GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Two-time world champion Ronnie Alcano and boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao scored an improbable 9-0 shellacking of John Rebong and Angelo Ariola yesterday and barged into the Round-of-16 of the star-studded MP (Manny Pacquiao) Cup 10-Ball doubles event at SM City mall here.
Coming from the losers’ bracket, Alcano and Pacquiao’s feat was the first 9-0 score of the tournament.
Superstar pairings of Shane Van Boening and Dennis Orcollo, Thorsten Hohmann and John Morra, as well Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante lost steam and bowed to unheralded foes, however.
Pacquiao, the Sarangani congressman and boxing’s only eight-division world champion, used solid breaks while Alcano followed up with accurate shots to keep their hopes alive.
The pair were battling Oliver Medenilla and Raymund Faraon at press time last night in the $150,000 singles and doubles tournament bankrolled by Pacquiao.
Also unscathed was the team of Warren Kiamco and Edgie Geronimo which faced Oliver Pulpul and Oliver Villafuerte last night.
Taiwan’s Ko Pin-yi and Ko Pin-chung battled Richard Alinsub and Christian Gariando, the local pair which scored a stunning 9-5 upset of the Hohmann-Morra pairing in the last 32.
Defending champions Jeffrey de Luna and Jeffrey Ignacio were taking on Reyes-Bustamante conquerors Weben “Puti” Velarde and Jovannie Edurece of Davao at press time.