De Luna rallies past Chua

MANILA, Philippines - Jeff de Luna pounced on Johann Chua’s shaky finish to eke out a come-from-behind 11-9 victory and grab the first finals berth in the Battle of the Kings 10-ball Challenge at King of Sports in Quezon City Wednesday night.

Trailing 4-7, De Luna got a big break when the youthful Chua committed costly misses on the 8-ball in the 12th and 13th racks, allowing the power-breaking veteran to vault back into contention and eventually steal the win.

De Luna awaits the winner of the other semifinal duel between former world champion Dennis Orcollo and Jeff Ignacio, who were slated to slug it out last night.

The finals will be played Friday night with the victor taking home P100,000.

Chua, who upstaged seasoned Francisco “Django” Bustamante two nights back en route to clinching a Last-4 stint, threatened to drop the upset axe on De Luna, too.

Displaying some pretty neat shotmaking, Chua strung up four straight racks from the eighth frame to pull ahead of De Luna by three.

He was three balls away from making it 8-4 until disaster struck, his shot on the black ball rattling out of the corner pocket.

De Luna wasted no time securing the rack for an 8-5 lead.