ALEX "THE LION" PAGULAYAN, is looking forward to another major title this year after beating fellow former WPA World 9-Ball Champion Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the United States, 9-2, in Group 2 after the second round to keep the Philippine hopes high in the on-going $150,000 total pot prize Qatar Open 9-Ball tournament at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Al Muntazah Road, Doha, Qatar, late Monday.
RP's long-time 1-2 punch Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante, who both got bye in the opener also hurdled their respective rivals.
Reyes, the 1999 WPA World 9-Ball Champion and 2004 WPA World 8-Ball title-holder who is aching a to bounce back from the embarrassment he suffered in the first Senate President Manny Villar Cup in Cebu against a virtually unknown Rodrigo Geronimo, 9-1, blasted Abdulatef Alfawal of Qatar, 9-0, in Group 3 while Bustamante, the 2002 WPA World 9-Ball finalist beat Ali Al Obaidaly of Qatar, 9-2, in Group 2.
Equally impressive were 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica who nipped Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, 9-0, in Group 6, 2005 WPA World 9-Ball 3 rd placers Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo who stunned Yousof Al Wadi of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 9-1, in Group 6, 2006 World Pool leaque titlist Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo who outpointed Subah Habib of Bahrain, 9-1, in Group 1 and reigning WPA World 9-Ball finalist Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez defeated Farshad Shahverdi of Iran, 9-3, in Group 4.
Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, the 2006 WPA World 9-Ball ruler and 2007 WPA World 8-Ball kingpin, meanwhile edges Radoslaw Babica of Poland, 9-8, in Group 1.
There were also upsets…
Gandy Valle, the pride of Davao City who is fresh from winning the first Senate President Manny Villar Cup in Cebu shocked current WPA World 9-Ball ruler Daryl Peach of Great Britain, 9-5, in Group 5, little-known Ruben Cuna nipped Thomas Engert of Germany, 9-8, in Group 3, and Allan "Surigao" Cuarteto crushed Markus Juva of Finland, 9-3 in Group 8.
National Champion Lee Vann Corteza, the native of Davao City also eyeing the top prize $40,000 after demolishing Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 9-5, in Group 7, Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, clobbered Dharminder Lilly of India, 9-7, in Group 5, the Japan-based Ramil Gallego overpowered countryman Joven Bustamante, 9-5, in Group 2, as well Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, the 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball champion trounced Wang Hung Hsiung of Taiwan, 9-7 in Group 7.
A mixed result was happened to former World Champions---Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan, Mika "The Iceman" Immonen of Finland, Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann, Oliver "The Machine" Ortmann and Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany.
Wu, who is coming from a big win after topping the 2nd leg Philippine Pool Tour of Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup Ten-ball defeated Ahmed Al Sada of Qatar, 9-4, in Group 4, Immonen subdued Ivika Putnik of Croatia, 9-7, in Group 7, Hohmann beat 2005 WPA World 9-Ball finalist Chang Pei-wei of Taiwan, 9-7 in Group 5, Ortmann bowed to Zaed Dwab of Jordan, 9-5 in Group 4 and Souquet was yielded to Hijikata Hayato of Japan, 9-6, in Group 6.
2007 Guinness 9-ball tour grand champion Chang Jung-lin of Taiwan also made his presence by beating Bashar Hussain of Qatar,9-2, in Group 6, three-time world junior champion Vilmos Foldes of Hungrary hammered Fahad Mohammadi of Qatar, 9-4, in Group 7 , Marcus "Napoleon" Chamat of Sweden conquered 2007 WPA World Junior champion Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan, 9-7, in Group 3, Niels "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands defeated Khaled Almutiri of Kuwait, 9-4, in Group 8, as well unheralded Zhang Shuchun of China who beat ex-world trickshot titlist Fabio Petroni of Italy, 9-6, in Group 8.
Around 96 players will see action in this event. They will be divided into eight groups with 12 players each. They will play in a double elimination, alternate break, race-to-nine format.
contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison
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