Philippine Open Pool: Japanese bet denies Luat of entry in main draw

Tamoo Takano of Japan ended the Filipinos’ streak of qualifiers in the Philippine Open Pool Championship by subduing veteran campaigner Rodolfo Luat, 9-4, Monday night at the Star Billiards Center. Takano thus became the first Japanese player to make it to the main draw via the qualifying stage. In a match that clearly became a one-sided affair, Takano quickly raced to a 5-0 lead and appeared poised to go for a sweep. Luat finally got his first break when Takano scratched while taking on the No. 9 ball. The Filipino bet, who several years ago was deemed as among the Philippines' most dependable players, secured the last two balls for his first point of the match. But bad luck continued to hound Luat. He had a dry break in the seventh rack, allowing Takano to score anew, 6-1. After Luat scored his second point of the game, both players exchanged dry breaks. The Filipino missed an easy shot on ball No. 1 and the Japanese cue artist had his turn on the table. Takano miscalculated a preparation for ball No. 9, putting him in a tough situation to get off a shot. But a spectacular bank shot to the side allowed Takano to take a 7-2 lead. In the 10th rack, Takano sank ball No. 8 off the break, but he didn’t have a clear shot on No.1 and committed a foul. After Luat missed the No. 5 on the corner, Takano again sought to apply more pressure on the Pinoy bet, but he missed the last ball and gave Luat a new lease on life. Luat had another dry break, however, and Takano pounced to move on the brink of wrapping up the match, 8-3. Both players had dry breaks in the ensuing plays and Takano was put in a situation where he needed to make a combo shot on the Nos. 2 and 10. The shot on the side went in and the Japanese formalized his entry to the main draw. - KY, Rey Joble, GMA News