Carlo Biado, Jeffrey Ignacio and Roland Garcia won two matches each to advance to the round of 16 of the World 9-Ball Championship at the Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.
Biado, seeking to end the year with a bang after winning the World Games and Southeast Asian Games, beat Sweden’s Daniel Tanguud, 11-6, before defeating Poland’s Tomasz Kaplan, 11-8, about an hour later.
Not to be outdone, Ignacio downed Hong Kong’s Lo Ho Sum, 11-4, before eliminating fellow Pinoy Francisco Felicilda, 11-9, while Garcia trounced Bangladesh’s Mohammad Al Amin, 11-4, and Niels Feijen of The Netherlands, 11-4.
Biado, Ignacio and Garcia are hoping to keep their respective runs and end the country’s long drought in the annual competition.
Efren “Bata” Reyes, Ronnie Alcano and Francisco “Django” Bustamante remain the only Filipinos who have won the event.
Bustamante triumphed in 2010 – the year Filipinos dominated almost all major events of the sport.
One Filipino, however, is assured of making the quarterfinals as Biado was facing Ignacio at press time while Garcia faces a daunting task of defeating Ko.
Eliminated were Israel Rota, who absorbed an 11-3 defeat to Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi in the last 64, while Jeff de Luna fell 11-9 to Maung Maung of Myanmar in the Round of 32.
Notable players who made the last 16 are defending champion Albin Ouschan of Austria and 2003 winner Thorsten Hohmann of Germany.
Eliminated were Israel Rota, who absorbed an 11-3 defeat to Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi in the last 64, and Jeff de Luna fell 11-9 to Maung Maung of Myanmar in the Round of 32.
