Big guns book spots in Top 16 in Villar Cup
Silently, the big guns took their lofty positions yesterday after the second day of action in the rich, star-studded first Senator Manny Villar Cup 9-ball tournament.
Antonio Lining, Dennis Orcollo, Rodolfo Luat and Gandy Valle won their respective matches before captivated crowd at the Starmall in Alabang.
They all made it to the Top 16 of the five-day tournament offering a total of P1.2 million in prizes, including P400,000 for the champion. Second is worth P200,000 and third P100,000.
Lining, gold medalist in the 2002 Busan Asian Games, showed nerves of steel in an 8-6 win over Roberto “Superman” Gomez, runner-up in the 2007 World Pool in
Orcollo, coming off a big win in the Quezon City Open last March, scored an 8-5 victory over Eduardo Villanueva while Luat gave upcoming Russian Petiza a neat pool lesson, 8-2.
Valle reached the top 16 by beating reigning national champion Lee Van Corteza, 8-3.
The tournament’s main draw begins today with Efren “Bata” Reyes seeing action.
The former world champion, who draws the crowd whenever he shows up at the playing hall, will shoot for a Top 16 slot when he takes on Joven Bautista.
A couple of big names, Warren Kiamco and Ramil Gallego, got stalled yesterday, losing to Carlo Biado (8-2) and Jundel Mazon (8-5), respectively. One more loss and they’re out of contention.
Lining, 45, is eyeing his first win since the 2006 Japan Open, and his victories over 18-year-old Mac Mac Mendoza the other day and Gomez provide a good sign of his intention.
But he knows it won’t be easy.
“Mahirap eh. Piling-pili ang grupo at puro magagaling (It’s difficult. It’s a tough group and the players are all good),” he said after being dragged into a tight contest by Gomez.
“Seesaw ang laban,” Lining said of the match that was leveled at 6-6 until Gomez hit a bad shot on the red No. 3. The next time Gomez rose from his chair was to congratulate Lining.
While the Master of the Ring division is almost down to the Top 16, the New Billiards Idol category, for the younger or lower-ranked players across the country, is down to its Top 64.
Among those in the running are Jomar de Ocampo, Mike Takayama, Michael Feliciano, Renemar David, Emil Martinez, Egie Geronimo, Richard Pornelosa, Patrick Gonzales, Macky Leyba, Ernesto Sarmiento and Rolan dela Cruz.
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