'Bata' et al advance in World 9-Ball Championships in Qatar; Orcollo in a must win situation
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 26 Jun 2012
HALL OF FAMER Efren ?Bata? Reyes and several other Filipino cue masters scored emphatic victories over their respective opponents to advance to the knockout stages of the 2012 World 9-ball Championship at the beautiful Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.
Reyes, known as ?The Magician? in the pool circuit, outplayed Al Awadi Bader of Kuwait 9-2.
?I got lucky,? he said with his toothless grin. ?He?s a good player but the break is against him, he never get a shot. Me I always get a shot after the break.?
With the win, Reyes, one of the top player of Philippine God Father Aristeo "Putch" Puyat barged into the knockout stage of the competition after two consecutive wins.
Following his steps were fellow Filipinos Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, Carlo "The Black Tiger" Biado and Roberto "Superman" Gomez.
Bustamante toppled Al Yousuf Abdullah of UAE, 9-4, Corteza beat countryman Marlon Caneda, 9-5. Alcano edged Hunter Lombardi of the USA, 9-8, Gabica waylaid Dennis Grabe of Estonia, 9-7, Biado whacked Roman Hybler of Czech Republic, 9-3, and Gomez outplayed Mohammed Saeed of Qatar , 9-1.
However, Dennis Orcollo, Ramil Gallego, Raymund Faraon , Joyme Vicente and Jundel Mazon was relegated to the loser's side joining Caneda, Elvis Calasang, Joven Alba and Israel Rota.
Orcollo was beaten by Andrew Kong of Hongkong, 9-5, Gallego was lost to Tony Drago of Malta, 9-6, Faraon bowed to Johnny Martinez of Venezuela, 9-8, Vicente dropped his match against John Morra of Canada, 9-8, and Mazon was yielded to Vincent Facquet of France, 9-5.
"Masyadong pressure si Dennis (Orcollo). Ang daming Filipinong nag che cheer sa kanya sa Qatar. Lahat nakatutok sa kanya." said Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) founding head and Busgy Promotions top honcho Ceferino "Perry" Mariano, long-time manager of Orcollo. "Ang masakit sila pa ni Raymond (Faraon) sa do-or-die match. Isa na namang Filipino ang malalagas," added Mariano.
"Mas malaki ang t'sansa natin ngayong maiuuwi ang World 9-ball crown sa Pilipinas dahil marami tayong player na nakapasok sa KO stage. Saka iilan-ilan lamang ang nagkatapat sa draw," said Philippine God Father Aristeo "Putch" Puyat.
All Filipinos in a must win situation to advance in the Last 64.
Orcollo goes up against compatriot Faraon, Vicente opposite Hudiji See of the Netherlands, Gallego takes on Hsu Kai Lun of Chinese-Taipei, Mazon versus Shane Van Boening of the United States, Calasang will square off with Al Amar Abdul Rahman of Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, Caneda will meet Ceri Worts of New Zealand, Alba will face Alba Nayf Abdel Afou of Jordan and Rota versus David Anderson of Republic of South Africa.
Oliver Medenilla is the first Filipino casualty.
A total of 128 of the best pool players from over 50 countries, who are vying for $300,000 in prize money, with $40,000 going to the eventual winner.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.
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