WU, BANARES MAKES FINAL FOUR

Puerto Princesa - Double world champion Wu Chia-Ching and teenage Filipino sensation Jericho Banares were the first to enter the Final Four of the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup at the conclusion of Saturday's matches. And they did so in similar fashion - via hill-hill, pulse-pounding encounters.

Banares exacted revenge against Antonio Gabica, who had beaten him in the semifinals of the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup, the opening leg of the Philippine Pool Tour last May 6-11, on the way to topping the tournament.

The 18-year-old who is the 2008 Filipino junior champion raced to commanding leads in his much-awaited meeting with Gabica, one of the tournament favorites. But with the score standing in his favor at 8-4, Gabica mounted a spirited and impressive comeback.

Gabica took four games in a row by besting Banares twice through superb safety play and then recording a couple of break-runouts.

In the 17th rack, the difficult layout after the break led to a drawn-out duel. Twice Gabica forced Banares to use his jump cue, but each time the latter was favored with a good lie after the jumpshot. In the crucial exchange during the final minutes of the match, Gabica missed by a hairline a difficult rail-first shot of the one-ball to a corner pocket, leaving an opening for Banares. The latter quickly went to work.

Banares took the one-ball using the rail first for position play, and he played the shot perfectly. From there, he mopped up the table with ease to the delight of the crowd in the TV table.

The match between Wu and Manalo was a similarly drawn-out and exciting affair, with the lead seesawing between the two noted players. The Filipino took several early leads, but the Taiwanese came charging back each time.

With the score at 8-6 in Manalo's favor, Wu made his decisive comeback by taking the final three racks.

Wu is the first non-Filipino to make it to the Final Four of a PPT tournament. In the earlier Mandaluyong Cup, the foreign contingent failed to make it past the last six in the tournament.

In the matches at 10 a.m. Sunday, double world champion and tournament top seed Ralf Soquet will play Gabica for a seat in the Final Four. In the other featured match, reigning world junior champion Ko Pin-Yi battles Manalo for the other slot.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO