Olongapo billiards: Ko outlasts Fu in all-Taiwan final

MANILA, Philippines – Two-time world junior champion Ko Pin Yi made sure he will return to next month’s Philippine Open Ten Ball Championship in Manila. Ko assured this after ruling the Subic-Olongapo Open Pool Championship pulling off an 11-10 win over compatriot Fu Wei Che in a dramatic hill-hill encounter at the packed Olongapo Convention Center late Thursday night. Momentum shifted back and forth for either players. Fu, now regarded as his country’s top-ranked player following the scrapping of all the records of two-time world champion Wu Chia Ching by the governing Asian Pocket Billiards Union, dictated the early part of the match leading 7-5. But Ko’s spirited charge quickly wiped out that slim advantage. A five-rack run by Ko got him back on track and firm control of the match as he led 10-7. He was supposed to be going for the kill but was instead dragged into a hill-hill battle by Fu, who appeared to have gotten a second wind. In the last rack, (the 21st), Fu almost earned the win when the No.10 ball nearly went in on the corner pocket coming off from his usual power break. Both players engaged themselves in a series of safety shots, but Fu missed a shot on the No.4 ball 4 that was partly covered by the No.6. Ko wasted no time, disposing off the remaining balls on the table to crown himself as the champion. Ko, who will only turn 20 this year, pocketed the $10,000 top purse and also earned an automatic seat in next month’s 1st Philippine Ten Ball Open to be joined in by 64 of the world’s finest players. “We knew each other so well as we have played several times in Taiwan," said Ko thru interpreter Yanick Po. “There were times I thought I’m going to lose the match, but I was just lucky to survive this game." The Taiwanese bets barged into the final round with so much ease after beating their Filipino opponents. Leonard Didal and Mario Tolentino, who had a trouble-free ride to the semifinals by posting four straight wins in as many matches, were simply overpowered by their Taiwanese counterparts. Ko toyed with Didal, 9-1, while Fu demolished Tolentino, 9-4, in a pair of semifinal matches. The best performance among Filipinos who competed in Day 3 came from Elvis Calasang, who came back from a 0-5 deficit. But he felt the pressure as well in the 15th rack when he missed the 10-ball on the corner pocket that cost him the match against Ko, who went on to score a 9-6 win. – GMANews.TV