By Julius Manicad
03/28/2007
Obviously perturbed by the criminal case slapped against him by his own daughter, top seed Ronnie Alcano muffed most of his breaks before losing to lesser light Fidel Punzalan, 9-5, yesterday in the eliminations of the 2007 Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines National Championship at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
In what could have been the most stunning development in this week-long competition, Alcano, the reigning title-holder of the prestigious World Pool Championship, was far from his devastating form as he missed most of his breaks in the crucial stretch. He even muffed most easy shots which could have been drilled only if he remained poised in the match that went for almost two hours.
Alcano is reportedly being sued by his former wife for raping his 14-year-old daughter. Although he denied the allegation, his performance was obviously affected.
“Nakita niyo naman, maganda lang talaga ang nilaro ng kalaban ko,” Alcano said as he attempted to shy away from the media and stayed in his brand-new car given by San Miguel Corp. as prize for recently bagging the World 8-ball Championship.
And his unheralded, but smarter, foe bought Alcano’s story.
“Hindi naman siguro siya apektado kasi maganda pa din ang tinira niya,” the 53-year- old Manila-bred Punzalan said. “Pero mas maganda lang siguro ang itinira ko kaya nahirapan siya. Ganun naman talaga sa bilyar eh, swerte-swerte lang talaga.”
After knotting the game at 4 apiece, Punzalan zoomed ahead as he cleaned the table for two consecutive times to grab the lead, 6-5. And in one fleeting instance, Punzalan even scored a rare golden break to gain a two-point edge, 7-5, before going to the hill and clinched the victory.
“Sobrang pressed ng table dito kaya hindi siya pwedeng makuha ng soft-break. Swerte lang talaga kaya nakakuha ako ng golden break. Mula dun, na-control ko na ang laro,” the veteran Punzalan said.
While Alcano fell, other prized stalwarts rose to the occasion as second seed Alex Pagulayan won over Elvis Calasang, 9-4; Antonio Lining edged Jun Caro, 9-3; Rodolfo Luat defeated Roberto Dy, 9-3; Jharome Peña frustrated Jech Jech Lemen, 9-2; Antonio Gabica stopped Eduardo Villanueva, 9-5; Lee Van Corteza smothered Jundel Mazon, 9-5; Bebeng Gallego defeated Victor Arpilleda 9-7; Jomar de Ocampo defeated Rebong, 9-8; and Jarry Pelayo advancing via a 9-8 victory over Panfilo Damuag.
Is this true?
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