World 9-Ball Tourney: Reyes, 6 other Pinoys advance

CEBU, Philippines - Filipino billiards supremo Efren "Bata" Reyes and his brightest student Francisco "Django" Bustamante joined five other Pinoys into the last 64 knockout stage of the $300,000 2012 World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.Reyes, the 1999 world champion, sustained his momentum with a 9-2 shellacking of Bader Al Awardi of Kuwait, while Bustamante cruised past Abdullah Al Yousef, 9-4.

Reyes will face next John Morra of Canada, who dispatched another Phl bet Joyme Vicente via a 9-8 cliffhanger, while Bustamante will go up against England's Daryl Peach, who escaped with a wafer-thin 9-8 victory over Bozo Primic of Croatia.

Cebuano shotmaker Antonio "Gaga" Gabica from Lapu-Lapu City also proceeded into the next round alongside Carlo Biado, Roberto Gomez, Ronnie Alcano, and Lee Van Corteza.

Gabica, who delivered gold for the Philippines in last year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia, prevailed over Denis Grabe of Estonia, 9-7, to set up an all-Filipino showdown with Ronnie Alcano, who advanced after a thrilling 9-8 win over Hunter Lombardo of the United States.

Biado crushed Roman Hybler of Czech Republic, 9-3, Gomez handily beat Qatar's hometown pride Mohammad Saeed, 9-1, while Corteza prevailed over Marlon Caneda, 9-5, in an all-Pinoy duel.

Biado will tackle next Thomas Engert of Germany, who tamed former world champion Fong Pang Chao of Chinese-Taipei, 9-5, while Gomez will mix it up with Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, who stunned defending champion Yukio Akagariyama of Japan, 9-7.

Up next for Corteza is Majed Alazmi of Kuwait, who subdued Torhu Koribayashi of Japan, 9-6.

It was not all jubilation for the Pinoy cue artists though as Dennis Orcollo, Ramil Gallego and Jundel Mazon were relegated into the loser's bracket.

Orcollo fell prey to Andrew Kong of Hong Kong, 5-9, the Bacolod City-native Gallego lost to Tony Drago of Malta, 6-9, while Mazon bowed to Vincent Faquet of France, 5-9.

The week-long tournament is participated in by 128 of the world’s best pool players. The champion will take home $40,000, the runner-up $20,000, while the losing semifinalists will receive $12,000 each. - THE FREEMAN