Manalo, Andam, De Luna hurdle rivals
Filipino pool masters stayed on a roll even as three former champions suffered stinging losses in their initial games in Day Three of the 2007 World Pool Championship at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
Leonardo Andam, Marlon Manalo and Jeff de Luna won their opening matches to advance to the winners’ brackets in their respective groups in the elimination round.
Andam stunned 1996 winner Ralf Souquet of
“I prepared hard for this match to get even,” said Andam, the five-time SEA Games gold medalist beaten by Souquet also during the group stage last year.
Souquet beat Andam by four in a race-to-eight match and performed superbly until he ran into Alcano in the 2006 WPC final.
Manalo, third placer in the 2005 WPC, made it 2-0 for the
De Luna, quarterfinalist in the last World, preserved Team RP’s perfect run in drubbing another Serbian Sandor Tot, 9-5, in Group 5.
Three-time winner Earl Strickland and 2003 champion Thosten Hohmann wavered on the brink of early elimination as they lost their initial assignments.
Strickland was upset by
Another loss will send the former champions to a sorry exit in the nine-day event gathering 128 of the world’s best pool players. All the big names in the sport remain in the hunt for the championship and the $100,000 that goes with it.
Andam had a field day against Souquet winning the first two racks and storming into an 8-4 lead before splitting the next two racks with the German for his emphatic victory.
He scored the win minus some sticks he left at home. At one point, he was seen borrowing a jump stick but was disallowed by the referee.
The 47-year-old, however, said he wasn’t confident to go far in the tourney, stressing he’s been inactive from the game for a while due to an ailment.
He made it to the tournament proper by topping a qualifying tourney.
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