Alcano, Manny rout foes, gain round of 16

MANILA, Philippines - Former two-time world champion Ronnie Alcano and boxing icon Rep. Manny Pacquiao came away with an improbable 9-0 rout of John Rebong and Angelo Ariola to barge into the round-of-16 of the MP (Manny Pacquiao) Cup 10-Ball doubles event at the SM City mall in Gen. Santos City yesterday.

The lopsided triumph, the first shutout victory posted in the event thus far, revived the fancied pair’s bid after Alcano and Pacquiao bowed to the tandem of Romeo Silvano and Jordan Legaspi late Monday.

Pacquiao banked on his powerful breaks while Alcano ably backed him up with accurate shots as the duo kept quarterfinals hopes alive. They were facing the pair of Oliver Medenilla and world-ranked Raymund Faraon, who were leading at 4-2 at presstime.

But while Alcano and Pacquiao stayed in the hunt, the other top-ranked pairs of Shane Van Boening-Dennis Orcollo, Thorsten Hohmann-John Morra and Efren “Bata” Reyes-Francisco “Django” Bustamante lost steam and succumbed to separate unheralded opponents in the $150,000 event put up by Pacquiao as part of his 36th birthday celebration today.

Also eyeing spots in the quarters were unbeaten Warren Kiamco and Edgie Geronimo, who were trading shots with unpredictable Oliver Pulpul and Oliver Villafuerte.

Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi and Ko Pi Chung were dueling with Richard Alinsub and Christian Gariando, who upset the Hohmann-Morra pair, 9-5, in the round-of-32.

Defending champions Jeffrey de Luna and Jeffrey Ignacio were facing dark horses Weben Velarde, 23, and Jovannie Edurece, 22, of Davao. The Edurece-Velarde combo brought down the long-time partnership of Reyes-Bustamante, 9-6, in the other knockout round-of-32 matches.

Michael Feliciano and Baseth Mapandi tackled the favored tandem of Carlo Biado and teener Anthony Raga while Mika Immonen and Rodney Morris faced the upset-conscious Lee Van Corteza and Jericho Banares. The Corteza-Banares combination eased out the Van Boening-Orcollo pair.

Other round-of-16 match-ups included Taiwanese Hsu Kai Lun and Cheng Yu Hsuan and Benjie Guevarra and Roland dela Cruz while Romeo Silvano and Jordan Legaspi were locking horns with Jeffrey Calonge and Patrick Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, the Philippines will bid to host the 2015 World 10-Ball championships in February with Gen. Santos City as host.