PREDATOR 10-BALL

CORTEZA, BUSTAMANTE PREVAILS IN PREDATOR 10-BALL; BATA FALLS

Reigning National Open Champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza easily beat Ulrich Louie of the United States, 10-5, however countryman Francisco "Django" Bustamante was challenged by compatriot Jose "Amang" Parica before nailing his fourth straight win after posting a hard 10-8 victory in the on-going fourth round of 2008 Predator International 10-Ball Championships yesterday at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

" Nakausap ko si Van-Van (Lee Vann Corteza), magkakaroon ng bunutan bukas sa main draw at para kay Van-Van si (Shane) Van Boening ang tinik sa kampanya niya sa titulo," said NBS president Jonathan Sy in an interview with writer yesterday. Shane Van Boening, the defending champion in this double elimination format is currently playing in the one-loss side as of presstime.

After Louie took the first rack, the pride of Davao City Corteza clustered four straight racks to take a 4-1 lead and never trouble entire the game leading as much four racks in the 14th frame before scoring a stunning 10-5 victory.

Bustamante, the former World No.1 who seized a 2-0 to 3-1 lead before Parica tied the match at 3-all, 4-all, 5-all, 6-all, 7-all and 8-all.

Pool Maestro Efren "Bata" Reyes failed to flash his old brilliance and bowed to Alex Lely of the Netherlands, 10-7, for his second loss and join other early Filipino casualties that includes Warren Kiamco and Deomark Alpajora who lost to unheralded Keisuke Hanawa of Japan, 10-7.

Meanwhile, Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan and Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego won their respective matches to remain in contention in the loser's brackets.

The Cabagan, Isabela native Pagulayan trounced Manuel Gama of Spain, 10-4, while the Japan-Bacolod based Gallego nipped three-time WPA World Junior Champion Vilmos Foldes of Hungrary, 10-6, in the morning session then edges Tony Robles of the United States, 10-9, in the afternoon session.

In other matches, 2006 US Open Champion John Schmidt downed compatriot Gabe Owen, 10-3, Raj Hundal crushed Darren Appleton, 10-6, Neils Fejien beat Charlie Williams, 10-3, Tony Drago trounced Tyler Edey, 10-6, Karl Boyes defeated Imram Majid, 10-4, Ralf Souquet ousted Hanawa, 10-5, and Johnny Archer conquer Mike Davis, 10-6.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison