Unfancied Gallego joins Bata, Django in world 9-ball tilt

Ramil Gallego defeated Swiss bet Marco Tschudi, 6-4, and joined his fancied compatriots in the 128-man cast of the World Pool 9-ball Championship firing off today at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

Gallego grabbed the last spot in Group 9 of the 8-player, 16-group cast. The group is headed by Warren Kiamco, one of the three seeded Filipinos here, the two others being 1999 champion Efren "Bata" Reyes and last year’s runner-up Francisco "Django" Bustamante.

The competing field slugs it out in a race-to-5 clash in the first round under the alternate break format.

At the end of the group section, the top four players in each group advance to the last 64 and the bottom four are eliminated.

The last 64 will be a race-to-9 duel. The tournament will adopt the winner break format from there. The third round, the quarterfinals and the semifinals will be a race-to-11 affair while the championship will be a grueling race-to-17 clash with the winner running away with the top $65,000 prize.

Bustamante heads Group 2 while Reyes is the top ranked player in Group 4 that also includes little-known Filipino cue master Ronnie Alcano. Marlon Manalo is in Group 5 headed by 2001 champion and recent RP vs Europe 9-ball duel titlist Mika Immonen of Finland. Lee Van Corteza is in Group 10 led by American Corey Deuel, while Dennis Orcullo is the least-ranked player in Group 14 headed by Swede Marcus Chamat. Antonio Lining is the second-ranked player in Group 16 behind veteran American campaigner Nick Varner.

1996 champion Ralf Souquet of Germany is the No. 1 player in Group 3 while defending champion Earl Strickland heads Group 1.