INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Former double-world champion Ronnie Alcano continued his rise from the losers? bracket with a clinical 9-4 victory over Cheng Tsung-ha of Chinese Taipei Friday night that gave the Filipino a seat in the round of 64 of the World 10-Ball Championship at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Alcano, owner of world titles in 9-ball and 8-ball, kept his mistakes to a minimum, racing to a 5-2 lead en route to ousting the error-prone Taiwanese in Group H.

?I?m just happy I made the knockout round because I have been on the brink of elimination since Thursday,? said a visibly relieved Alcano in Filipino. ?It will be like starting from scratch all over again.?

Alcano?s victory, fashioned out at the TV table, hiked the number of Filipinos in the round of 64 to 10, counting Dennis Orcollo, Lee Van Corteza and Antonio Gabica, who already clinched slots to the next round Wednesday.

The Philippines is actually assured of 11 players in the knockout stage with veteran Marlon Manalo tackling Ramil Gallego in a do-or-die games being played as of presstime.

Gabica, a gold medalist in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, crushed Erik Hjorleifson of Canada, 9-2, for his second straight win Wednesday night.

Antonio Lining and Warren Kiamco cruised to the next round, carrying 2-0 records, while Elvis Calasang, Jericho Banares, Junel de Ocampo and Jundel Mazon advanced from the loser?s bracket.

Lining dumped compatriot Carlo Biado, 9-4, in their group O clash, while Kiamco won via walkover against Michael Feliciano in Group N.

Calasang ousted France?s Vincent Facquet, 9-5, in Group C, while Banares, the reigning national juniors champion, breezed to a 9-5 win over Sandor Tot of Serbia in Group J. Mazon bundled out Italy?s Bruno Muratore, 9-2, in Group J. De Ocampo upset seventh seed compatriot Jeff de Luna, 9-6.

Biado, who beat Liu Haitao, 9-4, in his opening match, remains in the hunt for a slot in the next round. He will face the winner between Benjamin Heimmerer of Germany and Adam Smith of Canada in a knockout match.

Slowly but surely hitting top form, world No. 1 Ralf Soquet of Germany drubbed Filipino Mario Tolentino, 9-4, to advance to the next round, along with Finland?s Mika Immonen, France?s Christoph Reintjes, Roman Hybler of Czech Republic and Charlie Williams of the United States.

?I?m getting better as the tournament goes along,? said Soquet. ?We played in a new table so it took a while for me to get going.?