Saturday, June 16, 2007 RP team gears up for Guinness 9-ball tour in Malaysia
ACHING for their first taste of glory in the 2007 Guinness 9Ball Tour, the Philippine contingent spearheaded by double world champion Ronato Alcano together with reigning Philippine National Champion Lee Van Corteza, Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna and Roberto Gomez, are focused and raring to take on Asia's finest pool masters in the third leg of the region's premier nine ball competition in Genting Highlands, Malaysia.
So far, the Taiwanese have reigned supreme in this year's edition of the annual tour with consecutive wins coming from Chang Jung-Lin in the inaugural staging in Jakarta and another from Taiwan's "Son-of-Pool" Yang Ching-Shun in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The consistent play of Taiwan sees all four of their players sitting in the top five spots on the 2007 Order of Merit, led by Yang, followed by Chang, and two-time WPA World Champion Chao Fong-Pang making up the top three. 2005 World Champion Wu Chia-Ching currently sits in fifth spot. Even so, the Philippine team remains confident and positive that the tides will turn to their favor and eventually a win will materialize.
Asked about the chances of the Philippine players in Malaysia, Corteza said: "All of us have been practicing and preparing doubly hard for this competition. Hopefully, with a lot of luck and prayers, we can finally bring home the first title for this year. I am actually feeling good about our chances here but of course, with all of Asia's best players competing, the win will not come easy. For my part, I will give 100 percent of my skill to try and emerge on top and make the country proud."
Corteza is in Group F together with Naoyuki Oi of Japan and Korean bet Ryu Seung Woo. "The Slayer" will take on Oi first at 11 a.m. (HK time) then face of against Ryu at 6 p.m.
Over in Group D, Alcano will battle China man Liu Hai Tao at 12:45 p.m. after which he will square off with India's lone bet Dharminder Singh Lilly at 6 p.m.
Tour new comer Roberto Gomez will have a tough time in Group A as he is bracketed with recent Kaohsiung winner Yang Ching-Shun and Indonesian bet William Impaenen. He will start his campaign against Ipaenen at 12”45 p.m. then close out the eliminations versus Yang at 4:30 p.m. on the Star Sports TV table.
Completing the group stage match-ups for the Filipinos is 2006 Doha Asian games silver medalist Jeffrey De Luna who has drawn the lightest assignment as he is pitted against Singapore's Bernard Tey Choon Kiat and local bet Mohd Sapawi Bin Dan. De Luna will challenge the pocketing skills of Tey at 11 a.m. then test the mettle of Sapawi at 2:30 p.m.
Viewers in Asia can look forward to 15 hours of live and exclusive telecast of the tournament on STAR Sports.
For more information on the tour, please check out www.guinness9balltour.com. For the latest schedules and program information on ESPN Star Sports, go to www.espnstar.com. (Press release)
