CHINESE Taipei’s Ko Ping-chung survived the last Filipino standing in Michael Feliciano, 17-13, to rule the first Sharks International 9-Ball Open at the Sharks Great White Arena in Tomas Morato, Quezon City late Saturday.
Mr. Ko, a former world 10-ball champion, overcame an early 5-2 deficit and broke out from 12-all by seizing five of the last six racks including the final four frames to claim the title and the top purse worth $30,000 or P1.6 million that went with it.
Mr. Feliciano settled for the runner-up finish and $15,000 or P823,755.
Mr. Ko was the only foreigner who survived the grueling elimination and knockout stages after three Filipinos emerged from the ashes of the 128-strong field — Mr. Feliciano, Patric Gonzales and Oliver Villefuerte.
Mr. Ko hurdled Jaycee Garcia, Israel Rota, James Aranas, Naoyuki Oi and Gonzales while Feliciano made it through after downing Kenneth Arpilleda, John Albert Refulle, Jhon Le Garde and Mr. Villafuerte one after the other.
It was the first of the many tournaments chief organizer Hadley Mariano is hoping to stage on local soil to breathe life to the sport again and produce more champions in the molds of Filipino legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante. — Joey Villar
