Reyes, Alcano arrange duel; Pagulayan falls

Efren “Bata” Reyes and Ronnie Alcano overwhelmed their respective rivals to arrange an interesting duel while four other Filipino bets likewise set up a pair of fifth round clashes in the US Open 9-ball Championship at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia Wednesday.

Reyes, coming off a 3-1 victory over buddy Francisco Bustamante in the final of the US Open warmup one-pocket tournament last week, swamped Alessandro Torrenti, 11-3, in the fourth round to seal a showdown with the reigning double world pool champion in the star-studded Bracket 3.

Alcano actually came away with a more impressive 11-0 shutout win over Chris Bartrum which he hopes to use as the springboard in his match against the Filipino pool legend.

But while the two ace Filipinos moved on, 2004 world 9-ball champion Alex Pagulayan fell by the wayside as he bowed to Louis Ulrich, 7-11, in Bracket 1.

Bustamante defeated Joel Gray, 11-8, to advance against Jose “Amang” Parica, who prevailed over Derek Leonard, 11-5; while Lee Van Corteza downed veteran Niels Feijen, 11-8, to set a duel with Warren Kiamco, an 11-9 winner over Dan Louie.

Two other RP bets – Dennis Orcollo and Rodolfo Luat – advanced to the next round with Orcollo thwarting David Hunt, 11-9, and Luat holding off Ceri Worts, 11-7.