by Jonas Terrado
Carlo Biado and Jeff de Luna rallied from an early deficit to defeat Filipino-born Alex Pagulayan and John Morra of Canada, 9-5, Saturday and advance to the semifinals of the World Cup of Pool at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England.
The Philippine duo trailed 4-1 but won the next seven racks on its way to arranging a semifinal duel with Niels Feijen and Marc Bijsterbosch of The Netherlands at presstime.
Feijen and Bijsterbosch eliminated last year’s champion China, 9-5, in the quarterfinals.
A win will put Biado and De Luna in a race-to-10 final against the winner of the other semis match between Justin Saijch and Danny Stone of Austria against David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz of Spain.
Biado and De Luna are aiming to give the Philippines its fourth World Cup of Pool title after Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante in 2006 and 2009 and Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza in 2013.
Pagulayan, who once represented the Philippines in international competitions, and Morra claimed the first two racks before giving Canada the aforementioned 4-1 lead.
But Biado and De Luna were precise in their pocketing to go on the hill with an 8-4 lead when Pagulayan scratched the cue ball during a 4-9 combination shot.
