LEGENDS FALL: Germany cuts Philippines to size

MANILA, Philippines—The old guards of Philippine billiards proved no match against the German blitzkrieg Saturday night.

World champions Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann powered Germany to a 9-1 demolition over a Philippine side manned by legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante  Saturday to barrel into the semifinals of the PartyPoker World Cup of Pool.

Bucking six dry breaks in the race-to-9 match, the Germans methodically tore down the Filipinos’ magic and stormed to a 4-0 lead in the battle pitting all four former World champions at the jampacked The Block inside SM City North Edsa.

On the hill, Germany once again made an unproductive break to give Philippines-B one last stand. But Reyes, the 1999 WPA 9-ball champion, scratched the 8-ball on the side pocket as the 2006 and 2009 champion pair finally crashed.

“Efren was not playing 100 percent, you could tell,” said Hohmann, the 2003 world 9-ball champion said. “I never won a break but nonetheless we performed. We wanted revenge and that’s what we got.”

Reyes is reportedly suffering from ulcer problems and accounted for crucial errors in the first three racks, where the Germans had successive dry breaks.

It was, indeed, sweet revenge for the Germans, who lost to the Filipinos in 2009 battle for the title.

“We couldn’t find a break, so it’s almost a miracle,” said Souquet, the 1996 9-ball and 2008 8-ball world champion. “Plus Efren was not in tip-top shape and they were playing in front of their countrymen, which put pressure on them.”

The Filipinos avoided a shut-out by taking rack No. 5. But the Germans quickly got back by winning rack No. 6 with Souquet pocketing the 2-ball in the corner, which Reyes earlier missed. In the next rack, Germany had a break and run-out for a 6-1 lead.

Germany will take on Korea in Sunday’s semifinals. The Koreans Lee Gun Jae and Hwang Yong disposed of Sweden’s Marcus Chamat and Thomas Mehtala, 9-4, in the first quarterfinal match.

But all is not lost for the Filipinos as the Philippines-A tandem of Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano are still in the running and were to play Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin-yi and Ko Ping-chun in the quarterfinals late Saturday night.

Orcollo and Alcano marched to the quarters after beating Canada’s Jason Klatt and John Morra, 8-6, late Friday.