EDUARDO "PIKOY" VILLANUEVA and Rene "Bata" Cruz hurdled their respective rivals to finish undefeated in the 38 man-field of the 4th annual San Miguel Beer Philippine 9-ball Open held last Sunday at the Celebrity Billiards and Bar in Bacolod City.
The Bacolod City native Villanueva, who placed runner-up to eventual champion Jose "Amang" Parica in the 1993 RP 9-ball Open in Ninoy, Aquino Stadium, drew 'bye' in the first round, then subdued Warren Kiamco (7-6), Manolo Tanasas (7-5), Ronnie Aying (7-6), and Jarry Pelayo (7-5), respectively.
Cruz on the other hand, who hails from Nueva Ecija also drew 'bye' in the opener then trounced Edgardo Sibuco (7-6), Ranel Bayona (7-2), Jimmy Cheng (7-5), and Jose Drilon (7-2) to claim the first two slots in the two-day event (August 18-19) hosted by Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) president and Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) director Jonathan Sy.
Tournament favorites Roberto Gomez of Divisoria, Zamboanga and Jharome Pena of Marinduque nipped 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 Villanueva and Cruz in the Grand Finals on September 14-16. Gomez downed Drilon (7-5) while Pena edged Pelayo (7-5) in the one-loss side.
Before relegating in the loser's-side, Gomez bowed to Pelayo (7-4) in the fourth match of the winner's brackets while Pena yielded to Drilon (7-4).
In the first leg of this tournament, Ricky Zerna, Russian Petiza and Panfilo Damuag of Negros Billiard Stable and 2006 Kuwait 9-ball Open champion Jundel Mazon of Bronco Stable took the allotted four slots held at the Paeng's Skybowl, Robinson's Galleria in Mandaluyong City last August 4-5.
The top four finishers in the second leg last August 11-12 were Gandy Valle, Glendford Autor, Danny Otacan and NBS bet Jech-Jech Limen was held at the B3 Bowling Billiards and Bar, NCCC Mall in Davao City.
The 2007 SMB Philippine 9-Ball Open is the joint initiative of Puyat Sports and Solar Sports, in close cooperation with Philippine Billiard God Father Aristeo "Putch" Puyat, with the continued patronage of San Miguel Beer which offers a total pot prize Php1.35 million where the champion gets the lion's share of Php500,000.
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, Aug. 25-26 at the Puyat Sports@Baguio Center Mall (Baguio City) before the last qualifying leg on Sept. 1-2 at the AMF-Puyat Commonwealth Lanes, Ever Gotesco Comonwealth ( Q.C).
(Report from MARLON BERNARDINO)
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