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Sports

Alcano fans quest for 3rd jewel

- Joey Villar -

MANILA, Philippines - Ronnie Alcano, Dennis Orcollo and Antonio Lining outclassed their respective rivals to lead the local bets’ impressive start in the World 10-Ball Championships which got under way yesterday at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Alcano, trying to become the first Filipino to score the sport’s version of a Triple Crown, walloped Kuwait’s Khaled Al Mutairi, 9-5, to move closer to the 64-player knockout phase.

The 39-year-old Alcano, who won the world 9-ball and 8-ball crowns in 2006 and 2007, respectively, will next face Singapore’s Toh Lian Han, who edged Brunei’s Ak Md Saiful Azri in a 9-8 hill-hill decision.

“Efren and I are the only Filipinos who won both the world 9-ball and 8-ball titles,” said Alcano in Filipino referring to pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes, who opted to skip the event for personal reasons.

“But he’s (Reyes) not here so I guess I have that chance to become the first Filipino to win billiard’s Grand Slam,” he said.

Alcano, however, will meet a tough challenge from a strong international field, including Orcollo and Lining, who disposed of Spain’s Carlos Cabello, 9-3, and Poland’s Karol Skowerski, 9-2, respectively.

Orcollo, the reigning world 8-ball king and former world No.1 and 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games gold medalist, will next take on American Max Eberle, who downed Germany’s Harald Stolka, 9-5, while Lining, the reigning world No. 1 based on WPA rankings, tangles with Ukraine’s Artem Koschovy, a 9-7 winner over Kuwait’s Omar Al-Shaheen.

Demosthenes Pulpul, the surprise semifinalist in the inaugural staging of the event three years ago, smashed Portugal’s Manuel Pereira, 9-4, while Ruben Cuna, Venancio Tanio and teen sensation Jonas Magpantay also pulled off hard-earned victories in the $250,000 event which drew participation from 128 players from 44 countries.

Cuna pulled the rug from under seasoned veteran Ramil Gallego, 9-4; Tanio turned back Qatar’s Abdulatif Fawal in another 9-8 hill-hill result; while the 17-year-old Magpantay brought down Qatar’s Mohanna Al-Obaidly, 9-3.

China’s Han Hao Xiang, meanwhile, shocked former World 9-ball and straight pool champion Oliver Ortmann, 9-6, while comebacking Wu Chia Ching, who has migrated to the Mainland and changed his name to Wu Jia Qing, edged Chris Melling of Great Britain, 9-8, in the weeklong tournament sanctioned by the World Pool Billiards Association and supported by Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines.

Wu, a former 8-ball and 9-ball champion and runner-up to UK’s Darren Appleton in the 2008 World 10-ball meet, shook off a sluggish start to turn back Melling.

“I couldn’t find my powder that’s why I had this horrible start,” said the 22-year-old Wu through an interpreter.

vuukle comment

ABDULATIF FAWAL

AK MD SAIFUL AZRI

ALCANO

AMERICAN MAX EBERLE

ARTEM KOSCHOVY

BALL

BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

BILLIARDS AND SNOOKERS CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES

CARLOS CABELLO

WORLD

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