Pagulayan pockets US Open title

Alex Pagulayan twice trounced Jose Parica via the same score, 11-6, the last netting him the 30th US Open 9-ball crown at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Virginia, USA Sunday.

Pagulayan took advantage of Parica’s uncharacteristic mistakes to post an 11-6 win in the semis and later repeated over the US-based Filipino cue master to add the prestigious crown to the world 9-ball title he won in Taiwan two years ago.

He won $40,000 (roughly P2.2 million).

Three Filipinos actually made it to the semifinal round of the annual event which drew the top 256 players in the world, but Francisco "Django" Bustamante bowed to Parica, 10-11. Bustamante, the former world No. 1, earned the right to face Parica by beating the lone American in the semis, Earl Strickland, 11-4.

Parica, who bundled out former world 9-ball champion and Filipino pool hero Efren "Bata" Reyes Friday, actually held Pagulayan to a 5-5 count in the final. But each time he had a chance to take control, Parica would miss a ball and give the momentum to the Canada-based Pagulayan.

From 5-5, Pagulayan won four straight games to take a 9-5 lead and although he yielded the next rack to allow Parica to close in at 9-6, the diminutive Pagulayan won the next two to wrap up the match.

As expected, Pagulayan was ecstatic after the victory, saying he had now accomplished two of his goals in life. One was to win the World Championship and the next to win the US Open, according to AzBilliards.com.

Parica settled for $20,000 while Bustamante and Strickland took home $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.

Pagulayan’s victory and Parica’s runner-up finish also assured themselves of automatic berths in next year’s World 9-ball Championship.