Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Valle makes SMB-RP Open finals By Marianne Saberon-Abalayan
DAVAO City's Gandy Valle and Jech Jech Limen gained two of the four finals slots at stake in the Davao City qualifying leg of the San Miguel-Philippine 9-Ball Open 2007 at the NCCC Mall B3 Center Sunday night.
Cagayan de Oro's Glendford Autor and Agusan del Sur's Danny Otacan were the two other qualifiers for the 32-man field finals set on September 14 to 16 at the Silvercity Decagon, Julia Vargas Avenue, Ortigas Center.
All the top four finishers received a cash prize of P5,000 each, although they will no longer get any prize should they land on the 25th to 32nd place in the finals.
Valle pulled off a 7-6 win over Otocan in the winners bracket.
It was a hill-to-hill battle from the very start with both players exchanging lead changes but the Davao cue master took a two-rack lead, 6-4.
Otocan made the break and never looked back to win a run-out on the 11th rack and to trim Valle's lead, 5-6.
The 1998 Bangkok Asian gold medalist Valle, on his break, succumbed to a safety error on a 2-3 ball combination allowing Otocan to clear the table and force another 6-6 deadlock.
Otacan had the break opportunity yet the nerves might have gotten into him as he opted for a push that left the 3-ball hidden.
It took Valle a few minutes to decide on his next move, going around the table to check on a good angle. He settled for a jump shot sending the 3-ball to the corner pocket to the delight of the appreciative crowd that included his mother Carmen and wife Rosyl.
Valle then took one ball after another, making sure he never missed a shot and finally raising his cue stick in jest after seeing the 9-ball secured.
"I was really nervous because one wrong move I'll lose. I thank God I made it to the finals. It's really difficult to play in a qualifying tournament. It's a great advantage when you are seeded," Valle said in an interview with Sun.Star Davao.
Otocan qualified after beating Tuyan Lu, 7-6, in the losers bracket while Limen, who bowed to Autor, 6-7, in the winner's bracket, ousted Eljun Abellana, 7-4, in another losers bracket match.
The organizers will shoulder the hotel accommodations and round trip fares of the Davao qualifiers.
