10 Filipinos march to Last 32

Filipino cue artists threatened to dominate the World 8-ball Pool Championship with 10 RP bets advancing to the Last 32, including reigning IPT world 8-ball champion Efren "Bata" Reyes, Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza, who toppled their respective rivals Saturday at the Fujairah Bustan Centre in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

Reyes, the sport’s top money earner last year, outplayed Qatari Bashar Hussein, 8-5, to arrange a showdown with compatriot James Ortega in the knockout stage of the tournament beginning today.

Ortega, who defeated UAE’s Saleh Al Rimawi, 8-5, in the first round and bounced back from a 5-8 loss to Francisco "Django" Bustamante Saturday with an 8-6 victory over Karl Boyes of Great Britain to salvage a spot in the tournament proper.

Orcollo, who enjoyed a banner season last year with four victories, including the World Pool League, dominated Boyes, 8-3, and trounced Finland’s Aki Heiskanen, 8-2, to arrange a showdown with Aussie Ben Nunan, who ousted Filipino Joven Alba, 8-4, Sunday.

Corteza, on the other hand, posted victories over Austrian Michael Felder, 8-2, and UAE’s Issa Al Boloshi, 8-1, to set up a clash with Dutch Nick Van Den Berg, who beat Al Boloshi, 8-4, and Australian Alec Evreniadis, 8-0.

Earlier, reigning world 9-ball champion Ronnie Alcano and Bustamante led the charge of the Filipino players in the tournament.

The other RP bets who advanced were Mario Tolentino, Joven Bustamante, Elvis Calasang and Joybe Vicente.

Tolentino takes on Niels Feijen of the Netherlands; Joven Bustamante clashes with Farhad Shaverdi of Iran; while Calasang and Vicente dispute one of the Last 16 berths.