Alcano unscathed; Manalo stumbles

Ronnie Alcano whipped local ace Eric Tan in a lopsided 9-2 victory but Marlon Manalo dropped a 5-9 setback to Indon Ricky Yang as the Philippines split its first two matches in the fourth leg of the Guinness 9-ball Tour at the Orchard Country Club in Singapore yesterday.

Alcano, the reigning double world pool champion, took the first four racks, yielded the fifth but pounced on Tan’s dry break in the sixth  rack to seize a 5-1 lead behind a 5-9 carom combination.

Another 3-9 combo by Alcano in the seventh put the outcome beyond doubt as Tan could only win one more rack on a break and run-out in the ninth while the Filipino ace won two more racks to clinch the win.

Alcano, fourth in the Order of Merit ranking after three legs, guns for a sweep of Group D elims against Thai Nitiwat Kanjanasri at presstime.

Roberto Gomez repulsed Genting leg finalist Dharminder Singh Lilly, 9-7, in a Group B match to likewise boost his bid for a seat in the quarters while 2004 world pool champion Alex Pagulayan is playing Indonesian Muhammad Zulfikri at presstime.

But while Alcano breezed through, Manalo failed to live up to his name as he succumbed to Yang in Group F.

Manalo actually raced to a 3-1 lead courtesy of a courtesy of a scratch off the break in the second rack and a side-pocket 4-ball miscue from Yang and a break and run-out in the third from the Filipino bet.