Not as sterling as last night’s triumph, but Filipino cue artists nonetheless ruled anew in the 2011 WPA World 9-Ball Championships in Doha, Qatar Wednesday night.
Defending champion Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Ronnie Alcano and Dennis Orcollo led seven other Filipinos into the final 32 of the $250,000 tournament held at Al Sadd Sports Club.
Bustamante coasted past Germany’s Sascha-Andrej Tege, 11-4, even as double World Champion Alcano turned back Canada’s Chris Orme, 11-7.
Orcollo, meanwhile, had to grind out an 11-9 squeaker over Indonesia’s Muhammad Zulfikri, while Antonio Gabica climbed out the top of a hill-hill battle with Finland’s finest Mika Immonen, 11-10.
From www.wpapool.com
Pulling off the night’s biggest upset was the unheralded Caneda Villamor, who dominated compatriot and Hall-of-Famer Efren “Bata” Reyes, 11-5.
A pool coach and trainer in Saudi Arabia, Villamor surprisingly took the out-of-form Reyes to school with his precise pocketing.
Villamor, who also took Bustamante to the limit in the group stages, raced to a 3-0 lead and would never look back as he stunned the 56-year-old Reyes, who just couldn’t capitalize on his chances.
Lanky Lee Van Corteza also marched on at the expense of a fellow Filipino in Oliver Medenilla, 11-5, even as erstwhile number one ranked player Antonio Lining crushed Germany’s Oliver Ortmann with the same score of11-5.
There was no revenge for Roberto Gomez, on the other hand, as he faltered against a familiar foe in Great Britain’s Daryl Peach, 4-11.
Peach also defeated Gomez in the finals of the same event back in 2007.
Other Filipinos who made the cut were rising star Carlo Biado and Allan Cuartero, who thwarted Iran’s Takhti Zarekani and Brunei’s Ahmad Taufiq Binh Murni respectively.
Biado, a former golf caddie, routed Zarekani, 11-6, while Cuartero edged Murni, 11-9, even as Vicencio Tanio also came out on top as he nipped Netherland’s Nick van den Berg with a similar outcome.
Also getting the boot were Jeffrey De Luna, Israel Rota and Joven Alba, who bowed down to their Chinese Taipei counterparts of Che Wei Fu, Yu Lun Chang and Jun Lin Chang respectively.
Also getting the boot was Raymund Faron, who wilted against France’s Stephen Cohen, 9-11.