Several Filipino players have already made it trouble-free to the Round of 32 of the Philippine Open Pool Championships.
But the World Pool-Billiard Association event was marked by upsets galore late Friday night, somehow overshadowing the Pinoys’ rampage at the venue at SM Megamall.
Multi-titled world women’s champion Allison Fisher, former US Open champion Shane van Boening, and former World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez were eliminated earlier than expected after losing their second straight games in as many matches.
Fisher, an 11-time world champion known in the international pool circuit as “The Duchess of Doom," got the upset axe from a young and virtually unknown Finnish player, Marika Poikkijoki, 9-7.
Van Boening was dealt a similar painful beating by Yoni Rachmanto, the last player who made it to the main draw of this event via the qualifying stage.
Both Fisher and Van Boening, co-recipients of the Player of the Year award in 2007, and Gomez, a 3-9 loser to countryman Demosthenes Pulpul, now make an unexpected early exit from the tournament also supported by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines.
Two more top-rated lady players, former US Open champion Kelly Fisher and reigning World Women’s 9-Ball champion Fu Fang-Xiao, also became upset victims.
Fisher lost in a hill-hill encounter to Chou Chieh-Yu of Chinese Taipei, 9-8, while Fu bowed to compatriot Han Yu, 9-7, sending both into the loser’s bracket.
Meanwhile, more Filipino bets made it to the Round of 32.
Newly-crowned World 8-Ball champion Dennis Orcullo led the assault with another thrilling come-from-behind win, this time over Kuwait-based compatriot Allan Cuartero, 9-7, on Friday
He is joined by Antonio Lining, the highest-rated player in this event, former World Ten Ball runner-up Lee Van Corteza, and the up-and-coming Renemar David.
Lining dumped Muhamad Zulfikri of Indonesia, 9-1, while Corteza outlasted Ibrahim Amir of Malaysia, 9-6. David defeated compatriot Oliver Medenilla, 9-4. An Overseas Filipino Worker, Medenilla is among the Filipino players included in the world’s top 10.
Top guns of pool ease way to last 32
Former world champions Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, inaugural World Ten Ball champion Darren Appleton of Great Britain, and defending champion Ricky Yang have all booked seats in the last 32 as well.
The German ace Souquet will rekindle his rivalry with Orcullo, who has defeated him several times, a recent one in the Predator Ten Ball championship in 2009.
Hohmann defeated Chang Pei-Wei of Chinese Taipei, 9-5, while Appleton ripped Kenny Kwok of Hong Kong, 9-3, and Yang upstaged Naoyuki Oi of Japan, 9-7.
Other second-day victors include reigning World Ten Ball champion Mika Immonen, Chang Jun Lin of Chinese Taipei, Liu Haitao of China, Takhti Zarekani of Iran, Kuo Po-Cheng of Chinese Taipei, Marcus Chamat of Sweden, Jason Klatt of Canada, Robby Foldvari of Australia, Venancio Tanio of the Philippines, Chang Yu Lung and Fu Che Wei of Chinese Taipei, Mohana Obaidly of Qatar, Ramil Gallego and Raymond Faraon of the Philippines, Desmond Goh Chin Teck of Singapore, Abdullah Al Yousuf of Kuwait, Jeff de Luna, Roland dela Cruz and Carlo Biado of the Philippines, and Siauw Wieto of Indonesia.
Immonen, who surprisingly lost his first match against Lo Li Wen, bounced back with a 9-6 victory to oust Rudy Susanto of Indonesia.
Chang whipped Vincent Facquet of France, 9-2; Liu subdued Nguyen Phuc Long of Vietnam, 9-4; Zarekani beat Jericho Banares of the Philippines, 9-5; Kuo nipped John Morra of Canada, 9-6; Chamat drubbed Lo Li-Wen, 9-3; Klatt survived Mohamed Hosani of the United Arab Emirates, 9-7; Foldvari outlasted Wu Hao of China, 9-7; Tanio nipped Bobby Lee Chenman of Hong Kong, 9-7; Chang bamboozled Rafath Habib of India, 9-1; Fu ousted Jech Limen of the Philippines, 9-6; Obaidly nosed out MD Alias Bin Hj Raschid of Brunei, 9-8; Gallego outplayed Lee Gun Jae of Korea, 9-5; Faraon scuttled Shinya Inoue of Japan, 9-3; Teck beat Ahmad Taufiq Binh Murni of Brunei, 9-7; Yousuf defeated Chan Keng Kwang of Singapore, 9-5; De Luna ousted Ko Ping Chun of Chinese Taipei, 9-4; Dela Cruz whipped Sundeep Gulati of India, 9-4; Wieto drubbed Konstantin Stepanov of Russia 9-3; and Biado dumped Tomoo Takano of Japan, 9-4. - Rey Joble, KY, GMA News
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