WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP IN DOHA: 16 PHL POOL BETS ADVANCE TO LAST 64

REIGNING National Open Champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza defeated
Marcus Chamat of Sweden, 9-6, in Group L in their do-or-die match to
lead 15 others Filipino cue artists through to the Last 64 of the
2011 World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship
at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar , Tuesday night.


With the win, the top player of Negros Billiards Stable (NBS) Corteza,
whose stint here is supported by JSY Sports, Kopiko and Energen will
face countryman Oliver Medenilla into the round-of-64, single
knock-out format, in this $250,000 week-long tournament that offers a
$ 36,000 top purse. Medenilla, on the other hand beat Nguyen Phuong
Thao of Vietnam, 9-6, in Group G to finish undefeated two wins in
group play.

"Sana magtuloy-tuloy ang panalo ni Vanvan (Lee Vann Corteza), eto na
lamang ang kulang sa kanya na mag world champion sa WPA event."said
businessman-sportsman Jonathan Sy, co-founder of the Billiards
Managers and Players Association of the Philippines(BMPAP) and
chairman of the National Collegiate Billiards League (NCBL).

Beside the former World Ten Ball Finalist Corteza who hails from Davao
City, the other Filipinos who made it to the Last 64 through the
loser's brackets were Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, Caneda Villamor, Roberto
"Pinoy Superman" Gomez, Vicenancio Tanio, Joven Alba, Israel Rota,
Raymond Faraon and former WPA 9-ball and 8-ball champion Ronato
Alcano.


Gabica advanced by beating Fu Jian Bo of China, 9-8, in Group B, while
Villamor won over Lee Gun Kae of Korea, 9-7, in Group D, Gomez routed
Christian Tuvi of Uruguay, 9-4, in Group E, Tanio toppled Lee Chen Man
of Hongkong, 9-4, in Group I, Alba downed Sundeep Gulat of India, 9-4,
in Group J, Rota edged Bader Al Awadi of Kuwait, 9-8, in Group K,
Faron demolished Mohammad Al Hazmi of Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, 9-3,
in Group M and Alcano smashed Nguyen Phuo Long of Vietnam, 9-1, in
Group M. Not as lucky was Francisco Felicilda, who suffered a
heart-breaking lost to Soheil Vahedi of Iran, 9-8, in Group I.

Defending champion Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Efren "Bata" Reyes,
Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, Carlo "Cool' Biado, Jeffrey "The Bull" de
Luna, Allan Cuartero and Antonio "Nikoy" Lining, earlier made it to
the Last 64 after posting two wins in their group stage play.

Bustamante nipped Alazmi Majed of Kuwait, 9-4, in Group D, Reyes beat
Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, 9-3, in Group A, Orcollo dismantled
Jalal Yousef of Venezuela, 9-3, In Group A, Biado hammered Lee Gun Jae
of Korea, 9-2, in Group D, de Luna outplayed Riyan Setiawan of
Indonesia, 9-4, in Group H, Cuartero waylaid Mohamad Al Sofi of Syria,
9-5 in Group L, and Lining crushedCheng Chieh Liu of Chinese-Taipei,
9-4, in Group P. MARLON BERNARDINO


Pairing Last 64, Single Knock-Out Format:

Lee Vann Corteza versus Oliver Medenilla

Vicenancio Tanio versus Nick van den Berg of the Netherlands

Carlo Biado versus Takhti Zarekani of Iran

Antonio Gabica versus Mika Immonen of Finland

Allan Cuartero versus Ahmad Taufiq Murni of Brunei

Joven Alba versus Chang Jun-lin of Chinese-Taipei

Ronato Alcano versus Chris Orme of the USA

Israel Rota versus Chang Yu-lun of Chinese-Taipei

Antonio Lining versus Oliver Ortmann of Germany

Dennis Orcollo versus Muhammad Zulfikri of India

Efren "Bata" Reyes versus Carlos Cabello of Spain

Francisco "Django" Bustamante versus Sascha-Andrej Tege of Germany

Jeffrey de Luna versus Fu Che wei of Chinese-Taipei

Roberto Gomez versus Daryl Peach of Great Britain

Raymund Faraon versus Stephan Cohen of France

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

"BATA" REYES WILL TRY TO BECOME THE FIRST FILIPINO TO WIN A TRIPLE CROWN IN BILLIARDS

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

FILIPINO pool wizards Efren "Bata" Reyes will try to become the first
Filipino to win a triple crown in billiards when he competes in the
2011 World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship
at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar on Friday.

Reyes, acknowledged one of the greatest player of all time and plays
for the Puyat Sports of sportsman/businessman Aristeo "Putch" Puyat
battles Mark Gray of Great Britain in Group 1.

He has won the World 9-Ball Championship and World 8-Ball title in
1999 and 2004, respectively. Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, the reigning
World 8-Ball titlist will square off with Andrew Kong of Hongkong also
in Group 1.

Francisco "Django" Bustamante, also from Puyat Sports opened his title
retention bid against countryman Caneda Villamor in Group 4.

Bustamante, who was elected to the Billiards Congress of America Hall
of Fame after a convincing 13-7 triumph over Chinese-Taipei’s Kuo Po
Cheng in the
last year' edition.

2011 World Ten Ball semi-finalists Carlo "Cool" Biado from Perry
Mariano's Bugsy Promotions will meet Petri Makkonen of Finland in
Group 4.

Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medal
winner and 8-ball silver medallist, on the other hand will meet 2011
China Open Champion Chris Melling of Great Britain in Group 2.

A total of 128 players coming from 44 countries participate in the
$250,000 total pot prize tournament offering a $36,000 top purse. The
format divided into 16 group, each group compose of eight players with
four players advancing to the knock-out stage.

In other marquee Filipino match-ups, Roberto Gomez versus Manuel Gama
in Group 5, Oliver Medenilla versus Mohammad Al Harthi of Kingdom of
Saudia Arabia in Group 7, Jeffrey de Luna versus Hussain Jamil
Abdulwahed of Qatar in Group 8, Venancio Tanio versus Chang Jung lin
of Chinese-Taipei in Group 9, Francisco Olita versus Karl Boyes of
Great Britain in Group 9, Joven Alba versus Shane Van Boeing of the
United States in Group 10, Israel Rota versus Chang Yu lun of
Chinese-Taipei in Group 11, Allan Cuartero versus Mohamad Al Sofi of
Syria in Group 12, Lee Vann Corteza versus Rajn Hundal of Great
Britain in Group 12, Ronnie Alcano versus Hamzah Al Saeed of UAE in
Group 13, Raymond Faraon versus Radoslaw Babica of Poland in Group 13,
and Antonio Lining versus Liu Cheng Cheih of Chinese-Taipei in Group
16.