Pinoy cue artist Magpantay loses to Hungarian rival in World Jr tilt

RENO, NEVADA – Hungarian junior pool stalwart Bence Deak scored a stunning 9-6 victory over Jonas Magpantay on Monday, sending the Filipino to the left side of the draw and one loss away from elimination in the World Junior 9-Ball Championship at the Naples Ballroom of Peppermill Hotel and Casino here. Magpantay, who was nursing flu-like symptoms, drew first blood and had his turn at the table every single rack. He just couldn’t get it done. “Hindi talaga para sa akin ang laro na ‘yun. Ang dami kong minintis na bola." The 16-year-old from Bansud, Oriental Mindoro also had two scratches and two dry breaks. Still, he managed to take the lead at 5-4 following three straight rack wins. But the last of his empty breaks allowed Deak to get back to the table. Three unanswered racks by Deak gave him a 7-5 edge. Magpantay stemmed the bleeding, but Deak gamely closed out the match by managing the table better. “Mas deserving s’yang (Deak) manalo kaysa sa akin. Sana magkaharap ulit kami para magkararoon ako ng chance na bumawi," said Magpantay. But before eyeing a rematch, Magpantay needs to focus on his next opponent — Pod Shognosh of Canada — who bowed to American Danny Olson, 7-9. A more dangerous opponent awaits Magpantay in the loser’s side. Defending champion Ruslan Chinakhov of Russia, who had a bye in the first round, toppled Hsu Ha-en of Chinese Taipei, 9-6. Hsu will face the winner between Magpantay and Shognosh. Chinakhov finished tied for fifth in the World Ten Ball Championship last year and is already considered by many as the top player in Russia. Mika Immonen of Finland, the world’s top-rated player, is among the notable victims of the lanky teenager in his young career. The other undefeated players competing in the third round are Wojtek Szewchyk, Marcos Garcia of Nicaragua, Jesse Engel, Landon Shuffett and Olson of the United States, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz of Spain and Roman Pruchai of Russia. In the girls’ division, 2008 champion Brittany Murphy served notice of her intention to wrest the title she lost last year by beating reigning billiards princess Lin Keng-Chun of Chinese Taipei, 7-5. The stars of girls’ pool ended up on the same half of the draw following the random pairing. Murphy earlier subdued Kang Hee-Joo of South Korea, 7-4, while Lin routed Brooke Pologa of New Zealand, 7-2. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV