Billiard: Alcano making good in Guinness World Series in Indonesia

MANILA, July 31 (PNA) -- World Pool Association (WPA) 8-Ball and 9-Ball champion Ronato Alcano got off to a blazing start with a 6-3 victory over Indonesia’s William Tanizar to jump start his bid to claim the 2010 Guinness World Series of Pool – 10-Ball Challenge crown at the Mal Taman Aggrek in Jakarta, Indonesia Friday.

Joining Alcano in the winner’s bracket are two of his compatriots, former World No. 1 Dennis Orcollo and Carlo Biado, who both crushed their Indonesian counterparts with scores of 6-0 and 6-2, respectively.

Raring to redeem himself after a heartbreaking fifth place performance last July at the 2010 World 9-Ball Championships, Alcano, wasted no time in building an early, 3–0, lead as he pounced on the early 1-ball corner pocket miss of his visibly nervous opponent at the first rack followed by routine run-outs in the 2nd and 3rd.

However, two scratches off the break in the 4th and 5th racks from the Filipino allowed Tanizar the opportunity to catch up and knot the score at 3 racks-all.

Not wanting to give his Indonesian rival any more chance to further boost his confidence, Alcano regained composure and made up for his earlier miscue by stepping up his game and score three straight table runs to notch the win in the 9th rack.

While Alcano was busy battling Tanizar, two of his compatriots were already preparing for the next round in the winner’s bracket.

Orcollo was in top form as he closed out the contest with an emphatic win over Jeffrey Andrianto while over at table 3, Biado showcased beautiful breaking skills to emerge victorious over Bambang Poedjiono.

Asked about how he felt about his performance in the opening round, the soft-spoken Filipino remarked: “Although I am happy to win my first match, I cannot be content with the way I played. Two scratches off the break are inexcusable and simply won’t be good enough for the next rounds because I know the tournament can only get tougher from here on.” (PNA)
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