Philippines pool masters in hunt in Hanoi

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino pool aces Lee Van 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 yesterday.

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.

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, at press time.