KIAMCO, ALCANO GAIN US OPEN SEMIFINALS

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

VETERAN Internationalists Warren "Warrior" Kiamco and Ronato "Volcano" Alcano came up with yet another scintillating performance to kept Philippine Flag high in the on-going 33rd US Open 9-ball championships yesterday being held at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA.

The pride of Bugsy Promotion Alcano, who is aiming to surpass his last year's runner-up place finish beat American Rodney "Rocket" Morris, 11-7, to post his seventh straight wins and move into the final four against former World 9-ball champion Mika "The Iceman" Immonen of Finland, who brought downed another host bet Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer, 11-7.

Alcano and Immonen, both undefeated in this double-elimination format which offers $40,000 to the champion in this $250,000 total pot prize event.

The Cebuano native Kiamco, playing under the banner of Jonathan Sy's Negros Billiard Stable, on the other hand ousted Morris, 11-10, to extend his winning run in the loser's side with eight straight wins to face Archer in another semifinals pair.

After losing to Immonen in the winner's brackets, Archer eliminated compatriot Corey "The Prince" Deuel, 11-8, to meet Kiamco, the 2008 Villar-Alabang leg champion.

Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) head coach Christopher "Toper" Palses lauded the impressive performance of Alcano and Kiamco."Sana manalo sila sa kani-kanilang final four matches para all Filipino-finals." He added.

On the road's to the final four, Kiamco bested Josh Lewis ,11 – 9, reigning World 9-ball champion Daryl Peach of Great Britain, 11 – 3, fellow NBS stablemate Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, 11 – 10, Morris ,11 – 10, Robb Saez ,11 – 8, Scott Rabon ,11 – 7, Nick Varner ,11 – 10, Imran Majid ,11 – 8, Adam Smith ,11 – 5, Tony Chohan 11 – 3, and Morris, 11-10.

Alcano, meanwhile nipped Mike Brown 11 – 7, Matt Clatterbuck 11 – 4, Mitch Ellerman 11 – 10, Tyler Edey 11 – 8, Corteza 11 – 9, Francisco "Django" Bustamante 11 – 6, and Morris 11 – 7.
The much anticipated final four showdown between Alcano and Immonen and Kiamco opposite with Archer with the top two survival will slug it out for this year's over-all championships' trophy.

Alcano and Kiamco, both member of the star-studded Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) are looking to duplicate's Efren "Bata" Reyes (1994) and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2005) title-feat.