Alcano, Bata launch US Open bids

Double world pool champion Ronnie Alcano and pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes take on separate rivals at the start of the US Open 9-ball Championship which got going Monday at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Alcano battles Ryan Hershman while Reyes trades shot with Jim Faircloth in Bracket 3 of the four-division field, which drew the finest pool players in the world.

Nine other Filipinos are also in the fold, including former world No. 1 Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Warren Kiamco, Lee Van Corteza, Ramil Gallego, Dennis Orcollo, last year’s losing finalist Rodolfo Luat, former world 9-ball champion Alex Pagulayan and US-based legend Jose Parica.

Bustamante battles David Rowell, Kiamco clashes with Georgio Margola, Corteza tangles with Shawn Keaton, Gallego squares off with Markus Juva, Orcollo takes on Cliff Joyner, Luat collides with Hunter Lombardo, Pagulayan faces Carsten Due and Parica tests John Harris mettle.

The RP bets, along with majority of the players in the 233-man field, are priming up for next month’s World 9-ball Pool Championship slated in Manila where Alcano is the defending champion.

At stake in the US Open is a whopping $50,000 purse for the champion.

Other marquee matches in Round One include Ernesto Dominguez vs Frankie Hernandez, Oscar Dominguez vs Stevie Moore and Shane Van Boening vs Sylver Ochoa.

After the US Open, Alcano, Reyes and company are scheduled to compete in the P2 million first-ever Manny Pacquiao International 9-ball Open from Oct. 24 to 27 at the Hobbies of Asia Bldg. in Macapagal Avenue and SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.