FILIPINO Ronato Alcano remained on track for his third straight major title with a roller-coaster 11-7 victory over compatriot Efren "Bata" Reyes in the 32nd US Open at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, Virginia yesterday (late Thursday in East Coast Time).
The 34-year old Alcano, the reigning world champion in 8-ball and 9-ball, jumped the gun on his idol, taking a quick 2-0 lead. But Reyes, still sharp at 53, took the next three to set the tone for the see-saw affair. Alcano returned to the table on the sixth frame and stayed there until the 10th, taking command at 6-3 in the process. The tide took another turn then as the 1994 US Open titleist Reyes cleaned up the 10th and ran out the next three for a 7-6 lead. The last push came from Alcano, taking the last five racks and the right to face current US Bar Table 9-Ball Champion and 8-Ball Champion Warren "Warrior" Kiamco.
Kiamco advanced after taking care of countryman reigning national champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, 11-6.
In another all-Filipino duel, ageless Jose "Amang" Parica shocked Francisco "Django" Bustamante, 11-8. Parica will next face Tyler Edey, who stunned former world champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, 11-8.
What is worse, the winner of the Parica vs. Edey match will also face the winner of the Alcano vs. Kiamco game. However, all the Pinoy masters will get a second chance as the event uses the double-elimination format in the 211 man field $200,000 total pot prize tournaments which offers $50,000 to the champion while the runner-up gets $25,000.
Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, the 2007 Billiards Congress of America (BCA) Enjoypool.com 9-ball winner, meanwhile trounced Tony Crosby, 11-4, to march into the fifth round winner's brackets against James Walden, who edges last year's runner-up Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat, 11-10.
Meanwhile, Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego knocked out Filipino-Canadian Edwin Montal, 11-8, to stay alive in the loser's bracket. Gallego, who dropped his opening round match, won his second and third knockout game at the expense of Paddy McLaughlin, 11-5, and Paul Pottier, 11-8, and will face Dave Bolmann in the next round, winner over Sparky Ferrel, 11-9.
In other matches saw, Mike Dechaine of the USA beat Fabio Petroni of Italy, 11-5, to face Alex "the Lion" Pagulayan in the one-loss side.
Earlier in the week, Reyes and Bustamante essayed a 1-2 finish in the One-Pocket event of the US Open. Reyes received $1,500 for his effort while Bustamante settled for $1,000.
(Report from MARLON BERNARDINO).
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