Manalo leads RP winners

Marlon Manalo upstaged revered compatriots Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante when he barged into the round of 64 on his very first try in the World Pool 9-ball Championship at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales Monday.

A day after humbling world No. 1 Mika Immonen of Finland, the 27-year-old Manalo racked up two more victories in varying fashion, the first one a 5-4 thriller of a win over Jeff Kennedy of Canada and the other, a 5-0 rout of Puerto Rican Alan Rolon in Group 5 action.

That formalized the entry of the Mandaluyong City bet and 2000 Asian Snooker champion to the knockout stage as he pooled 10 points on five victories and matched Reyes’ unbeaten run in the annual event which gathers the best pool players in the world.

Reyes, whose victory here in 1999 put the country on the world pool stage, added Radoslaw Babica of Poland to his list of victims as the 49-year-old pool wizard clinched a spot in the round of 64 with 10 points with a day left in the eliminations.

Groupmate Ronnie Alcano, however, bowed out of the race by dropping two more matches in the day, a 4-5 loss to Roxton Chapman and a 3-5 setback to John Horsfall.

The rest of the Filipino bets likewise had a bumpy ride in the third day of elims.

But despite a 1-5 loss at the hands of Russian Evgeny Stalev late Monday, Bustamante stayed on track for a spot in the next round after notching his eighth point following a 5-3 victory over Kuo Po-cheng of Taiwan in Group 2.

Qualifier Ramil Gallego likewise boosted his bid with two victories, beating German Christian Reimering, 5-0, and Russian Konstantin Stepanov, 5-3, to tie Warren Kiamco for second with eight points in Group 9. Kiamco split his Monday’s matches, edging Reimering, 5-4, but losing to Tony Drago of Malta, 4-5.

Lee Van Corteza dropped a numbing 1-5 loss to Korean Jeong Young-hwa and fell into a four-way tie for the lead in Group 10 with eight points apiece.