Corteza, 3 others advance; Reyes falls

Four more Filipinos reached the knockout stage of the 2014 World Pool Championship Tuesday, but the country’s most iconic player  suffered another early exit in Doha, Qatar.

Lee Vann Corteza spearheaded the PH contingent that advanced from the losers’ bracket, jacking the number of Filipinos in the Round of 64 to 11, four more than any other country in the competition.

Crowd favorite Efren “Bata” Reyes, however, was shown the door by England’s Karl Boyes in a thrilling hill-hill battle. Reyes bungled a safety in the last frame, allowing Boyes to clean up.

Corteza picked up his second straight win and secured his place in the next round with a 9-4 drubbing of Omran Salem of United Arab Emirates.

Warren Kiamco pulled off a 9-8 triumph over Frailin Guanipa of Venezuela, while Francisco Felicilda trounced Ali Obaidly of Qatar, 9-6.

Ramil Gallego also moved into the knockout stage with a 9-3 mastery of Michel Bartol of Croatia. Cedelf P. Tupas