Friday, November 10, 2006

Liu, Luat move on to world pool quaterfinals

Rodolfo Luat of the Philippines and Taiwan's Liu Cheng-chuan secured berths in the world pool championship quaterfinals in Manila on Friday.

Lie defeated Cananda's Tyler Edey, and Luat barely held off Spain's David Alcaide known as "El Matador."

World's top pool players hold the prize trophy before the start of a news conference for the World Pool Championships at a hotel in Manila November 3, 2006. The 2006 World Pool championships is to get underway in Manila with 128 of the world's leading players from 42 countries competing for a winner's purse valued at $100,000, the biggest prize yet in the 17-year tournament. In photo from L-R: Alex Pagulayan, Philippines; Thorsten Hohmann, Germany; Efren Bata Reyes, Philippines; Wu Chia-Ching, a defending champion from Taiwan; Francisco 'Django' Bustamante, Philippines; Mika Immonen, Finland, and Rodney Morris, Hawaii, U.S.A.  (PHILIPPINES)
The world's best pool players hold the prize trophy before the start of a news conference for the World Pool Championships at a hotel in Manila November 3, 2006. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco via Yahoo News.

Filipino players have been under pressure to perform before their hometown crowds. The two best-known locals Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante have fallen out of the tourney.

Fourteen other players are competing for the remaining six quarterfinal slots leading to a $100,000 check for the tournament winner.