Pagulayan averts QC team shutout

Former world 9-ball champion Alex Pagulayan went through a wringer and pulled off a 7-6 thriller over Chinese Fu Jian Bo to avert a shutout stint by the fancied Philippine side at the start of the QC Philippines vs The World “The Grand Villards Showdown” at the Trinoma in Quezon City last night.

The Filipinos earlier dropped the team, singles and doubles matches to the equally star-studded rest of the world squad and were heading into a shutout until the Fil-Canadian ace came through with a steal of a win in the second singles to save the day for the hosts, 1-3.

The World’s Rodney Morris of the US, Mika Immonen of Finland, Taiwanese Wu Chia Ching and German Thorsten Hohmann silenced the crowd with their steady games as they overpowered RP’s Efren “Bata” Reyes, Roberto Gomez, Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza, 7-4, in the team event to gain the headstart.

Ronnie Alcano, the 2006 World Pool champion, then roared to a hot start but sputtered in the closing racks, enabling Chinese Taipei’s Yang Ching Shun to pull off a 7-5 decision that had the visiting team rolling to a 2-0 lead in a duel the Filipinos are expected to dominate.

American Charlie Williams, who partnered with Morris in ruling this year’s World Cup, and Brit-Indian Raj Hundal later defeated Francisco “Django” Bustamante and Warren Kiamco in the doubles, 7-4, to sweep the first three matches.

“It’s a nice way to start the tournament with a win,” said Morris, a 38-year-old Hawaiian and skipper of the World team. “It’s a big win for us because the team game is usually the most difficult since you get to take one shot and alternate with your three teammates.”

Despite the presence of Reyes and Orcollo, the Filipinos failed to unleash their might against a determined foreign squad and before a partisan crowd that came to cheer and support the RP aces.

“We were playing scared, we’re miscalculating preparations, our shots were really bad,” said Reyes.

Meanwhile, sponsors Sen. Manny Villar and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte ushered in the three-day event which offers $40,000 to the winning team.

City Councilor Ariel Inton also graced the event backed by Camella Communities and supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) with The Philippine STAR, Solar Sports, RPN-9 and Business Mirror as media partners.

The two teams will figure in the team, singles and doubles events – all race-to-seven, alternate break formats – with the first squad to take nine matches winning the duel, patterned after the Mosconi Cup.

Alcano looked headed to equalizing the match when he took the first three racks. But he failed to sustain his charge as Yang hit a golden break on the fourth before racking up seven of the next nine points for the win.

In team play, the World worked its way to a 2-0 start but Morris’ miscue on the black 8 enabled the hosts to steal the third rack.

The Filipinos went on to tie the count at 2 with a run out but Morris and company took the next four points to reach hill.

Breaking for the game, Morris made a scratch, enabling RP to extend the match at 3-6.

But Gomez, the 2006 World Pool runner-up, misfired on the brown-7 on his turn on the table, giving the visitors another chance to clinch the match.

Immonen, however, muffed what seemed to be an easy shot as the black-8 rimmed out of the left corner pocket.