MANILA, Philippines – Filipino pool aces Lee Vann Corteza and Jeff de Luna hurdled their respective rivals to advance to the round-of-32 in the Hanoi Open at the My Dinh Indoor Athletics Arena in Vietnam Friday.
Corteza, a six-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, eliminated countryman Roland Garcia, 10-6, while De Luna, an Asian Games silver winner, smashed local bet Nguyen Anh Tuan, 10-2, to advance.
There, Corteza and De Luna were battling countrymen Bernie Regalario, who edged Vietnamese Luong Duc Thien, 10-2, and Michael Angelo Feliciano, who turned back another Vietnam’s pride Ngo Quang Trung, 10-4, at press time, which ensured the country of at least two entrants to the round-of-16.
Also advancing were Johann Chua and James Aranas, the reigning World Cup of Pool titlists who trounced Lithuanian Pijus Labutis and Peruvian Gerson Martinez Boza via identical 10-4 wins.
Chua and Aranas were battling England’s Jayson Shaw and former world champ Ko Pin Yi of Chinese Taipei, respectively, as of writing.
Other Filipinos who remained standing were Jeffrey Roda, who bashed Taiwanese Tang Ching Ting, 10-2, Jeffrey Ignacio, a 10-5 winner over Chinese Lo Van Xuan, and Kyle Amoroto, who bested countryman Patric Gonzales, 10-6.