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Taiwan Dominate Singapore leg of Guinness 9-ball Tour
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By
Guinness 9-Ball Release
Friday,
13 July, 2007
Chinese Taipei continued to dominate the group stages of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour in Singapore, despite losing the Order of Merit list leader Chang Jung-Lin in a nail-biting 8 – 9 loss to Alex Pagulayan of the Philippines.
Chinese Taipei resumed where it left off with two-time World Pool Champion Chao Fong-Pang, Wu-Chia-Ching and Kaohsiung leg champion Yang Ching-Shun through to the quarterfinals.
Unfortunately, Singapore 's quartet had much difficulty overcoming their assignments at the opening stage and was shut-out of the quarter-finals. The local team's best hope Bernard Tey opened his campaign on a positive note by trampling Hong Kong's ace cueist Au Chi Wai 9 – 4 in their group stage encounter. However, a 5 – 9 loss at the hands of Ibrahim Amir of Malaysia put paid to his campaign and saw Ibrahim through to the final eight for the first time this Tour.
It was a similar story for Tey's teammates as the determined trio of Ricky Chew, Eric Tan and Chan Keng-Kwang struggled against daunting contenders the likes of reigning 8 Ball and 9 Ball World Champion Ronato Alcano of the Philippines, Indonesia's number one player Ricky Yang and 2005 WPA World Nine Ball Champion Wu Chia-Ching of Chinese Taipei.
Meanwhile, the Philippines started its Singapore campaign on a shaky start with pool aces Marlon Manalo and Ronato Alcano surprisingly ousted in the opening round. Left to carry torch will be the tandem of Pagulayan and Roberto Gomez. Rounding off the quarterfinalists are Ricky Yang of Indonesia and Thai Nitiwat Kanjanasri, another final eight debutant.
Day Two's action will see Gomez clashing with Pagulayan to determine the lone Filipino representative in Asia's premier pool competition. Likewise for Chinese Taipei, Chao will face-off against Wu for a semi-final place.
Viewers in Asia can look forward to 15 hours of LIVE and exclusive telecast of the tournament on STAR Sports.
See the schedule below for tomorrow's LIVE broadcast of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour quarterfinal match ups:
Sat, 14 July, 2007
4.00pm (HKT) Nithiwat Kanjanasri (THA) vs Ibrahim Amir (MAS)
5.30pm (HKT) Alex Pagulayan (PHI) vs Roberto Gomez (PHI)
7.00pm (HKT) Wu Chia-Ching (TPE) vs Chao Fong-Pang(TPE)
8.30pm (HKT) Ricky Yang (INA) vs Yang Ching-Shun (TPE)
Global Cue Sports 2007
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