9 more Filipino cue masters reach US Open KO stage

August 22 ------ NINE Filipino cue artists, including Carlo Biado and Johann Chua, also made it to the knockout stage of the US Open Pool 9-Ball Championship at the Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Joining Biado and Chua in the next round are Bernie Regalario, Michael Baoanan, Harry Vergara, Baseth Mocaibat, Roberto Gomez, Lee Vann Corteza and Marvin Asis. Jefrey Roda secured his spot in the Last 64.

Biado, currently the second-best cue artist in the world, defeated Vietnam’s Luong Duc Thien, 9-5, after dominating the last four racks from breaking a 3-all tie. He will next face off against Estonia’s Denis Grabe in the Round of 64. Meanwhile, Chua booked his final 64 ticket, by ousting fellow Filipino Roland Garcia, 9-7.

Chua arranged a first-round meeting in the Last 64 with two-time World 9-Ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann from Germany. In his qualification round, Baoanan defeated Mohammed Baabad of Saudi Arabia, 9-4, to advance, despite losing to world No. 1 Fedor Gorst early in the tournament. His next opponent is Tyler Styer of the US. For his part, Mocaibat toppled Kuo Hsuan Wei of Taiwan in a close hill-hill thriller, 9-8.

Vergara, on the other hand, defeated Albania’s Kledio Kaci in a 9-8 thriller, despite losing to Nguyen Hoang Tuan of Vietnam in an earlier round. Corteza booked his final 64 ticket with a 9-4 victory over Indonesia’s Edward Koyongian while Gomez defeated Filipino American Mhet Vergara, 9-6, and Asis bounced back by defeating Italian Francesco Candela, 9-2. In the Last 64, Mocaibat takes on Marco Teutscher of the Netherlands, Vergara faces Wiktor Zielinski of Poland, Corteza tackles Moritz Neuhausen of Germany, Gomez battles Poland’s Szymon Kural, Asis fights Canada’s John Morra, and Regalario meets Mieszko Fortunski of Poland.

The knockout phase will start at 10 p.m. on Thursday (Manila time).

Source: manilatimes.net