Malaysian tames The Lion in 9-ball

Alex Pagulayan failed in his bid to give the Philippines a first crack at the Guinness 9-ball Tour crown as he bowed to unfancied Malaysian Ibrahim Amir, 11-13, in the semifinal round of the fourth leg of the circuit at the Orchid Country Club in Singapore yesterday.

But Ibrahim failed to sustain his charge and bowed to Taiwanese Yang Ching-shun, 8-11, in the final. Yang beat former world champion Wu Chia Ching, 11-7, to advance to the championship.

Pagulayan, the world pool champion in 2004, actually appeared headed for a rout when he raced to a 4-1 lead behind a series of accurate shots, including an 8-9 combination in the opener of their race-to-11 duel.

But the Fil-Canadian bet ran into a maze of errors in the sixth and seventh racks, enabling Amir to bounce back with an impressive streak of his own and level the match at 4.

The Malaysian sustained his form and continued to pounce on every Pagulayan miscue, including a bungled corner-pocket attempt in the eighth and a scratch off the break in the 10th to allow Ibrahim easy run-outs of the table for a commanding 7-4 lead.

Pagulayan, however, refused to give up as he fought back with five unanswered racks to reclaim the lead, 9-7. But a break and run-out in the 17th rack and a thick miss on the black eight from Pagulayan bolstered the confidence of the Malaysian, who surged once more to bring the match to a third deadlock at 9-9.

The two players then traded racks to have the board show a riveting 10-all.