Friday, July 28, 2006
Bata, Django lead RP surge
By Mike Limpag
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Pinoy Pool legends Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco Busta-mante lead seven other Pinoys in the third round of the International Pool Tour's North American 8-Ball Championships at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Davao City's pride Gandy Valle was the lone casualty of Round 2 after finishing fourth in his group. Valle, though, goes home $10,000 richer for reaching the second round.
Reyes and Bustamante both fished out 4-1 records in their Group, while US-based Santos Simbajon put out the strongest performance among the 10 Pinoys in the second round, being one of only nine undefeated players in the second round.
Hits and misses
Reyes, the 1999 World Pool Champion, defeated Bustamante, 8-6, Andreja Klasovic, 8-4 and had five break and run-outs in 8-2 wins over Jonathan Macias and Philip Harrison. His lone defeated was against Dee Adkins, 7-8.
Bustamante, a former world number one, defeated Harrison, 8-1, Kalsovic, 8-7, Macias, 8-5 and exacted revenge for his friend Reyes with an 8-0 demolition of Adkins, including an impressive seven break and run-outs.
"I broke and ran four times and then the fifth I made a ball he missed, so I won again. Then I ran another three. Right now I am four-oh and I played strong. I had no problems with the break, but it depends on how you play eight-ball-if you don't make anything on the break it can be a big problem," Bustamante told the event's official blog at internationalpooltour.com
Reigning Sun.Star Superbalita champion Ronato Alcano also advanced to the next round with a 4-1 record, along with Dennis Orcullo, the 2003 Superbalita winner. Alcano defeated Orcullo, 8-7, in a closely fought contest that saw neither player running out a rack, George San Souci, 8-2, John Wims, 8-3 and Gandy Valle, 8-6. Alcano got his lone loss against Corey Deuel, 6-8.
Wins
Orcullo got his wins against Deuel (8-5), San Souci (8-7) and Wims (8-3).
Other Pinoys in the third round are Antonio Lining, Rodolfo Luat, Marlon Manalo and Alex Pagulayan.
In the third round, Manalo, who had a 4-1 record in Round 2, is in Group 70 together with Alcano, Gabriel Owen, Charles Williams and Sarah Ellerby.
Pagulayan will also face a Pinoy in Round 3 in Group 69 with Sambajon, Alex Lely, Lee Heuwagen and John Kucharo.
Familiar foe
Reyes will have a familiar foe in Round 3, Earl "The Pearl" Strickland, whom he defeated in the Color of Money three-day match years ago. The two are in Group 62 with Raj Hundal, Marko Lohtander and Gary Abood.
Meanwhile, after the cloth stole the limelight in the first day, sportsmanship issues were in the sidelines yesterday.
This prompted a call from Tour Director Deno Andrews to tournament officials, a press release from IPT said. "There have been one or two players who consistently push the limits of the referees. Andrews encouraged officials to stick to the letter of the rules and issue penalties to players who 'stall,'" said Andrews, whos wife is expected to deliver a baby any moment.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 27, 2006 issue)
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