MANILA, Philippines – National junior champion Jericho Banares and crowd favorite Jasmin Ouschan of Austria dropped their respective matches and bowed out of the Philippine Open Pool Championship at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 2 late Thursday.
Toh Lian Han of Singapore booted out Banares with a 9-7 win while Ernesto Dominguez of Mexico nipped Ouschan in a hill-hill match, 9-8, to advance.
It was a heart-breaking loss for the 23-year-old Ouschan who bungled the No. 10 ball in the 17th and final rack.
With Ouschan out, the six lady entries in the 64-player field has been reduced to two following the ouster of Melissa Little and Sarah Rousey of the United States and Julie Kelly of Ireland.
Three Taiwanese players fought their way into the third round in the winners bracket, while two stayed alive in the losers bracket.
Two-time world junior champion Ko Pin-Yi led the Taiwanese march with convincing victories over Kenichi Uchigaki, 9-6, and Naoyuki Oi, 9-3.
Lu Hui-Chan trounced Arnel Bautista, 9-4, and former world champion Thorsten Hohmann, 9-4.
Chang Pei-Wei, a former world 9-ball championship runner-up, beat Jasan Klatt, 9-5, and Fabio Petroni, 9-6.
In second round matches Thursday, Shane van Boening and Gabe Owen beat separate opponents to stay in the winners bracket.
Van Boening beat Korean Jeong Young Hwa, 9-2, after thumping Singaporean Chan Keng Kwang, 9-5.