Reyes, Bustamante and Orcollo prevail; Filipino cue artists shine

By Celest Flores
INQUIRER.net

Photo from wpapool.com

Filipino pool masters Efren “Bata” Reyes and Dennis Orcollo hacked out contrasting victories to set in motion the 2011 WPA World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar, Saturday.

The 56-year-old Reyes survived a gutsy stand by Mark Gray of Great Britain, 9-8, while reigning World 8-Ball titlist Orcollo breezed past Andrew Kong of Hong Kong, 9-4, both in group one action.

A break and run out in the final rack sealed the emphatic victory for Reyes, who even trailed, 6-7, before hundreds of Filipino overseas workers watching in the gallery.

Orcollo, meanwhile, bucked a jittery start and flipped a 1-3 deficit to an easy win.

Hall-of-Famer and defending champion Francisco “Django” Bustamante also marched on to the winners bracket after besting compatriot Caneda Villamor, 9-7, in a tight match.

Up-and-coming pool artist Carlo Biado, who has been making a splash in the world of billiards recently, likewise advanced with a hard-fought triumph over Finland’s Petri Makkonen, 9-5.

Oliver Medenilla who defeated Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed AlHarti, 9-5, Allan Cuartero who trumped Syria’s Mohamad  Al Sofi, 9-5, and Jeffrey De Luna who overcame unseeded Hussain Jamil, 9-4, also joined the winners circle.

Antonio Gabica and Roberto Gomez, meanwhile, absorbed 8-9 heartbreakers over United Kingdoms’ Chris Melling and Portugal’s Manuel Gama, respectively.

Lee Van Cortez and Joven Alba were also relegated to the losers bracket following identical 4-9 defeats against Great Britain’s Raj Hundal and USA’s Shane Van Boening.

Finland’s Mika Immonen ran over UAE’s Hanni Al-Howri, 9-3, Germany’s Ralf Souquet routed Poland’s Mariusz Skoneczny, 9-1,  while his compatriot and defending Philippine Open champion Thorsten Hohmann frustrated Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin-Yi, 9-4, in other results.