By: Romeo Braceros, Jr.

Photo: Francis Lumahan

Filipino cue masters are off to a hot start in the ongoing 2022 APF (Asian Pool Federation Ltd) Asian 9-Ball Open held at the Aspire Recreation Centre in Singapore.

At the start of the knockout stage, James "Dodong Diamond" Aranas, Anthony Raga, Lauro Bongay, and Demosthenes Pulpul defeated their respective rivals to get a rousing start. They joined compatriots Carlo Biado, Johann Chua, Jeffrey de Luna, and Kyle Amoroto at the beginning of the knockout stage.

Aranas, who got a bye in the first round, beat Andri of Indonesia and Erwin of Indonesia, 9-5, to move into the round-of-32 opposite Duong Quoc Hong of Vietnam.

Aranas made a name for himself in the billiard community after winning numerous tournaments on the US pool circuit.

On the other hand, Raga blasted Tanes Tanasomboon of Thailand, 9-3, Abdul Wale of Brunei, 9-2, and Desmond Goh of Singapore, 9-6, to meet Dang Thanh Kien of Vietnam.

Bongay, in the meantime, stamped his class by beating Nuyen Anh Tuan of Vietnam, 9-3; Son Truong of Vietnam, 9-3; and Abdullah Al Muntaser Siddiqui of Bangladesh, 9-2, to test the mettle of David Bala of Singapore.

For his part, Pulpul took a bye in the first round and then subdued Chetan Chhabra of India, 9-3; Shoman Tong of Singapore, 9-4; and Tan Yong Wei of Singapore, 9-4, to face Nguyen Hong Phong of Vietnam.

Amoroto trounced Andri, 9-3, to slug it out with Luong Duc Thien of Vietnam.

In other exciting match-ups, Chua goes up against De Luna, while Biado goes up against Robbie Capito of Hong Kong.