Alcano starts Guinness 9-Ball by beating Thai

Double world champion Ronato "Volcano" Alcano started his campaign Friday in the Kaohsiung leg of the 2007 Guinness 9-Ball tour with a 9-4 win over Nitiwat Kanjanasri of Thailand, according to results released by tournament organizers. Looking to redeem himself after a lackluster performance in the inaugural leg last month in Jakarta, Indonesia, Alcano immediately took a 2-0 lead, which he widened to 6-1, in the tournament being held at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in Taiwan. The 34-year-old Calamba City-native was scheduled to meet 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games 9-Ball gold medalist Vietnamese bet Luong Chi-Dung late Friday evening. A victory by Alcano against Luong in the group stage would guarantee the Filipino a seat in the quarterfinals on Saturday. "In this tournament, you need two things in order to be victorious. Winning is not just about pure skill. It is imperative that luck is on your side as well. If you are blessed to have these two factors on your side then you have a good chance of emerging on top. I was blessed to have luck shining down on me in my first match," said Alcano, the reigning world 8-ball and 9-ball king, in Filipino. However, two other Filipino campaigners were not as lucky. Last year's Japan 9-Balll Open winner Antonio "Nickoy" Lining and 2004 WPA World Pool Champion Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan were unable to hurdle their first assignments in their respective groups. Up against long time rival Chao Fong-Pang, Lining, already on the hill at 8-7, was set to close out the contest in the 16th rack, but he uncharacteristically missed on his 7-ball-in-the-corner pocket attempt, giving the Taiwanese the opportunity to even up the score and eventually bag the win in the race-to-nine, alternate break match. On the other hand, Pagulana, A 28-year-old originally from Cabagan, Isabela, had an incredibly hard time playing in Group F against Indonesia 's Ricky Yang. Bothered by a bout with food poisoning, the normally energetic Filipino had barely enough strength to muster a challenge against Yang, Indonesia 's number one pool player. Yang breezed through the matchup as Pagulayan succumbed to the Indonesian, 9-4. With both Pagulayan and Lining losing out in their opening group stage contests, posting commanding wins over their next group stage matches are imperative in order to have a chance to move on to the quarterfinals. Pagulayan will be pitted next against Korea 's Ryu Seung-Woo while Lining will take on India 's Dharminder Singh Lilliy. The lone Filipino player yet to see action in Kaoshiung is 2006 Doha Asian Games medallist Antonio Gabica, who was set to do battle against three-time World Junior Champion Wu Yu-Lun of Taiwan. Other early winners in the group stage were 2005 World Pool Champion Wu Chia-Ching and Lu Hui-Chan, both from Taiwan . Formerly the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the Guinness 9-Ball Tour has been made bigger and better for players and fans alike with the new partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and Guinness. The total prize money has doubled to $320,000 (from $160,000 from last year's tour) and the Tour will feature a grand final in Bali for the Top 10 players. Winners of each leg will win $15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will walk away with $36,000. The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship. The top ten finishers in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour Order of Merit will automatically qualify for pool's most prestigious event, the World Pool Champion, which wil be staged for a second straight year in Manila this November. Each leg will feature 24 players with the overall top ten players making the Grand Final. At stake each leg is $50,000 and Word Pool Championship ranking points. Winners for each leg walk away with $15,000. The Grand Final will get a $70,000 purse with the Champion pocketing $36,000. - GMANews.TV