BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
FORMER double world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball) Ronato "Volcano" Alcano yielded to eventual champion Mika "The Iceman" Immonen of Finland, 13-7, in the finals, but still wound up as the best Filipino finisher in the just concluded 33rd Annual US Open 9-Ball Championship being held at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, over the weekend.
Alcano, who also settled runner-up place in the last year's edition receive 2nd place prize of $20,000 for his effort.
Immonen, meanwhile took the crown and the $40,000 that goes with it after trouncing Alcano in this $250,000 total pot prize tournament which lured by 238 players from around the world.
The 36-year-old Calamba native Alcano, who failed to duplicates Efren "Bata" Reyes (1994) and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2005) title feat, earlier brought downed Immonen, 11-6, during their hot-seat match in the winner's brackets to advance in the championships' round.
With the loss, Immonen relegated to the one-loss side and beat another Filipino entry Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, 11-9, to forge a rematch with Alcano. Before losing to Immonen, the 36-year-old Pasil, Cebu native Kiamco, playing under the banner of Jonathan Sy's Negros Billiard Stable ousted lone American survivor Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer, 11-4.
Kiamco pocketed third place worth of $10,000 while Archer didn't go empty-handed with fourth prize of $8,000.
Other Filipinos who saw action were former world no.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Japan based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, Jose "Amang" Parica, Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat, Leonardo "The Rattle Snake" Andam, Joven Alba, Edwin Montal and Danny Petralba.
The Filipinos' performance was a big letdown as they dominated the 2005 edition, with Pagulayan emerging as champion, Parica and Bustamante settled 2nd to 3rd placers, respectively. The weeklong-event is the longest running 9-ball event in the United States.
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