JOHANN "Bubwit" Chua and Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna hurdled their respective rivals to finish undefeated in this 64 man-field of the 4th annual San Miguel Beer Philippine 9-ball Open held last Sunday at the Puyat Sports@Baguio Center Mall in Baguio City.
The 17-year-old Chua who hails from Bacolod City, the 2006 Philippine Olympic Festival runner-up got bye in the first round then nipped Alexander Gallero (7-5), Renemar David (7-4), Chinese Lee Chen Man (7-4), and Jimmy Cheng (7-6), respectively.
The 22-year-old De Luna on the other hand, who hails from Marinduque also drew bye in the opener then crushed , Patrick Gonzales (7-5), Roland Garcia (7-2), Joven Bustamante (7-6), and Jayjay Millares (7-6) to claim the first two slots in the event, organized by Solar Sports in close cooperation with Puyat Sports headed by Philippine Billiard God Father Aristeo "Putch" Puyat, with the continued patronage of San Miguel Beer who offered a total pot prize of Php1.35 million where the champion gets the lion's share of Php500,000.
"I hope na makalaban ako agad sa main draw either si Alex (Pagulayan) o Django (Bustamante). Tinalo kasi ako ni Alex sa last year's BSCP habang 2 years ago ay tinalo naman ako ni Django sa RP 9-ball Open ng Solar" said De Luna in an exclusive interview with this writer yesterday.
Bustamante and Millares beat their respective opponents to secure the last two remaining slots in the loser's brackets, in this race-to-7, double elimination format to join Chua and De Luna in the Grand Finals on September 14-16. Bustamante beat Cheng (7-3), while Millares edges Roberto Dy (7-6), in the one loss side.
The big 9-ball event in Baguio was well attended, and strong players like Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, Warren Kiamco, Troy Danao, John Rebong, national women's team members Rubilen Amit, Irish Ranola and Mary Ann Basas and Japanese Naomi Inoue were among the 64 players in the event who are hoping to get the allotted four slots to advance in the Grand Finals.
Puyat Sports events manager Ish Caparras said that seeded in the main draw were two-time defending champion Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Leonardo "Dodong" Didal, Mike "Choke" Takayama, Carlo "Cool" Biado, Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo, Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, Efren "Bata" Reyes, Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan and Jose "Amang" Parica.
Meanwhile, action resumes this weekend when the last qualifying leg gets underway on Sept. 1-2 at the AMF-Puyat Commonwealth Lanes, Ever Gotesco Comonwealth in Quezon City.
(Report from MARLON BERNARDINO)
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