Alcano fans quest for 3rd jewel

MANILA, Philippines - Ronnie Alcano, Dennis Orcollo and Antonio Lining outclassed their respective rivals to lead the local bets’ impressive start in the World 10-Ball Championships which got under way yesterday at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Alcano, trying to become the first Filipino to score the sport’s version of a Triple Crown, walloped Kuwait’s Khaled Al Mutairi, 9-5, to move closer to the 64-player knockout phase.

The 39-year-old Alcano, who won the world 9-ball and 8-ball crowns in 2006 and 2007, respectively, will next face Singapore’s Toh Lian Han, who edged Brunei’s Ak Md Saiful Azri in a 9-8 hill-hill decision.

“Efren and I are the only Filipinos who won both the world 9-ball and 8-ball titles,” said Alcano in Filipino referring to pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes, who opted to skip the event for personal reasons.

“But he’s (Reyes) not here so I guess I have that chance to become the first Filipino to win billiard’s Grand Slam,” he said.

Alcano, however, will meet a tough challenge from a strong international field, including Orcollo and Lining, who disposed of Spain’s Carlos Cabello, 9-3, and Poland’s Karol Skowerski, 9-2, respectively.

Orcollo, the reigning world 8-ball king and former world No.1 and 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games gold medalist, will next take on American Max Eberle, who downed Germany’s Harald Stolka, 9-5, while Lining, the reigning world No. 1 based on WPA rankings, tangles with Ukraine’s Artem Koschovy, a 9-7 winner over Kuwait’s Omar Al-Shaheen.

Demosthenes Pulpul, the surprise semifinalist in the inaugural staging of the event three years ago, smashed Portugal’s Manuel Pereira, 9-4, while Ruben Cuna, Venancio Tanio and teen sensation Jonas Magpantay also pulled off hard-earned victories in the $250,000 event which drew participation from 128 players from 44 countries.

Cuna pulled the rug from under seasoned veteran Ramil Gallego, 9-4; Tanio turned back Qatar’s Abdulatif Fawal in another 9-8 hill-hill result; while the 17-year-old Magpantay brought down Qatar’s Mohanna Al-Obaidly, 9-3.

China’s Han Hao Xiang, meanwhile, shocked former World 9-ball and straight pool champion Oliver Ortmann, 9-6, while comebacking Wu Chia Ching, who has migrated to the Mainland and changed his name to Wu Jia Qing, edged Chris Melling of Great Britain, 9-8, in the weeklong tournament sanctioned by the World Pool Billiards Association and supported by Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines.

Wu, a former 8-ball and 9-ball champion and runner-up to UK’s Darren Appleton in the 2008 World 10-ball meet, shook off a sluggish start to turn back Melling.

“I couldn’t find my powder that’s why I had this horrible start,” said the 22-year-old Wu through an interpreter.