Pool players from the Philippines and Chinese Taipei again proved their mettle in 9-ball when four of each of their six-man team qualified to the quarter finals of the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour, Manila taking place at Pearl Billiard in Tambo, Paranaque this weekend.
The upsets of the day included the 7-9 defeat of world no. 3 Filipino Francisco "Django" Bustamante to 2002 Inter Continental Championships Champion Chang Pei Wei of Chinese Taipei. It was a close match to the end when at 7 racks for Bustamante and 8 racks for Chang, Chang sank the 9-ball on the next break, eliminating the home-crowd favourite.
Another upset was the defeat of the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour, Singapore leg winner and Busan Asian Games 9-Ball champion Yang Ching Shun of Chinese Taipei to world's 33rd ranked 9-ball player Korea's Park Shin Young, 7-9.
The Manila leg also proved surprising from the get-go when Round One of competition had Thai Chatchawal Rutphae winning 9-7 against 2002 Busan Asian Games 8-ball champion Chinese Taipei's Hsia Hui Kai. Round Two action also had 2001 SEA Games Gold medallist Indonesia's Mohammad Junarto losing the match by a mere rack to world no. 4 Efren "Bata" Reyes from the Philippines.
Two quarter final matches took place today (the remaining two scheduled to take place tomorrow morning at 10am, Philippine time) where 11th world ranked Lee Kun Fang of Chinese Taipei winning 9-7 to compatriot Chang Pei Wei. The other quarter finals match had world's top 8 9-ball player Filipino Warren Kiamco dashing the hopes of Korea's Jeong Young Hwa of making it to the semi-finals with a 9-6 win.
The San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour, Manila is sponsored by San Miguel, organized by ESPN STAR Sports and sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union. Iwan Simonis is the Official Table Cloth, Aramith is the Official Pool Balls. Mandarin Oriental is the Official Hotel.
Official websites are www.espnstar.com and www.asian9-balltour.com.
