Alcano leads Pinoys surge in world 9-ball

Manila, Philippines - Ronnie Alcano, Antonio Lining and Jeffrey de Luna disposed of their respective rivals last Sunday to remain in the hunt for berths in the main draw of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship in Doha, Qatar.

Alcano, a former world 8-ball and 9-ball champion, routed Hamzah Al Saeed of Kuwait, 9-5, in Group L, while Lining trounced Liu Cheng Cheih of Chinese-Taipei, 9-4, in the featured Group P match.

De Luna, on the other hand, crushed Abdulwahed Jamil Hussain of UAE, 9-4, in Group H. Allan Cuartero, an OFW, dominated Mohmad Al Sofi of Syria, 9-5, in the other Group L match.

Meantime, Lee Vann Corteza, Roberto Gomez, Antonio Gabica, Israel Rota, Raymund Faraon, Venancio Tanio, Francisco Felicilda, Joven Alba and Caneda Villamor bounced back from the losers’ brackets with big wins to stay alive in the race for seats in the knockout stage of the annual event offering a total purse pot of $250,000, including $36,000 to the champion.

Corteza trampled Erik Hjorliefson of Canada, 9-4, Gomez edged Almed Naeem Ali of Jordan, 9-8, Gabica defeated Majed Al Zaab of UAE, 9-4, Rota waylaid Mazen Berjawi of Libya, 9-6, Faraon outclassed Hamzah Al Saeed of Iran, 9-2, Tanio dismantled Ameen Fekree of UAE, 9-4, Felicilda nipped Dennis Grabe of Estonia, 9-8, Alba won over Bruno Muratore of Italy, 9-6, and Villamor whipped Jon Grimley of New Zealand, 9-1.