WARREN Kiamco and the other Filipino cue swingers had a strong start in the Bank Pool and One Pocket competitions of the 19th Annual Derby City Classic in Southern Indiana.
The Cebu City-native Kiamco was spotless in his first 10 matches in Bank Pool and is progressing with two wins in One Pocket competition.
His first beat Dan Gregoire before racking up wins over Steven McGee, Kent Berthelot, Kevin Nicolas, David Likens, Shannon Daulton, Jayson Shaw, Jason Miller, Shane Van Boening and Larry Nevel.
Aside from Kiamco, Francisco “Django” Bustamante is also heading strong towards the title after surviving an up-and-down performance.
Bustamante defeated Robert Motes, Jeremy Jones, Chad Bowling, Mike Williamson, Charlie Gailfoyle, Danny Smith, Mike Leek, before losing Dennis Orcollo. He then defeated Ike Runnels, Justin Bergman and Billy Thorpe to join Kiamco, Nevel and Shannon Murphy in Round 13.
Orcollo meanwhile opened his campaign with wins over Eddie Sharpe, Gerhard Binder, Joey Gray, Tom Karabatsos, Kenneth Brisbon, Jeremy Matchin, before losing to Jason Brown. He got back by beating Bustamante, but eventually bowed out after losing to Billy Thorpe in Round 10.
Carlo Biado and Lee Van Corteza were not as lucky as they bowed out quickly after two rounds. On the other hand, Johann Chua was eliminated after Round 3, while Efren “Bata” Reyes made it as far as Round 4 with Thorpe handing him his second loss.
In the One Pocket competition, Kiamco advanced to the third round after scoring two wins; Bustamante advanced to Round 4 with a 2-1 record; Orcollo marched to Round four after collecting three wins. Chua, Reyes, Corteza and Biado also advanced.