Front Page
 RP News  
 Community News
 Immigration
 Commentaries
 Business
 Sports 
 Entertainment
 Features
 Announcements
 News Archives

SPORTS
Links

Archived Sports Stories

Copyright ©1999, 2000 by Radio-TV Pilipino Network, Inc. All rights reserved. Radio-TV Pilipino™, Basta Pinoy!™ News and Asiana Post™ are trademarks of Radio-TV Pilipino, Inc. Terms of use. Privacy policy.

BASTA PINOY! SPORTS REVIEW

Luat Booted Out in World Pool Tourney

MANILA, July 9  -- Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat's
amazing run came to a screeching halt as he bowed out to Earl "The Pearl" Strickland, 11-9, in the quarterfinal round of the $250,000 World Pool Championship at the Cardiff International Arena in
Cardiff, Wales.

Luat zoomed to an early 3-0 lead but he failed to sustain his run, allowing Strickland, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, to even up matters at 3-3.

It was a toe-to-toe battle from there, with no one managing to take full control of the table. 

Luat used his outstanding break and precise shotmaking ability to take an 8-7 lead but Strickland, an 11-4 favorite in this match, turned on the heat in the final racks.

Aided by a fortunate 9-ball off the break, Strickland took a 10-8 lead to finish off the last Filipino in the event offering $60,000 to the champion.

Luat's Puyat Sports teammates, defending champion and top seed Efren "Bata" Reyes, sixth-ranked Francisco "Django" Bustamante and Warren Kiamco lost in the round-of-64 while $50,000 Match of the
Masters champion Leonardo "Dodong" Andam failed to hurdle his rival in the round-of-32.

The lanky Luat, whose cue-shattering breaks earned him the monicker "Boy Samson," earned $7,500 while Reyes, Bustamante and Kiamco pocketed $1,000. Andam earned $1,750 for his efforts.

Strickland has had a strange relationship with the crowd in  Cardiff, constantly berating them as the match progresses, waving his cue at anyone he thinks is against him. 

Strickland praised Luat for his pressure-free play despite the expectations of the Filipino people that he will bring home the title Reyes won last year.

"Make no mistake (about it). I had the toughest match of the day. If anyone thinks there was a tougher player out there, they must be crazy," said Strickland.

"Luat is a crafty player and he breaks better than me, but the racking was changed from the earlier matches so the wing ball didn't keep going in like it did for Chao this afternoon. You need different breaks like that. We both made mistakes but he made more
than me."

Oddsmakers believe that this is Strickland's year and he will be facing Ismael Paez of Mexico in the race-to-11 semifinal round. Paex defeated Peter Nielsen of Denmark, 11-9. (SNS)

REQUEST FOR A COMPLIMENTARY COPY

 Refresh your browser to make sure latest update is shown.
 News Items on this website are for private use and must not be reproduced, printed or reposted without our written permission.
copyright (c) 2000 by Radio-TV Pilipino Network, Inc.