Banares takes silver in World jr pool

Jerico Banares missed on the break and the black 8 and fell to Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan, 8-11, to settle for silver in the World Junior Pool Championship finals at the Sands Regency Hotel in Reno, Nevada Wednesday.

It was a sorry loss for Banares, who looked forward to a successful campaign after blasting Norio Ogawa of Japan, 9-4, in the semifinal round of the championship.

But after picking up a rack off Ko’s break to force a tie at 5, the Filipino bet came up empty in each of his next four breaks, then miscalculated a shot on the black 8 for the second time in the match on the 16th rack.

With Ko on the hill, Banares posted two racks to pull within, 8-10, only to be stopped with another dry break under mounting pressure.

However, the defending champion Ko failed to cover the blue 2 on his safety shot although Banares bungled a crucial shot on the green 6, enabling the Taiwanese to clean up the rack and retain the crown.

“Unlike in the semis, I was unlucky on the break,” said Banares, who leaned on his power-hitting ways to easily dispose of Ogawa in the semis.

Banares’ win over Ogawa also avenged the 5-7 loss of Zemonette Oryan to Japanese Konischi Samia in the semis of the girls’ division.   

It was also a heart-breaking setback for Oryan, the heavy favorite to go all the way to the championship round after sweeping her way to the semis.

But she fell behind early and played catch up the rest of the way. Samia, however, lost to Britanny Bryant of Canada, 8-9, in the finals.

The losses gave Banares a silver medal and Oryan a bronze.

Meanwhile, Jonas Magpantay closed out his campaign with an 8-9 loss to Banares in the quarterfinals.

In the Wheelchairs World Championships, Aaron Aragon of the United States beat countryman Charlie Hans, 12-10, to pocket the gold medal.