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Reigning Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medallist Antonio “Gaga” Gabica and Joven “The Shark” Bustamante made up for their compatriots' early losses with contrasting victories as the Singapore leg of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 went full throttle yesterday at Velocity@Novena Square in Singapore.
Gabica had a relatively easy 9 – 4 victory over Siauw Weito of Indonesia in Group C while Bustamante had to sweat it out for a, 9 – 7 win over Li He Wen of China in Group E.
Gabica, the pride of Lapu-Lapu, Cebu, jumped to a 5 – 2 lead and was never threatened the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, world No. 6 Bustamante had a tougher time with Li as the Filipino leaned on a lucky break on the 16th rack to finally beat the Chinese.
Li was looking for an opportunity to tie the match at eight-all, but the cue ball fell on the right corner pocket after the Chinese's break on the 16th rack. Bustamante then ran out the table to join Gabica among the early winners.
Gabica and Bustamante's triumphs somewhat made up for disappointing starts by former World Pool champion Alex Pagulayan and Philippine Junior Pool champion Jericho Bañares.
Pagulayan was edged by Nitiwat Kanjanasari of Thailand, 9 – 8, in Group G while Tour newcomer Bañares dropped a 9 – 3 decision to Nguyen Anh Tuan of Vietnam in Group H
Bañares fell behind early, 6 – 1 but surged in the 10th and 11th racks. It was however, a little too late for him as his Vietnamese counterpart closed out the match the following rack.
Pagulayan and Bañares still have a chance to move to the quarterfinals, but the two must win over highly fancied opponents in their respective groups later in the day. Pagulayan was to meet Ibrahim Bin Amir of Malaysia while Bañares was to play Wang Hung Hsiang of Chinese Taipei.
