Us open 9-ball tilt Alcano, Luat roll into q'finals

Filipino cue masters Ronnie Alcano and Rodolfo Luat hurdled his fourth round assignments to earn quarterfinal berths in the 31st US Open 9-Ball Championships at the Chesapeake Concention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Alcano bested Joey Testa, 11-4, while Luat toppled Frankie Hernandez, 11-6.

It was a sweet revenge for Alcano over Testa, who sent Pinoy bet Jose "Amang" Parica to the losers bracket the other day, 7-11.

Alcano will tackle next the winner of the Jerry Slivka-Po Cheng Kuo duel, while Luat will clash head-on with Darren Appleton of England.

Santos Sambajon and Lee Van Corteza's march into the next phase, however, was stalled after they stumbled in the third round.

Sambajon lost in an air-tight match against Charles Altomare,10-11, while Corteza fell prey to former world champion Mika Immonen of Finland, 8-11.

Sambajon though quickly bounced back with an 11-7 scorching of Adam Behnke.

Aside from Parica who drubbed Derek Leonard, 11-7, the other top Filipino bets who stayed in the hunt for the coveted championship despite sustainining early setbacks are Antonio Gabica and Gandy Valle.

Gabica pulled off a one-side 11-1 win over Joey Gray before subduing Nick Vita, 11-9, while Valle dumped Evan Brozmeyer, 11-2.

Gabica gears up for a showdown with Chris Bartram, while Valle will take on Rodney Morris for a berth into the final eight.

Unfortunately, two more Filipinos crashed out of the week-long poolfest in Ramil Gallego of Bacolod City and Ramon Mystica of Quezon City.

The Bacolod City-native shotmaker, rolled past Cary Dunn, 11-5, and Richard Broumpton, 11-8, but was eventually sent packing by American Jayson Shaw, 9-11.

Mystica, on the other hand, mangled Ron Zampko, 11-1, but was given the exit slip by Chris Szuter, 8-11, in his next match.