By MARK REY MONTEJO
The amazing winning run of Filipino Paulo Gallito came to an end on Friday, Oct. 4, bowing to former world champion Francisco Sanchez Ruiz of Spain, 10-3, in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Peri 9-Ball Open at the Peri Pool Arena in Da Nang, Vietnam Friday, Oct. 4.
After securing the first two racks, Gallito unexpectedly lost fire, allowing Ruiz to dominate the succeeding frames en route to earning a semifinal ticket in the tournament that has a $110,000 (around P6 million) prize fund.
Before yielding to his Spanish rival, the little known Gallito made heads turn when he stunned compatriot – the more popular James Aranas (9-5) in the round of 16.
His other victims were Turkish Akdag Ramazan (9-5) and German Moritz Neuhausen (9-8) in the Final 64 and 32, respectively.
He also struck Vietnam’s Do Hoang Quan (9-4) and Duong Quoc Hoang (9-1), and Canada’s John Morra (9-4) in the first round.
Still, the Filipino cue artist will not go home empty-handed as he collected $3,000 (P168,997) for reaching the quarters in the 256-player field.
Gallito immediately impressed in his race-to-10 showdown with Sanchez Ruiz as he took the first two frames easily.
However, the 2022 US Open winner stormed back, taking the next four frames for a 4-2 lead. Gallito got a relief when Ruiz missed the No. 3 ball to take the seventh game, 4-3.
But it proved to be his last hurrah as Sanchez Ruiz won last seven racks to frustrate the rising Filipino star.
Gallito, however, consoled himself as the best Filipino finisher in the event as world champion Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, Anton Raga, Baseth Mocaibat, Jefrey Roda, and Raymund Faraon suffered contrasting defeats in earlier rounds.
