SEVEN Filipino billiard masters advanced to the Final 64 of the 2014 WPA World 9-Ball Championships, following their victories yesterday in Doha, Qatar.
Cebuano Antonio Gabica, last year’s runner-up, scored his second win, while sending Michel Bartol of Croatia to the losers’ side following a masterful 9-3 victory.
Gabica was joined by Dennis Orcollo, Carlo Biado, Raymund Faraon, Johann Chua, Jeffrey De Luna and Elmer Haya to the next round.
Orcollo defeated Ko Ping Chung of Chinese-Taipei 9-6; Biado beat Tom Storm of Sweden 9-7; Faraon sent Efren “Bata” Reyes’s opening day tormentor Young Hwa Jeong of Korea to the loser’s side following a 9-7 decision; Chua defeated Lo Li Wen of Chinese-Taipei 9-6; De Luna beat compatriot Israel Rota 9-3; and Haya survived Artem Koshovyi of Ukraine with a 9-8 decision.
Aside from Rota, Cebuano Warren Kiamco also suffered his first loss after yielding to Niels Feijen of The Netherlands 9-6, as well as Alex Pagulayan who lost to Radoslaw Babica of Poland 9-6.
Also advancing were defending champion Thorsten Hohman of Germany, Cheng Yu Hsuan of Taipei, Tohru Kuribayashi of Japan, Dang Jing Hu of China, Shane Van Boening of the USA, Fu Che Wei of Taipei, Nick Van Den Berg of The Netherlands, Mika Immonen of Finland, Waleed Majed of Qatar, Ralf Souquet of Germany, Jayson Shaw of Great Britain, Hijikata Kayato of Japan.
Bruno Muratore of Italy, Wu Jiaqing of China, Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, Wang Can of China, Huidji See of The Netherlands, Nick Ekonomopoulos of Greece, Darren Appleton of Great Britain, Ko Pin Yi of Taipei, Li He Wen of China and Oliver Ortmann of Germany also advanced.