De Luna, Pulpul secure Top 10 spots in world pool rankings

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Open finalist Jeffrey De Luna and Demosthenes Pulpul have secured spots in the top 10 of the World Pool-Billiard Association rankings. Strong finishes by De Luna, a runner-up to Ricky Yang in the Philippine Open, in the China Open and Qatar Open earned him seventh place in the world rankings. Pulpul, who is a semifinalist in the World Ten Ball Championship last year, is in eighth. The latest WPA rankings also drew significant changes with reigning World Ten Ball Champion Darren Appleton of Great Britain overtaking erstwhile No.1 player Ralf Souquet of Germany. Appleton snatched the top spot from the double world champion Souquet following the former’s third-place finish in the Qatar Open, which was won by Finland’s Mika Immonen. Appleton garnered a total of 1,873 points after three ranking tournaments this year. He finished seventh in the Philippine Open then placed 17th in the China Open. Souquet has 1,765 points after only finishing 17th in Qatar. Immonen jumped to No.3 in the world. After skipping the first WPA tour, the Philippine Open, the former world champion finished 33rd in the China Open, but bounced back to rule the Qatar Open. He now has a total of 1,644 points. Completing the Top 10 are Neils Feijen of the Netherlands (fourth), Shane Van Boening of the United States (fifth), Marcus Chamat of Sweden (sixth), Daryl Peach of Great Britain (seventh) and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany (10th). Two more Filipino players are on the Top 25 list – former Asian Snooker champion Marlon Manalo and Asian Games gold medalist Antonio “Gaga" Gabica. Manalo, who struggled in the WPA’s first three ranking events this year, is at 21st while Gabica, who finished fourth in Qatar, is ranked No.23. – GMANews.TV