By JONAS TERRADO
Roberto Gomez won a pair of knockout matches to reach the last 16 of the World Pool Championship in Milton Keynes, England.
Gomez rolled past South African Muhummed Daydat, 11-2, before defeating Singaporean Aloysius Yapp a few hours later, 11-7.
The only Filipino left following the early exit of Jeff de Luna, Gomez attempts to continue his run at presstime when he faces American Skyler Woodward in a race-to-11 duel.
Woodward came back from an 8-4 deficit to stun Russian Fedor Gorst, 11-8, in the round-of-64 before prevailing over Danis Bahram Lofty, 11-4.
A win will send the 2007 runner-up to the quarterfinals against either Austrian Albin Ouschan or Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski.
Nicknamed “The Superman,” Gomez has not lost since the world 9-ball competition began last Sunday.
He beat England’s Stewart Colclough (9-8) and Ouschan (9-7) to emerge as among the earliest entrants into the knockout stage.
The 42-year-old is eyeing to become the fifth Filipino to win the event after Efren “Bata” Reyes, Ronnie Alcano, Django Bustamante and Carlo Biado.
Biado was the left Filipino winner back in 2017 when the event was regularly held in Doha, Qatar.
