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Corteza Hanging By A Thread For Grand Final Spot With Group Stage Exit; Alcano and Gomez Make It Through To Quarters

Aug 03 2007, Shanghai: The jinx continues for the Philippine squad in the 2007 Guinness 9ball Tour as once again they are dealt early casualties in their bid for the first victory this year as Philippine National champion Lee Vann Corteza bowed to Chinese-Taipei’s pool legend Chao Fong-Pang, 6 – 9, while 2006 DOHA Asian Games silver medallist Jeffrey De Luna was defeated by China’s Fu Jian Bo, 3 – 9.
 
Although two other Filipino bets breezed through the preliminaries with Alcano and Gomez topping their respective groups, the loss of Corteza and De Luna will surely affect their chances of bringing home the prestigious championship from the Tour’s penultimate leg before the Grand Finals in Bali. Both are considered to be among country’s brightest pool stars.
 
It was a particularly costly loss for Negros Billiards Stable ace Corteza who was aiming to assert his right for a Grand Finals berth. Coming into the fifth leg of the Tour, the Filipino was tied at 10th with 100 points in the Order of Merit together with Japan’s Naoyuki Oi and Hong Kong’s Au Chi Wai – a remarkable feat given that he only participated in two of the previous Tour stops. Corteza managed a runner-up finish at the inaugural tournament in Jakarta and a quarterfinal result in Genting Highlands. All the “Slayer” needed was one more appearance in the top eight to guarantee a slot in the Tour’s climactic Bali stop.
 
Now with the early exit, his position in the Top Ten list is duly compromised as he is only credited with 20 additional points which adds up to 100 aggregate Order of Merit points – a precarious position to be in considering there are number of determined players just outside the cut-off margin who have managed to advance to the quarterfinals. These include Singapore’s Chan Keng Kwang (70 points), Korean Ryu Seung-Woo ( 60 points), and Gomez (60 points).
 
Players earn 70 points for the championship, 50 points for the runner-up, 40 points for reaching the semis, 30 points for a quarterfinals stint, 20 points for a second place Group stage result and 15 for third place in the Group stage. In case of a tie in the ranking points, the top ten players for the Bali Grand Finals will by determined by average number of winning racks, then by average number of losing racks followed by calculating each players average winning scores minus average losing scores for all matches in the legs participated in by the players involved in the tie.
 
The Guinness 9 Ball Tour Shanghai leg is the final chance for Asia’s elite cue artists to qualify for the lucrative Grand Final in Bali by finishing within the top-ten of the Order of Merit list at the end of the tournament. The top ten players who qualify for the US$70,000 Grand Final will surely be aiming for the chance to win the champion prize of US$32,000. The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World 9 Ball Championship.
 
Now bigger and better with the partnership forged between ESPN STAR Sports and Guinness, the Tour promises to bring all the exhilarating pool drama back in a full-tournament setting with 24 of Asia’s elite cue masters. The event now offers the all-time biggest prize money – US$320,000, which is double from last year’s US$160,000. The Guinness 9 Ball Tour will also have the most stops ever– increasing the number of legs to six from last year’s four and now have included a
 
ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s number one sports broadcaster, dedicates 15 hours of live and exclusive coverage for this thrilling leg. Telecast of Asia’s premier pool competition will be carried LIVE on STAR Sports with fifteen hours of exhilarating competition from 3 to 5 August. Broadcast times are as follows:
 
 
Sat, 04 August, 2007 - Quarterfinals (4 Matches)                          
 
12.00pm (HKT)                                  Ryu Seung Woo (KOR)       vs Chan Keng Kwang (SIN)
1.30pm (HKT)                                    Yang Ching-Shun (TPE)     vs Roberto Gomez (PHI)
3.00pm (HKT)                                    Fu Jian Bo (CHN)               vs Wu Chia-Ching (TPE)
4.30pm (HKT)                                    Chao Fong-Pang (TPE)      vs Ronato Alcano (PHI)
 
Sun,05 August, 2007 - Semi-finals & Finals (3 Matches)
 
From 12:00pm (HKT)
 
For more information on the Tour, please check out www.guinness9balltour.com. For the latest schedules and program information on ESPN STAR Sports, catch us on the net at www.espnstar.com.
 
The Guinness 9Ball Tour is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) and organized by ESPN STAR Sports’ Event Management Group (EMG). Guinness is the title sponsor for the Tour. The local sanctioning body is the Chinese Billiards & Snooker Association. 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 Venue is the Shanghai Hotel. STAR Sports is the official broadcaster while SMG is the official Broadcast Partner.

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