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PUERTO
PRINCESA CITY—Count the 10-Ball championship to the
growing list of crown Taiwanese young big shot Wu
Chia-Ching has collected.
For
up-and-coming Filipino star Jericho Bañares, he has to
wait for his moment of glory.
Wu, the
former World Pool 9-Ball and World 8-Ball titlist, used
precise pocketing to engineer yet another remarkable
comeback for a thrilling 11-9 triumph and rule the
Puerto Princesa Mayor’s Cup, second leg of the
Philippine Pool Tour at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum
late Sunday night.
It was
an uphill battle for the two young guns of billiards in
the event organized by the Billiards and Snookers
Congress of the Philippines in partnership with Star
Billiards Center and Raya Sports, and supported by San
Miguel Beer, Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn
and city information officer Alroben Goh.
As
expected, Wu had another slow start, similar to his
previous tough two matches against Marlon Manalo in the
last game of the eliminations and Ralf Souquet in the
semifinals. But the 19-year-old sensation, who barged
and dominated the international billiards scene in 2005,
completed another strong finish en route to nipping the
reigning national junior champion.
“I had
another tough time. For three straight games I had a
slow start. I was fortunate at the every slim
opportunity given to me and made the most out of it,”
said Wu through his interpreter Hans Lu, owner of Pool
Fusion Billiards Hall in Manila.
Wu found
himself trailing again even in the finals. He was down,
2-6, then took the next two racks.
Bañares
got his turn in the 11th rack to take a 7-4 lead. From
there, Wu mostly kept the up-and-coming Filipino star in
his seat.
A huge
six-rack run by Wu behind his solid breaking and precise
pocketing had the Taiwanese taking full control of the
match. The run reminded aficionados of his WPC victory
in Kaoshiung, when he took five straight racks to claim
the world championship.
But
Bañares pounced on an error by Wu in the 18th rack to
get back in contention. He ran out the table and then
took the 19th rack as well.
Then
came the most pivotal rack, the 20th, with Bañares
getting a chance to salvage an equalizer and a win could
give him the momentum he needed for the final blow.
Bañares got no shot at the blue 2 despite getting two
balls on his break. Wu got a little opening after
Bañares flubbed a safety play, but the table layout was
difficult to run out.
Instead,
he laid a tough safety on his opponent that looked too
tough to escape from.
Bañares
made a spectacular banked shot of the green 6 that went
in the side pocket, but was nullified after he
scratched.
That was
a backbreaker and Wu took care of business and finished
the job.
With the
victory, Wu took the first prize money of $10,000 and a
guaranteed seat in the inaugural World 10-Ball
Championship in Manila in September.
Bañares
received $10,000 for finishing runner-up. Losing
semifinalists Souquet and Manalo got $2,000 each.
Valle relishes ‘breakthrough’ feat in
Cebu
CEBU
CITY—After winning his first major title in almost a
decade, Gandy Valle hopes he has finally regained the
winning touch.
He
wishes his conquest of the First Senate President Manny
Villar Cup Cebu Leg is just the first of more titles
that would come his way.
“This is
really a breakthrough feat for me,” said the 31-year-old
Davaoeño, who crawled back from the losers’ bracket all
the way to upending Bugsy Promotions stablemate Dennis
Orcollo, 11-5, in the finals and win the topnotch event
presented by Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine
Sports, in cooperation with the Billiards Managers and
Players Association of the Philippines.
It was
Valle’s biggest accomplishment since winning the gold
medal in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.
The
victory also awarded him the P400,000 top purse staked
in this tournament sponsored by Camella Communities and
backed by Puyat Sports, Bugsy Promotions and Negros
Billiards Stable.
“But
it’s not the money but the title I treasure most,”
quipped Valle. “When I lost my first match, I didn’t
think about the prize money. I just focused on winning
one match at a time with my eyes looking at that
championship trophy.”
Valle, a
semifinalist in the opening leg of the island-hopping
series that started last month in StarMall Alabang, made
it to the finals despite losing his opening-round match
against little-known Manolo Tanasas, 9-3. He bounced
back from the losers’ bracket by beating former world
juniors campaigner Rene Mar David, 9-5, and another
rising star Jharome Peña, 9-5, in a match where he had
to endure a severe headache, to barge into the knockout
stage.
There,
he opened his bid by dismantling hometown bet Achilles
Navarra, 9-1, then evaded the upset ax of another Bugsy
stablemate Mike Takayama with a hard-earned 9-7 win,
before trouncing yet another Bugsy boy Carlo Biado, 9-4,
to set up a meeting with Pagulayan, his bosom buddy whom
he has not beaten in their first four meetings.
“That
win against Alex also made this tournament very special
for me. He was kidding before the start of our match
that he will send me into retirement, but when I beat
him, I must win it all so as not to put my victory
against him to waste,” he said.
Valle,
along with other top Filipino cue artists, will leave
for Doha late this week to compete in the $150,000 Qatar
International 9-Ball Open.
“I hope
that I could carry a momentum from my Villar Cup win in
that tournament. I’m confident because the most of the
players to beat there are our top players, whom I bested
in this Villar Cup,” Valle said.
He will
also be looking for a back-to-back Villar Cup title when
the series goes to Davao, his hometown, in August. “I
hope I could do that,” he added. |
