Kiamco tops Appleton, enters Last 16

MANILA, Philippines - Warren Kiamco continued to flash top form and bundled out world No. 5 Darren Appleton, 11-5, to barge into the Round of 16 in the World 10-Ball Championship at the SM City Mall in Gen. Santos City yesterday.

Kiamco used solid breaks to score run-out after run-out to keep Appleton on his seat en route to victory that kept the Filipino bet in the title hunt coming off a victory in the Derby 9-Ball Classic in Kentucky last week.

“Nothing is easy here. Every shot is tough and you need a little luck to win,” said the 44-year-old Kiamco when asked of his chances for a berth in the quarters.

He takes on Cheng Yu Hsuan next with the Taiwanese advancing via an emphatic 11-2 romp over compatriot Liu Ri Teng.

Another Filipino, Jundel Mazon, blew a 10-4 lead and dropped a sorry 10-11 setback to giant-killer Indonesian Irsa Nasution. The 27-year-old Jakarta native also booted out fourth seed Dennis Orcollo in his Round-of-32 match, 11-8, Thursday evening.

Lee Van Corteza upset world No. 6 and third seed Albin Ouschan of Austria in the first round of the knockout stage but bowed to Taiwanese ace, Fu Che Wei in the next round while Francisco “Django” Bustamante also lost to David Alcaide of Spain, 9-11.

But other Filipinos still fighting for berths in the Last 16 at presstime are Carlo Biado, Romeo Silvano, Johann Chua and Raymund Faraon. Alex Pagulayan was battling Korean Ryu Seung Woo at presstime.