Above: Ronnie Alcano
RONNIE Alcano, known around the world of pool as the Volcano, is active once more.
The lanky cue artist from Calamba, Laguna overcame three early scratches to beat Cheng Tsung-hua of Chinese Taipei, 9-4, advance into the knockout round of the World Ten Ball Championship, and send the rest of the field running for covers.
“I feel good about my chances,” said Alcano following his victory in the second TV table match on Friday at the World Trade Center in Manila. “I’m peaking at the right time.”
Alcano, seeking a third world championship in three different pool disciplines, got off to a shaky start.
He lost to rising Chinese pool star Dang Jin-hu on opening day, 7-9, but rebounded mightily the following day and eliminated last year’s semifinalist and best Filipino finisher Demosthenes “Plong-Plong” Pulpul, 9-5.
Alcano won the World 9-Ball Championship in 2006 and the World 8-Ball Championship in 2007.
Ralf Souquet of Germany also kept his bid to complete his collection of the pool’s Triple Crown with a similar 9-4 triumph over Mario Tolentino. Souquet won the world 9-ball title in 1996 and the world 8-ball crown last year.
It was a tight match at the onset with both players trading unforced errors. But Souquet began to pull away after potting two tough shots on the 10th rack while holding a precarious 5-4 lead.
He first pocketed the six-ball with a jump shot and followed it up with an ultra-thin cut that sent the brown seven to the side pocket and opened up the table.
Tolentino was the second Filipino victim of Souquet in as many days. The world’s top ranked player eliminated qualifier Steve Villamil on Thursday, 9-3, after bowing to Thomasz Kaplan of Poland in the opener, 6-9.
The other fancied players to advance through the backdoor were Mika Immonen of Finland, Marcus Chamat of Sweden, Johnny Archer of the United States, Daryl Peach of Great Britain, Yang Ching-shun of Chinese Taipei, Nick van den Berg of the Netherlands, Oliver Ortmann of Germany and former national junior champion Jerico Banares.
Immonen defeated Ibrahim bin Amir of Malaysia, 9-4, Chamat downed Emil Martinez, 9-5, Archer eliminated Raymond Cruz of Canada, 9-5, Peach beat Andreas Koukiadakis of Greece, 9-6, Yang waylaid Jason Theron of Republic of South Africa, 9-3, van den Berg ousted Tey Choon Kiat of Singapore, 9-5, Ortmann toppled Ricardo Jones, 9-5, and Banares got the better of Sandor Tot of Serbia, 9-5.
Antonio Lining didn’t waste time to reach the next phase, sending compatriot Carlo Biado to the loser’s bracket with a 9-4 win.
Jundel Mazon secured a spot in the next round with a 9-2 win over Bruno Muratore of Italy. He also eliminated Phil Stojanovic of Croatia on Thursday, 9-6, after losing to Banares in the opener.
There were also surprises on the final day of the group stage.
Unheralded qualifier Jomar De Ocampo entered the knockout round at the expense of compatriot and highest seeded local Jeffrey “Jeff Bata” De Luna, 9-6, while Ricky Yang of Indonesia ousted former WPC finalist Roberto Gomez, 9-5.
