FILIPINO Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica failed to end the Taiwanese domination of the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tournament as he bowed to eventual champion Chang Jung-lin, 11-6, in the finals of the third leg of the tournament held at the Genting International Convention Center in Malaysia.
With the win, Chang received the top prize of US$15,000 and post his third consecutive leg victory after winning the Taipei (Taiwan) and Penang (Malaysia) leg, respectively.
Actually, the 36-year-old Lapu-Lapu City native Gabica, member of the star-studded Philippine Billiards Development Foundation (PBDF) rallied in the opening game by winning four consecutive racks to tie the game at 4-all.
Gabica had a chance to seize the lead in the 9th frame but miss No.9 ball shot giving Chang to control the game at 5-4 then the latter's (Chang) clustered five consecutive racks to reach the hill at 10-4 count.
Gabica won the next two racks after Chang suffered a dry break in the 16th racks to close the gap at 10-6 before Chang finish the game at 11-6.
Semis
Gabica, the country's most underrated pool player today rallied from three racks deficit (3-6) to beat Taiwanese Wang Hung-Hsiang in come-from-behind, 9-7, victory yesterday to book the second finals seat .
With the win, Gabica prevented what seemed an all Taiwanese finals when he met Chang in the finals, who earlier beat Ryu Seung Woo of Korea, 9-2.
After Gabica failed to sink the No.9 ball in the 15th rack, he didn't waste time to clean up the table after Wang missed a corner pocket shot at No.2 ball in the 16th racks for a 9-7 triumph.
On the road to the final four, Gabica nipped Yang Ching-shun of Taiwan, 9-7, while Chang smashed Li He-wen of China, 9-0.
Other Filipinos who competed in the tournament were Alex Pagulayan and Marlon Manalo who both failed to reach the knockout part of the tournament. Joven Bustamante, on the other hand reached the quarter-finals.
contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison
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