Manalo drops thriller, settles for P5M purse

Marlon Manalo fell short of becoming the next Filipino multi-millionaire in sports, losing a pulsating double-hill match to German Thorsten Hohmann, 7-8, and settling for runner-up honors in the $2-million IPT North American Open 8-ball Championship at the packed The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada Sunday.

Hounded by dry breaks all night, Manalo still reached the hill first at 7-6 but broke empty in the 14th game, enabling Hohmann to run out the rack to draw level before the German ace pocketed the 9-ball on the break in the deciding game, chose the solid balls then ran the table swiftly to the victory.

Hohmann, a former world 9-ball champion, thus pocketed the richest purse staked in any pool tournament in the world, worth a whopping $350,000 (roughly P18 million).

Still, it was a big paycheck for Manalo, the former Asian snooker champion who took home $99,000 or about P5 million.

It was indeed a sorry loss for Manalo, who had looked forward to a multimillion-peso victory after topping the tough round robin semis among six players, who included two other Filipinos in Dennis Orcollo and Efren "Bata" Reyes, Saturday. He took the first two games in the finals, lost the next four, won the next two to tie, before winning three of the next five, including the 13th rack where he pounced on Hohmann’s scratch on the break to reach the hill at 7-6.

But fate frowned on the 31-year-old Manalo, who had a great break in the 14th game but unable to pocket any, leaving his rival, who dealt the Filipino cue artist his lone setback in the semis, a chance to come back.

And fight back Hohmann did.

Electing to take the striped balls in Game 14, Hohmann knocked in the 15 ball in the side pocket, then scored the run out with a well-calculated game to force a hill-hill match.

Unlike Manalo, Hohmann proved successful on his last stint on the break, sinking in the 9-ball on the side to the loud cheers of the full-house crowd. With a determined stride, Hohmann, who turned 27 two weeks ago, confidently approached the table, chose the solid balls which he knocked in with clockwork precision before pocketing No. 8 for the double-hill win.

"I wasn’t nervous at all, the entire match," Hohmann said. "I felt really confident. I just enjoyed the match. I could’ve won even higher. I had my chance, on that last run-out, my mom could’ve run out that last rack, it was so easy, so I’m thankful, and maybe it was my destiny."

Hohmann, nicknamed "The Hitman," won the lag but made nothing on the break, enabling Manalo to clear the table and snatch the first game. Manalo then broke and ran out the following rack for a 2-0 lead.

After a dry break by Manalo, Hohmann won the next three games in a row to take the lead for the first time in the match. When he came up dry on his break, Manalo strolled around the table, weighing his options, and chose stripes. Attempting a combo on the 11, he hung it in the corner pocket, and Hohmann cleared for a 4-2 lead.

A rattled 11 ball down the rail put Manalo back in the game, though, and he won two in a row to tie again. Yet another empty break by Manalo gave Hohmann one game, but another rattled ball let Manalo in to get two racks, making it 6-5 in his favor.

But Manalo came up dry again, and Hohmann dished up but popped the cue ball into the side pocket on his next break. Not knowing whether or not he would even see the table again, he watched Manalo run out to reach the hill. But the Filipino’s last break came up dry.

The IPT’s next major event will be held Sept. 2-10 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, NV. First place will award a stunning $500,000, with a total prize fun of $3,000,000.