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AN uncharacteristic error on the final frame put veteran
internationalist Leonardo “Dodong” Andam on the brink of
elimination in the Mandaluyong Mayor’s Cup 10-Ball Championship.
Unheralded Jorge “Totoy” Dacer capitalized
on Andam’s miscue to score a 9-8 shocker Tuesday at the Kaban ng
Hiyas Building in Mandaluyong City.
With the cue ball sitting on the middle of the
table, Andam stretched his aging body and tried to pocket the
striped nine in the hill-hill match.
He missed.
“He [Andam] should have used the bridge,”
said Dacer in Filipino after cleaning up the mess left by multiple
gold medal winner in Southeast Asian Games.
Dacer actually did enough to deserve the victory
and set up a second round match against reigning national junior
champion Jericho Banares.
He matched Andam shot for shot in a match laden
with safety shots and pocketed key shots down the stretch that kept
his fancied opponent within reach.
“You can’t fall behind big against a player
of Andam’s caliber,” Dacer noted. “The key is to keep the
pressure on him.”
Banares, on the other hand, handled the pressure
well and edged fellow junior player Jordan Legaspi, 9-7.
Former world champion Johnny Archer of the
United States opened his account with a 9-1 thrashing of Cebu ace
Marvin Tapia. He will next meet Mario “Aklan” Tolentino, who
blanked Jestoni Magadia, 9-0.
Also winning in the opening round of the
double-elimination tournament presented by San Miguel Beer and
hosted by Mayor Benhur Abalos of Mandaluyong were Michael Mengorio,
Leonardo Didal and Taiwanese Chung Chieh-Te.
Mengorio downed Edgardo Sibuco, 9-3, Didal
trounced Edgard Acaba Jr., 9-3, and Chung beat Florencio Banar, 9-3.
-- Noli S. Cruz
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