By JONAS TERRADO
Jeff de Luna and Roberto Gomez crashed out of the World Cup of Pool after absorbing a 9-4 loss to Denis Grabe and Mark Magi of Estonia in their quarterfinal match held Thursday local time (Friday Manila time) in Milton Keynes, England.
The Filipino pair couldn’t replicate its stunning comeback against the United States as the Estonians raced to a 6-1 lead on their way to advancing to the semifinals of the 9-ball doubles competition.
De Luna and Gomez ended their campaign with a purse of $9,000 (almost P430,000) after being denied of a chance to give the Philippines a record fourth title.
They began the competition on a high note by eliminating the all-female Great Britain B duo of Allison Fisher and Kelly Fisher, 7-3, in the opening round last Tuesday.
Both were on the brink of being sent home in the second round after the American tandem of Billy Thorpe and Skyler Woodward took the first five racks, until they went on an incredible rally to steal a 7-5 win.
But Grabe and Magi, who escaped with a 7-6 win over Chris Melling and Jayson Shaw of Great Britain A in the second round, opened the match by taking a 2-0 lead before De Luna and Gomez broke the ice in the third rack.
Estonia, however, responded by winning four straight racks for that 6-1 lead before taking a 7-2 lead entering the 10th frame.
The Filipinos tried to repeat its comeback over the US by taking two straight racks to narrow the gap to 7-4, but Grabe and Magi slammed the door shut on De Luna and Gomez by taking the last two.
