Kiamco misses gold in 9-ball

BUSAN – In a blink of an eye, a sure gold turned into a disappointing silver.

The Philippines missed the chance to secure a second gold in the 14th Asian Games Saturday after Warren Kiamco lost to Chinese-Taipei’s Yang Ching-Shun, 11-3, in the 9-ball singles final of the billiards competition here.

The battle for the gold could have been an all-Filipino affair but Antonio Lining, who topped the yearlong eliminations back home, fell to the Chinese-Taipei entry, 11-10, earlier in the semis.

The match was tied at 10 when Lining, with only four balls left and nowhere to go to, was forced to make a safety shot on No. 6. But there was no denying Shun who hit an incredible save, in the process sinking the No. 6 and clearing the rack for a berth in the final.

Kiamco earlier defeated Korea’s Jeong Young-Hwa, 11-8, and awaited the result of the second semis match, hoping for a Lining victory that would have given the Philippines a gold-silver finish in 9-ball singles.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

"Bad break sa akin ’yun," Lining was quoted as saying. Disappointed and frustrated, he lost the battle for the bronze to Jeong, 11-5.

Kiamco, however, will have to take the silver as it is, like the rest of the RP delegation.

It was the first silver medal for the Filipinos here to go with the gold in bowling, and the five bronze medals won on the first four days of competition.

The bronze medals came in bowling, billiards, rowing and shooting (two).

The men’s and women’s bowling teams were still in the hunt for the trios events, closing out the first three of six blocks at press time. They will play the last three blocks Sunday and hope to make it all the way.

The women’s team of Liza del Rosario, Liza Clutario and Cecil Yap is running second after three blocks with 1906 pinfalls, behind a Korean squad with 1985. The other RP trio of Irene Benitez, Ann Lopez and Josephine Canare is in 15th with 1627.

On the men’s side, CJ Suarez, Chester King and Leonardo Rey are in fourth (1921) while Biboy Rivera, RJ Bautista and Paeng Nepomuceno are in 24th (1718). Nepomuceno and Bautista won the doubles gold the other night.

After rolling their first three blocks in the trios, Rivera, King, Rey, Nepomuceno and Bautista rolled their first three blocks for the five-man team and showed the way with 3177, followed by a Japanese group with 3161. The finals of the event is set Monday.

Francisco "Django" Bustamante makes his much-awaited debut when the pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal rounds in 9-ball doubles are held Sunday.

Bustamante, who has vowed to win the gold, will be paired with Lining in the event which also drew the best pairs from Chinese-Taipei and Japan.

Boxing sent a third man into the quarterfinals after flyweight Violito Payla slugged it out with Kazakhstan’s Doniyorov Tulashbov for four rounds and came out a 31-26 winner.

But it will be uphill all the way for the soft-spoken Filipino who has fighters from Kazakhstan, South Korea and Thailand waiting for him on his way to the gold of the crowded 51 kg division.

The other members of Team Caltex now assured of quarterfinals slots are lightfly Harry Tanamor and lightwelter Romeo Brin.

In golf, only Fil-American Ria Quiazon was able to put up a fight as she remained in third place after a one-under 71 and a 221 total. She’s eight strokes off the lead, five down on the second placer but is just one up on a Japanese and a Korean as she gears up for a medal finish.

The two other female golfers lagged behind with Heidi Chua at 78-232 and Carmellete Villaroman at 80-233.

The men’s team continued to shiver. Not one among the four players managed to break par in three rounds as they lagged behind in the team standings. They’re in ninth place, 38 strokes (a good score for nine holes) of the pacesetting Taiwanese and just ahead of golfers from Bahrain, Brunei, Lebanon, Nepal and Qatar, among others.

In the pool, Jenny Guerrero finished fifth in her 400-m individual medley heat and failed to advance with her clocking of 5:12.82.

Luica Dacanay, Liza Danila, Heidi Ong and Guerrero were scheduled to compete in the 4x100 m medley relay in the evening.

Over at the shooting range, Nathaniel "Tac" Padilla just couldn’t keep a steady hand in the 25m rapid fire pistol where he’s running 21st after the first day of competition. He shot 281, way off Chinese leaders Lu Gou Hi (297) and Ji Haiping (295).

In soft tennis, the Filipinos found it so hard to score anew. Richmond Paguyo absorbed identical 4-0 losses to a Chinese and a Korean, and Wenifredo de Leon Jr. won once against a Mongolian, 4-2, but lost twice to a Japanese, 4-1, and a Chinese, 4-1.

The men’s baseball team finally scored - a run, that is - in a 2-4 loss to Chinese Taipei. The RP squad lost to Japan, 12-0, and South Korea, 15-0, in its first two outings.