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| AJ Manas sent Carlo Biado home. Matchroom Pool |
QUEZON CITY--AJ Manas proved that he is going to be the future of Philippine billiards after eliminating the reigning World Pool Championship winner Carlo Biado, 10-7, in the Round of 32 of the Philippines Open Pool Championship on Thursday night at the Gateway 2 Activity Center.
A few days already cut off from his Reyes Cup MVP win, Manas continued his impressive stint lately by ousting his Team Asia teammate Biado in style.
Down 5-7 after 12 racks, Manas won the last five racks to steal the win from Biado.
Biado booked a free ride to the Last 32 after Efren "Bata" Reyes, his supposed Round of 64 opponent, backed out from continuing in the tournament due to sickness.
Manas also got a walkover after fellow Filipino Tom Peralta failed to show up in their scheduled Round of 64 match.
Meanwhile, Team Asia captain Django Bustamante was sent off the event after compatriot Harry Vergara eliminated him with a 10-8 Round of 32 win.
The billiard legend, though, did not bow out without doing something significant as he earlier stunned world number one Fedor Gorst in a hill-hill battle that took two plot twists right at the final rack.
On the verge of eliminating Gorst flawlessly, Bustamante missed the eight-ball, which opened a chance for the American opponent to steal the win.
However, Gorst misfired on the nine-ball, and Bustamante slotted the final ball in to finally close it out.
On the other hand, Jaybee Sucal's much hyped run in the Philippines Open came to an end after bowing to David Alcaide in an epic hill-hill Round of 64 battle.
Down 6-9, Sucal stole the next three racks and looked poised to complete a break-and-run in the final rack.
However, he miscalculated his cue ball control for the eight-ball and eventually missed the target ball, turning the final game into a safety battle.
Sucal decided to go for a jump cue shot at the eight-ball after an Alcaide safety, but the 16-year-old wunderkind scratched the cue ball and conceded the fight to his Spanish foe.
Alcaide later eliminated another Filipino, Paul Ladao, with a 10-5 win to join Manas and Vergara in the Last 16.
Also making it to Friday's Day 4 are Filipinos Jeffrey Ignacio, Michael Baoanan, Benok Regalario, Roland Garcia, Jefrey Roda, Patric Gonzales, Paolo Gallito, Eric Navarrete, and Hong Kong-based Robbie Capito.
Gonzales pulled off a shocker against world number 13 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz with a 10-7 Round of 32 win.
Navarrete, on the other hand, lived up to his "Upset King" tag by eliminating Anton Raga, 10-6, in their Last 32 battle.
Joining Alcaide as the last non-Filipinos fighting are Jayson Shaw, Pijus Labutis, Emil Gangflot, and Arseni Sevastyanov.
The upcoming Vergara-Ignacio, Garcia-Navarrete, and Manas-Gallito match-ups assured that three Filipinos will march on to the quarterfinals, although a technically all-Filipino Elite 8 remains a possibility.
