Fu Che-wei of Taiwan has claimed the first semi-final spot at the 2006 Philippines World Pool Championship as he cruised past an out-of-sorts Rodolfo Luat by an 11- 7 scoreline at the PICC in Manila.
Luat, one of two Filipinos remaining in the field, was too sloppy throughout and his mistakes were punished by a focused Fu.
Fu, like so many of his compatriots, is often over-shadowed by the marquee names of Taiwanese pool like Chao, Yang and Wu, but his solid play throughout the week has given him a great opportunity to step out of the shadows.
Known as the ‘Draw Shot Prince', Fu started superbly as he racked up a 4-0 lead but was assisted by Luat, who followed up brilliant shots with errors.
The 33 year-old from Ping-Dong, who in three previous WPC appearances has made the last 32 twice and the last 64 once, always looked in control.
Luat, 49, won the 5th and 6th games but Fu won the next two to maintain his lead. The Filipino was trying to stay with him and at 8-7 down it was his best the closest he came but too many unforced mistakes allowed Fu the opportunity to close him.
The final rack saw Fu break and run, employing his speciality draw shot to great effect. Fu will now play Germany 's in-form Ralf Souquet in the semi-final.
For Luat it was a big disappointment in front of his home fans as he equaled his previous best showing at the WPC . His $10,000 cheque as a losing quarter-finalist will be some consolation.
“Of course, I'm very happy and this is confirmation for me of the way I have performed and all the hard work and practice, said Fu.
“That was the first time I have played Luat but he made too many mistakes and I had to take my chances.
“I consciously told myself to stay calm and comfortable to try and overcome my nerves. I'm confident now and believe I can win the championship,” he added.
