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Corteza, Gomez Make It To Quarterfinals; Alcano Bows Out

June 15, 2007 Genting Highlands Malaysia – 2007 Philippine National Champion Lee Vann Corteza is marching on to the quarterfinals of the tournament after overcoming a tough challenge from Japan's number one ranked player, Naoyuki Oi, 9 – 7, and right after, decimating Korea's Ryu Seung-Woo, 9 – 6, in Group F to stay on course and remain an early favourite to win in the third leg of Asia's premier pool competition, the 2007 Guinness 9Ball Tour here at the spacious Genting Highlands International Convention Center in Malaysia.
 
Refusing to be outdone, tour debutant Roberto Gomez is also joining his Filipino compatriot in the quarters through a massive upset of the tour's overall leader, Taiwan 's Yang Ching-Shun, 9 – 2, which the "Pinoy Superman" followed up with a second victory versus Indonesian William Ipaenen, 9 – 5 to top Group A of the preliminaries.
 
Disappointed with his loss against Taiwan 's Chang Jung-Lin in their finals encounter at the tour's inaugural staging in Jakarta , Corteza has come well prepared going into this weekend's competition and setting his eyes on no less than the Malaysian leg crown.
 
And the determination to succeed definitely showed during the group stage openers. Living up to his reputation as "The Slayer", Corteza was able to pounce on every opponent mistake and was deadly accurate in his shots which effectively gave no chance for both his group stage rivals to upstage the Filipino.
 
Meanwhile, new-comer Gomez is fast making a name for himself in his tour debut after delivering his twin wins.
 
An ecstatic Gomez commented: "I am very happy and extremely lucky to advance to the quarters of the tournament in only my first try. Hopefully, luck will still be by my side when the quarterfinal matches begin. Definitely I will give my all in the next stages. It will really be a fantastic achievement for me if I am able to win the tournament."
 
Still, the road to victory is going to be a long and arduous one for the Filipino contingent.
 
Lee Vann will be taking on either Chao Fong-Pang of Taiwan or Malaysia 's Ibrahim Amir while the 28 year old Gomez is up against Indonesia 's number one player and Guinness ambassador Ricky Yang.
 
On the other hand, double world champion Ronato Alcano continued to struggle in the 2007 tour as he bowed out of competition due to an early loss to China man Liu Hai Tao, 5 – 9 in his group stage opener. Although he won his second match against India's Dharminder Singh Lilly, "The Volcano" lost out according to the points system of the tournament which is determined by racks won then racks lost. As it stood, Lilly had a superior score after decimating Alcano's tormentor, Liu, 9 – 3. 
  
Meanwhile, the lone Filipino still engaged in the preliminaries was Jeffrey De Luna, who was still battling Singaporean Bernard Tey as of press time. 2006 DOHA games silver medallist Jeffrey De Luna is expected to advance as well though as "The Bull" easily won his first assignment over Mohd Sapawi of Malaysia , 9 – 3.
 
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. Total prize money has doubled to US$320,000 (from US$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 US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will walk away with US$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, this year's edition slated for a second straight staging for Manila in November.
 
STAR Sports will be bringing all the quarterfinals action LIVE.
 
Sat June 16     13:00 - 19:00(HKT)     Quarterfinals (4 matches)
Sun June 17    15:00 - 19:30(HKT)     Semis & Final (3 matches)
* Schedules subject to change without prior notice.
 
For more information on the Tour, please check out www.guinness9balltour.com. For the latest schedules and program information on ESPN STAR Sports, go to www.espnstar.com.

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