Ronnie, top locals enter round of 32; Mika ousted

MANILA, Philippines - Ronnie Alcano, a former world double champion out to complete a Triple Crown, enhanced his bid with a 9-2 crushing of countryman Demosthenes Pulpul that sent him to the Round of 32 of World 10-Ball Championship at the World Trade Center in Pasay City last night.

“I felt good today (yesterday) compared to my previous games,” said the 39-year-old Alcano, winner of the world 9-ball and 8-ball titles in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

“I hope to sustain this form to have a chance of winning my third title and complete a billiards Grand Slam,” he added.

Carlo Biado, Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza were the other Filipinos who made the next round even as Finland’s Mika Immonen kissed his title-retention bid goodbye, bowing to Japanese qualifer Tomoo Takano, 7-9.

Biado, chasing a first major title, overcame a 0-3 start and brought down countryman Roberto Gomez, 9-6.

Orcollo trampled Canadian Mario Morra, 9-4, and Corteza whipped Taiwanese Lu Hui Chan, 9-5.

Orcollo takes on Karl Boyes of Great Britain while Corteza tackles either Stephen Cohen of France and Han Hao Xiang of China in the next round.

Jerico Banares and Jundel Mazon were playing each other at press time as well as Marvin Tapia, who was battling Chien Chieh Liu of Chinese Taipei. 

The 27-year-old Biado continued his impressive run of wins and forged an interesting showdown with Alcano.

“It would be tough beating someone like him (Alcano) but I think it’s going to be a battle,” said Biado, a pride of Rosario, La Union.

Biado, who is already assured of $2,500 for making it this far, said he hopes to win his first tournament for his five-year-old son John Carlo.

“I think it’s about time for me to win. I really want to win this to have money for my son’s education. I don’t want him to end up like me,” said Biado, a high school dropout.

Antonio Gabica, Jonas Magpantay and Venancio Tanio all went down following losses to Manuel Pereira of Portugal, 8-9, Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 3-9, and Shane Van Boening of the US, 7-9, respectively.

The loss of Gabica, the 2006 Doha Qatar Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist, was the most heartbreaking as he blew an 8-6 lead.

The defeat was reminiscent of his loss in the 8-ball finals of the Doha Games blowing a chance to be a double-gold medalist.