DAVAO City's very own Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza stunned Mika "The Ice Man" Immonen, 11-9, to march into the third round of the winners' bracket along with three other Filipinos in the ongoing 41st Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, Virginia, U.S.A.
Corteza, who hails from Green Meadows Subdivision in Mintal, paced the early going of the match but the Finnish veteran stayed within striking distance, only trailing by just one point, 5-6.
The Dabawenyo, however, kept his momentum and went on the hill, 10-8, but Immonen countered to take the 19th frame, cutting Corteza's lead to just one anew, 10-9. Luck was on the latter's side though as he escaped with the win to arrange an encounter with Pin-Yi Ko of Chinese Taipei.
Corteza crushed Brett Stottlemeyer, 11-1, in the second round after drawing a first round bye.
Ko, for his part, demolished Skyler Woodward, 11-7, following an 11-6 victory over Abdul Rahman Al Amar of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Taiwanese crushed A. Al Awadhi, 11-4, in the opener of the over US$200,000 cuefest that stakes US$50,000 for the champion.
Warren Kiamco of Cebu City, Ramil Gallego of Bacolod City, and Carlo Biado of Quezon City booked winners's third round berths.
Kiamco beat I. Majid, 11-6, after nipping A. Kazakis, 11-8, while Gallego overwhelmed Albin Ouschan of Austria, 11-3, after an 11-5 domination over Karen Corr.
Biado, for his part, subdued American Johnny Archer, 11-7, after eking out an 11-3 rout of E. Richardson also of the United States.
Kiamco takes on Jayson Shaw of Scotland in his next assignment while Gallego and Biado will play against F. Sanchez-Ruiz and A. Al Shammari, respectively.
Meanwhile, Philippines' only lady entry Chezka Centeno stole the show as she humbled American James Blackburn, 11-4.
The 17-year-old Centeno, according to a U.S. Open 9-Ball report, charmed the crowd with her breaks and stroke.
"She breaks the balls like a cannon, once driving all 9 balls above the side pocket. But her break is not the best part of her game. That is reserved for her stroke. Her stroke is powerful, fluid and compact. We estimate her wrist moves only eight inches or so from back pause to follow-through but it is just a thing of beauty. Her acceleration is perfect and she commands the cue ball like few you have ever seen. The object balls split the pocket and the cue ball seems to know exactly where to go after each stroke. If you have not seen this young lady play, you are in for a treat when you do," the report said.
But Centeno bowed to Y. L. Cheng of Chinese Taipei, 8-11, in the second round to be relegated to the losers' side.
In other matches, Filipinos Antonio "Nickoy" Lining lost to Daryl Peach, 6-11, as Dennis Orcollo of Surigao City, bested N. Malai, 11-4, only to fall at the hands of M. Fortunski, 8-11. Lining and Orcollo will try to stay alive in the losers' bracket.