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Friday, July 08, 2005
Manalo wins again
By Mike T. Limpag
Sun.Star Correspondent
Before his last 32 match, Marlon Manalo said he needed luck to win.
“Marvelous” Marlon clearly didn’t as he fashioned out a 10-0 whitewash of Chinese Taipei’s Chien Che Huang in the last 32 round of the 2005 World Pool Championship in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Huang, who defeated Konstantin Stepanov, 10-5, in the last 64 was jittery as he missed a thin cut on the six in rack 3, a shot on the four on rack 4 and his safety on the two in rack 5, all of which Manalo exploited for a 5-0 lead.
In rack 7, Huang’s missed a one-rail kick on the one after a Manalo push hit nothing. But he got another gift after Manalo’s approach on the two was blocked by the five.
Three rails
Manalo, who earned the moniker Marvelous for his stellar play, three-railed the two but failed to drop it and left it close to the three, which Huang sank the off a two-three combination before a forced bank on the two missed.
That proved to be his last shot as Manalo cleaned up the rack for 7-0 edge before taking the next three racks to earn his last 16 slot.
“I practice in the morning because it’s too crowded in the afternoon and I can’t concentrate,” Manalo told Matchroom Sport’s Georgina Wong before the match. “Whoever gets lucky tonight will win, though there is still the skill factor.”
If Gandy Valle won against Ying Chieng Chien late last night, he will face compatriot Manalo in the last 16, a repeat of the Manalo-Efren Reyes last 16 encounter last year that Manalo won.
Cebuano pool icon Warren Kiamco, who defeated David Reljic, 10-6, in the last 64 was still to play Jung Ling Chang for the right to face Rodney Morris in the last 16, while defending champion Alex Pagulayan was playing the first rack against Vilmes Foldes last night.
Luat’s exit
Manalo’s win was a big boost to local pool fans, who saw the exit of another Pinoy icon in Rodolfo Luat.
Luat, who emerged in the pool scene along with his contemporaries and early casualties Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, lost to Than Nam Nguyen of Vietnam, 8-10.
Other big names who lost in the last 64 were Earl Strickland, 7-10, against Alain Martel; Johnny Archer, 5-10, against Marcus Chamat; and Ching Shun Yang, 4-10, against Raj Hundal.
(July 8, 2005 issue)
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