Morris edged Malaysian qualifier Ibrahim Bin Amir, 9-8.