Monday, July 31, 2006
Manalo makes poor tour eight ball finals
IT'S the Filipino snooker ace against the German sniper.
Marlon Manalo of the Philippines on Saturday reached the finals of the International Pool Tour 2006 North American Open 8-Ball Championship at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Manalo posted a 4-1 card in the six-player penultimate round, including a come-from-behind 8-6 win over Ralf Souquet of Germany, to make the finals, which will be played Sunday (Monday in Manila).
Facing the Filipino in the title match and the race for the $350,000 champion's purse will be former World Pool champion and German wizard Thorsten Hohmann, who also posted a similar 4-1 slate.
Hohmann made it through after beating Filipino Dennis Orcollo, 8-5, and Manalo, 1-8, in what turned out to be a preview of the finals.
The German raced to a early 4-0 lead and never looked back as Manalo failed to get his game going. Manalo had also lost to Hohmann the previous round.
Homann, called "The Hitman", actually averted an all-Filipino finals when he carved out that two victories over the Filipino cue masters.
The loss to Hohmann was, however, the only black mark on Manalo's card Saturday as he crushed countrymen Efren Reyes and Orcollo, Souquet and Russian Evgeny Stalev.
Orcollo wound up with a 3-2 slate while Reyes managed only two wins in five matches. Souquet and Stalev each had 1-4 records.
Orcollo finished third and got $80,000, while Reyes placed fourth and received $65,000. Soquet earned $50,000 for placing fifth and Stalev got $40,000 for emerging as sixth placer. (CRAM)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (July 31, 2006 issue)
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