MANALO, GABICA, DE LUNA AND 2 OTHERS ENTER LAST 32 OF QATAR

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Marlon “Marvelous” Manalo, Antonio “Ga’Ga” Gabica and Jeffrey “The Bull” de Luna subdued their respective rivals to earned a seats in the Last 32 along two others Filipino pool wizards at the end of group play in the on-going 2009 Qatar International 9-ball Pool Championship at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Qatar yesterday.

The Mandaluyong City native Manalo, the 2005 World Pool Championships semi-finalists nipped compatriot Elvis Calasang, Gabica of Lapu-Lapu City, the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medallist bested Jeong Young Hwa of Korea, 9-6, while De Luna, the 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-ball Champion trounced Taher Hossain of Qatar, 9-1.

The triumvirate are top player of Philippine Development Foundation.

Cebuano pride Israel “Amay” Rota and Bicol bet Raymond Faraon, both pool instructor in the Middle East, on the other hand also made it to the Last 32.

Rota thumped countryman and snooker specialist Joven Alba, 9-4, while Faraon beat Hamza Mohd Saeed Ali of ERI, 9-8, in a hill-hill thriller.

In the Last 32: Manalo will meet US brightest hope Shane “The South Dakota Kid” Van Boening; Gabica goes up against Mariusz Skoneczny of Poland; de Luna will square off with Niels “The Terminator” Feijen of the Netherlands; Rota opposite Radoslaw Babica of Poland and Faraon versus Daryl Peach of Great Britain, who beat Pinoy Roberto Gomez in the finals during the 2007 World Pool Championships in Manila.

So far, it was Skoneczny is the underdog in the KO stage but seems to give Gabica a good fight. During the group play, Skoneczny ousted Pinoy giant killer Francisco Felicilda and 2009 China Open champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany with a similar 9-8 victory.

Felicilda, an OFW in the Middle East had a good start here in Qatar Open by crushing defending champion Dennis “Robocop” Orcollo, 9-7.

According to Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) chairman Florentino “Yen” Makabenta, the five Filipino survivors had to weather grueling matches in the loser”s bracket to make the cut in the Last 32, employing a single knock-out system. The winner of the Qatar Open gets $40,000 prize money.

The five join 27 other players in the knockout stage. Most of the world top 10 players remain in contention. Van Boening, Feijen, Babica, Peach and de Luna are all top 10 in world rankings.

Meanwhile, Demosthenes “Plong Plong” Pulpul, the 2008 World Ten Ball Championships semi-finalist playing under the wings of Cebuano Paul Monera Magadan of Magi Group dealt another Pinoy entry Valerino Pajuay, 9-8, but succumbed to the challenge of Karl Boyes of Great Britain, 9-5, to failed to progress.

Alan Cuarteo and Oliver Medinilla failed to advance in the KO stage losing a similar 9-7 score to Imran Majid and Jonni Fulcher, both from Great Britain.

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO.