SYDNEY, Australia – Rene Mar " Revo" David survived three scratches, two empty breaks and a robotic German foe to advance into the quarterfinals of the World Junior 9-Ball Championship.
The diminutive cue artist from Barangay Botocan, Quezon City rallied from several two-rack deficits before scoring a 9-8 victory over Thomas Luttich yesterday at the billiards hall of RSL Club in Rooty Hill here.
David leaned on his superiority in safety exchanges in the hill-hill endgame, which led to a critical foul by Luttich.
With the green six and black eight clustered on the rail near the side pocket, David pulled off a superb safety after pocketing the five-ball. He made a thin cut on the six to place it on the back of the eight with the cue ball rolling back and forth into the middle.
“P'wede ko sanang i-break ‘yung 6-8 cluster sa malapit sa side kaya lang baka magmintis ang tira ko sa singko (I could have broken the 6-8 clustered after but i might miss my shot on the No.5 ball,” David said.
It proved to be a wise move as Luttich messed up and left an open table for David.
“Sabi ko sa sarili ko kapag nabigyan ako ng pagkakataong bumalik sa mesa sa last rack hindi ko sasayangin ( I told my self, if i would given a chance to return on the table, i will not wasted,” said David.
He got the chance when Luttich undercooked his preparation on the two-ball, leaving the cue ball behind the brown seven to the delight of the Filipino supporters, mostly RSL employees and players of the Kingston basketball club.
“Mahirap talaga kapag naunahan kapag alternate break (It's really hard if your opponent takes an early lead in alternate break format,” said David, whose campaign is supported by Raya Sports and the Philippine Sports Commission.
David, who never trailed in his first two matches, endured a shaky start this time.
Luttich opened his account with a golden break and cleaned up the next frame after David's first scratch.
The Filipino shunned away from his power break on his next three breaks and knotted the count at 4-all.
“Nakita ko kasi na one-ball ang pag set-up kaya laging may pumapasok kada sargo kahit mahina lang,” David related.
Things took a different turn on his fifth break as he scratched for the second time, paving the way for 6-4 Luttich lead.
David had his third scratch on the 14th frame and Luttich took advantage for an 8-6 advantage. It was an extremely sad day for Team Europe with all four of its players falling by the wayside opposite Asian players.
Yevgen Novosad of Ukraine squandered a four-rack lead in an 8-9 loss to two-time defending champion Wu Yun-Lun of Taiwan; Bartolome Czapla of Poland bowed to Huang Tsung-Yu of Taiwan, 5-9; and Adam Skoneczny of Poland fell to Ko Pin-Yi of Taiwan 1-9.
David, who also got support from Grand Sport, MASCO head Ali Atienza, Bugsy's Promotion, Lutong Pinoy Restaurant and Kingston Basketball Club, and the three Taiwanese players will play the four survivors from the loser's bracket in the quarterfinals today.
The knockout format will be implemented from the quarterfinals.
