2013 World 9-ball Championship in Doha, Qatar

Final 64, Single Elimination, Knock-Out Stage Schedule of coming Matches -

Antonio Gabica vs Nguyen Anh Tuan of Vietnam

Efren "Bata" Reyes vs Nick van den berg of the Netherland

Marlon Villamor vs Karl Boyes of Great Britain

Israel "Amay" Rota vs Mark Antony

Raymund Faraon vs Manuel Gama of Portugal

Lee Vann Corteza vs Daryl Peach of Great Britain

Jeffrey de Luna vs Ruslan Chinakhov of Russia

Dennis Orcollo vs John Morra of Canada

Ramil Gallego vs Enrique Rojas of Chile

Carlo Biado vs Ralf Souquet of Germany

Marlon Manalo vs Omar Al Shaheen of Kuwait

Bata, Manalo et al eye slots Final 32 of World 9-ball Championships in Doha, Qatar

by Marlon Bernardino

FILIPINO cue masters led by Efren "Bata" Reyes and Marlon "Marvelous Captain" Manalo are ready to face their respective opponents at the start of knock-out stage or Final 64 of the World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday. 

Last Tuesday, Reyes defeated Korea’s Jeong Young Hwa, 9-4, to advance Final 64 while the comebacking Manalo nipped Poland’s Mateusz Sniegocki, 9-4.

“They always think I will win and if I don’t win it’s no good to them,” Reyes told World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) officer Ted Lerner. “Too much pressure out there. Maybe if I can win a few matches I’m gonna play good without pressure but now, too much.”

Reyes will slug it out Nick van den berg of the Netherlands in the single elimination or knock-out format.

Manalo, Chairman of Barangay Malamig in Mandaluyong added: “This is my first tournament in three years and I’m not 100% confident. Being an elected official is a very busy job and I only had a chance to practice a few times coming back. My confidence is not yet back to 100%. But I do have a big heart. As long as you have the heart you can win here.”

Manalo's next assignment is Omar Al Shaheen of Kuwait.

In other Final 64 matches pit between Antonio Gabica vs Nguyen Anh Tuan of Vietnam, Marlon Villamor vs Karl Boyes of Great Britain, Raymund Faraon vs Manuel Gama of Portugal, Lee Vann Corteza vs Daryl Peach of Great Britain, Jeffrey de Luna vs Ruslan Chinakhov of Russia, Dennis Orcollo vs John Morra of Canada, Ramil Gallego vs Enrique Rojas of Chile, Carlo Biado vs Ralf Souquet of Germany and Israel "Amay" Rota versus countryman Mark Antony.

Francisco "Django' Bustamante failed to reach Final 64 after losing to Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, 6-9. Eralier, the two cue masters tallied 5 racks apiece.

The 2013 World 9-Ball Championship sponsored by Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and co-sponsors by Simonis (cloth), organized by Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation (QBSF) and sanctioned by World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU). The 250,000 USD week-long event offers 36,000 USD to the champion with the runner-up place will bring home 18,000 USD.