KIAMCO AND ORCOLLO'S CONQUEROR DISPUTES FINALS,
ORTMANN TAKES WORLD STRAIGHT POOL CROWN
IT was a sad day yesterday because not a single Filipino entry saw action in the championship round of the 2007 Predator World Straight Pool Championship dubbed as World 14.1 Straight Pool Championship held at the Hilton Hotel in East Brunswick , New Jersey , USA .
This was after Filipino bets Warren "Warrior" Kiamco and Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo bowed to their respective quarter-final matches.
The 36-years-old Pasil, Cebu native Kiamco yielded to Huidji See of the Netherlands (200-55) while the 28-years-old Bislig, Surigao del Sur pride Orcollo lost to former World 9-ball champion Oliver Ortmann of Germany (200-7).
In the semi-final round, See stuns Martin Kempter of Austria (200-41) to arrange an All-European final against Ortmann, winner over Danny Harriman of the United States (200-123).
Ortmann beat See (200-171) in the finals to take away the top prize worth US$12,500. See settled for runner-up prize worth US$5,500.
Losing semi-finalist Kempter and Harriman went home with US$3,400 each while losing quarter-finalist---Orcollo, Kiamco, Schmidt and Hohman each received US$2,450.
In other quarter-final round results, Kempter upset defending World Straight Pool champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany (200-171) while Harriman nipped countryman 2006 US Open 9-ball champion John Schmidt (200-165).
Straight pool, also called 14.1 continuously, used to be the most popular event in championships competitions. It's popularly has since waned with the advent of faster-playing games like the 9-ball and 8-ball.
In straight pool, the shooter may attempt to pocket any ball on the table. One point is scored for each ball pocketed where no foul is made. How the ball reaches the pocket is irrelevant, as long as the called ball enters the called pocket.
PUTOL PELAYO UPSET AMIT, REIGNING WORLD WOMEN'S RUNNER-UP
JARRY "Putol" Pelayo of Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) upset reigning Amway World Women's runner-up and 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit, 9-7, to take charge at the start of 2007 Puyat Sports 9-ball tournament late Saturday at the Bowling Inn in Taft Avenue, Manila.
"Medyo sinuwerte lamang sa kalagitnaan ng laro, 'yung ang maganda sa winner's break format bagama't malamangan ka ng kalaban mo ay may pagkakataon ka pang makahabol." Said Pelayo, also known as "Fire Cracker Victim" in the event organized by Puyat Sports stable headed by Ish Caparras and Rolly Vicente in cooperation with Bugsy promotion.
The event is fully backed up by no less than Aristeo "Putch" Puyat, acknowledge Philippine God Father.
Actually, it's Amit who took a 4-1 lead at the start of race-to-9, double elimination, winner's break format. However, Pelayo clustered three straight racks after a miscue of Amit in the 8-ball in the 8 th frame to tie the game at 4-all.
After Pelayo manage to tie the game again at 5-all in the 10th frame, the top player of NBS manager Christopher "Topher" Palses and sportsman/ businessman Jonathan "Bacolod" never looked back after taking the next two racks to get the 7-5 upper hand before sealing a 9-7 victory.
Pelayo also subdued Napoleon Labrador to face Michael "Fighter Laguna" Feliciano of Bugsy in the round, winner over Boboy Rabe and 2006 POC Olympic Festival runner-up Johann "Bubwit" Chua.
Two NBS stalwarts Godofredo "Boy Cotabato" Ducanes and Troy "Guwapito" Danao, also advanced in the round.
Ducanes stuned Junbert Ogang and snooker specialist Benjie Guevarra to face 2006 Sydney World Junior quarter-finalist Renemar "Revo" David of Edwin Reyes Stable, who beat Rene Bata and Ricky "Bai" Zerna.
Danao, on the other hand, nipped national women's pool member Mary-Ann Basas and Mike "Choke" Takayama of Bugsy stable to meet Tony "Fidel" Punzalan, conqueror of double world champion Ronato "Volcano" Alcano of Bugsy in this year's 2 nd BSCP Open. Punzalan defeated another national women's mainstay Iris Ranola and Richard Pornelosa, respectively.
Other participant players were Panfilo "Abu Lintok" Damuag, Robert "Pasay" Dy, Al James Ortega, Rommy Vicente, Mac Malayan, Jech-Jech Limen, Edgie Geronimo and Elmer "Buddy" Kalaquian.
PAGULAYAN BOWED TO FIL-MALAYSIAN COUNTERPART IN SEMIS
THE possible first-ever Asian 9-ball tour crown halt yesterday after lone Filipino semi-finalist Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan succumbed to Filipino-Malaysian Ibrahim Bin Amir (13-11) in the ongoing 4 th leg of Guinness 9-ball tour at the Orchid Country Club in Singapore.
Drawing first blood with an “8-9” combination shot, Pagulayan, who hails from Cabagan, Isabela was all business as he found the touch early to grab a 4-1 advantage. But uncharacteristic errors from the Filipino in the 6 th and 7th racks saw Amir, a native of Mindanao who migrated to Malaysia was able to bounce back with an impressive streak to equalize at four racks a-piece.
Flustered by his opponent's offensive onslaught, the normally consistent Pagulayan, playing under the banner of Puyat Sports was not his usual self as he lost his concentration that resulted in a bungled corner-pocket attempt at the 8 th and a scratch off the break in the 10th to allow Amir easy run-outs of the table and a commanding 7 - 4 edge.
Even so, "The Lion" refused to give up as the former world title-holder displayed his championship form to climb back with five unanswered racks to reclaim the lead, 9 - 7. But a break and run-out in the 17 th rack and a miss on the black eight from Pagulayan bolstered the confidence of the Malaysian as he surged once more to bring the match to a third deadlock at 9-9.
The two pool artists then showcased some of their best pool in the 3-day tournament as they traded racks to have the board show a riveting 10-all which meant they had to utilize the two-rack advantage needed to win if play went hill-hill in the semis and finals according to competition rules.
Unfortunately, the extended period did not benefit the struggling Pagulayan as the Filipino ran out of tricks to bail him out of the exceptional positional safety shots of Ibrahim, who shifted to the defensive in a bid to rattle the already demoralized Pagulayan. In the end, the Filipino ace committed several unforced errors and conceded defeat to the skilled Malaysian, 11 -13 who is entering the final round for the very first time in the Tour.
A visibly disappointed Pagulayan remarked: "It was a hard loss for me to take because I really wanted to make my country proud and produce our first win this year. But Ibrahim was performing well and giving me a hard-time with the safeties. At the same time, I was not really producing my best form which essentially is inexcusable in a tournament of this calibre. But still I did my best, It was only that Ibrahim was better. I am hoping I can make up for the loss in Shanghai next month"
Ibrahim's opponent for the finals will be the winner of the all Chinese Taipei semi-final between 2005's World Pool Champion Wu Chia-Ching and Kaohsiung leg winner Yang Ching-Shun who were still engaged in battle as of press time. With another guaranteed finalist for Chinese-Taipei, they remain odds-on favourites to notch another Guinness 9Ball Tour crown to boost their quest for a historic sweep of the annual nation-hopping event.
Last Saturday, Pagulayan defeated countryman Roberto Gomez (9-6) in the quarters to face Ibrahim Amir yesterday, who crushed Nitiwat Kanjanasri of Thailand (9-7).
In other quarter final results, Wu beat compatriot Chao Fong-pao (9-5) while Yang Ching-shun disposed Ricky Yang of Indonesia (9-7).
(Reports from Marlon Bernardino)
No comments:
Post a Comment