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FANCIED ALCANO, WU AND YANG OUSTED AT GENTING HIGHLANDS
INDONESIA, PHILIPPINES AND CHINESE TAIPEI SEND TWO EACH TO FINAL EIGHT

15 June 2007, Genting Highlands, MALAYSIA : Upsets ruled the opening day at the Guinness 9-Ball Tour Genting Highlands leg with two world champions and the winner of the Kaohsiung event, the Tour's previous stop, all failing to advance to the final eight. At the same time, Indonesia, the Philippines and Chinese Taipei each sent two players into the quarter-finals, with Singapore's Bernard Tey and India's Dharminder Singh Lilly also in the mix for the knockout stages.

In Group C, 2005 World Champion Wu Chia-Ching of Chinese Taipei started cold, trailing by 3-7 against Malaysia's Rasid Samy Mambalusan before recovering his touch to win 9-7. In his next match, Wu's touch again deserted him at crucial points and this time there was no reprieve as Indonesia's Jimmy Jusman eased to a 9-7 victory. Jusman went on to defeat Rasid Samy to advance.

In Group D, Ronato Alcano suffered a surprise defeat to China's Liu Hai Tao 9-5 in the lunch session. Liu then collapsed against India's Dhaminder Singh Lilly, losing 3-9. The wide victory margin meant Singh Lilly entered into his match against Alcano needing to win only five racks to advance, and he duly delivered. Despite going down 6-9 to Alcano, Singh Lilly edged the current World Champion on a superior 'racks won' count.

In Group A, Kaohsiung winner Yang Ching-Shun missed a regulation pot in his opening match with the score at 8-8 to hand the match to Indonesia's William Ipaenen who was making his debut on the Tour. Clearly affected by the manner of the defeat, Yang exited the tournament after losing 2-9 to another Tour debutant Roberto Gomez. In the match to decide the Group winner, Gomez beat Ipaenen to enter the final eight at the first time of asking.

Singapore's Bernard Tey continued his consistent form with wins in Group G against Malaysia's Mohd Sapawi and Jeffrey De Luna of the Philippines. Said Tey: "I'm pleased to make the quarter-finals this year for the second time. It should've been a third time as I missed out narrowly in the last leg, and I hope to make amends by making the semi-finals."

Tey opponent tomorrow will be Jakarta winner Chang Jung-Lin who ended local hopes by downing Patrick Ooi in the day's final match. Ooi had looked good to keep Malaysian representation alive after an encouraging 9-5 win over China's Li He Wen in Group H. Against Chang, Ooi came from 6-7 behind to lead 8-7. Chang then broke and cleared the table to set up a hill-hill match, with Ooi have the advantage of breaking in the final rack. But a dry break curtailed Ooi's challenge and Chang cleared up to advance.

Indonesia's Ricky Yang kept up his good form with straightforward wins over Vietnam's Luong Chi Dung and Singapore's Chan Keng Kwang in Group B to make the quarter-finals for a second straight time. In Group E, two-time World Champion Chao Fong-Pang also had easy wins over Hong Kong's Au Chi Wai and Malaysia's Ibrahim Amir. Similarly, Philippines National Champion Lee Van Corteza also advanced with wins over Japan's Naoyuki Oi and South Korea's Ryu Seung-Woo in Group F.

All four quarter-final matches will be televised live on STAR Sports at the following times ( Hong Kong time):

Saturday June 16 TV Schedule

Quarter-final 1                         Jimmy Jusman (INA) vs Dharminder Singh Lilly (IND)                        1.00pm

Quarter-final 2                         Roberto Gomez (PHI) vs Ricky Yang (INA)                                        2.30pm

Quarter-final 3                         Bernard Tey (SIN) vs Chang Jung-Lin (TPE)                                     4.00pm

Quarter-final 4                        Chao Fong-Pang (TPE) vs Lee Van Corteza (PHI)                              5.30pm

Sunday's Semi-finals and Final will also be carried live with telecast beginning at 3.00am

Day 1 Results:

Group A: William Ipaenen (INA) bt Yang Ching-Shun (TPE) 9-8; Roberto Gomez (PHI) bt Yang 9-2; Gomez bt Ipaenen 9-5; group winner Roberto Gomez

Group B: Ricky Yang (INA) bt Luong Chi Dung (VIE) 9-5; R Yang bt Chan Keng Kwang (SIN) 9-5; Chan bt Luong 9-5; group winner Ricky Yang

Group C: Wu Chia-Ching (TPE) bt Rasid Samy Mambalusan (MAS) 9-7; Jimmy Jusman (INA) bt Wu 9-7; Jusman bt Rasid 9-4; group winner Jimmy Jusman

Group D: Liu Hai Tao (CHN) bt Ronato Alcano (PHI) 9-5; Dharminder Singh Lilly (IND) bt Liu 9-3; Alcano bt Singh Lilly 9-6; group winner Singh Lilly (tie-break)

Group E: Ibrahim Amir (MAS) bt Au Chi Wai (HK) 9-8; Chao Fong-Pang (TPE) bt Au 9-6; Chao bt Ibrahim 9-1; group winner Chao Fong-Pang

Group F: Lee Van Corteza (PHI) bt Naoyuki Oi (JPN) 9-7; Oi bt Ryu Seung-Woo (KOR) 9-7; Corteza bt Ryu 9-6; group winner Lee Van Corteza

Group G: Bernard Tey (SIN) bt Mohd Sapawi Dan (MAS) 9-7; Jeffrey De Luna (PHI) bt Sapawi 9-3; Tey bt De Luna 9-7; group winner Bernard Tey

Group H: Chang Jung-Lin (TPE) bt Li He Wen (CHN) 9-8; Patrick Ooi (MAS) bt Li 9-5; Chang bt Ooi 9-8; group winner Chang Jung-Lin

The Guinness 9-Ball Tour is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) and organised by ESPN STAR Sports' Event Management Group (EMG). The local sanctioning body is the Malaysian Snooker and Billiards Federation (MSBF). Guinness is the title sponsor for the Tour. 188Bet is the Gold Sponsor. Iwan Simonis and Aramith supply the official tablecloth and official balls respectively. Brunswick Metro provides the official pool table while Predator is the official cue. The official apparel is BCLN. ASTRO is the Official Broadcast Partner and The Sun is the Official Media Partner. The Official Venue is Genting – City of Entertainment.

For more information on the Tour, please visit www.guinness9balltour.com . For the latest schedules and program information on ESPN STAR Sports, please visit www.espnstar.com.

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