San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour 2004 Cues up in Ho Chi Minh City

San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour 2004 Cues up in Ho Chi Minh City The Magician is the only Philippine Player in the Quarterfinals The San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour cues up at the Nguyen Du Sports Hall in Ho Chi Minh City today with action from first two rounds. All the matches from the semifinals, and the final will be carried LIVE on STAR Sports at 16:30, March 14 (Singapore/Hong Kong time).The Philippines’ 9-ball giants suffered today as Francisco Bustamante and Warren Kiamco both bowed out in the second round. only Efren Reyes will continue his journey on toward taking his third tour title.Round OneNine-ball powers Philippines and Chinese Taipei started the day in excellent form with a total of seven players cruising through the first round. In the two head-to-head clashes between these two, world number one player Francisco Bustamante beat Singapore leg semifinalist Chen Huang Wu 9-4, but his compatriot Lee Van Corteza lost to Hsia Hui Kai by the same score in another first-round match.
Former world youth champion Lu Hui Chan and Kuo Po Cheng, both from Chinese Taipei, were pushed to the final rack in this race-to-17 first round by host players Nguyen Phuc Long and Nguyen Thanh Nam, respectively. But Vu Trong Khai and Nguyen Phuong Thao still carry the Vietnam flag after beating their first-round opponents Pang Chian Zian of Singapore and world number-nine player Jeong Young Hwa of Korea.Alok Kumar, the giant killer in the Singapore leg, staged another come-from-behind drama to beat Fung Kwok Wai of Hong Kong 9-7 from 1-4 deficit.Round TwoFrancisco Bustamante’s dream of winning his first title in the Asian Tour was again smashed after being ousted by 4-9 Thailand’s Chatchawal Rutphae. Chatchawal, one of the top snooker players in Thailand, cued up his game with a 4-0 lead and never turned back, becoming the first Thai player in the quarterfinal.Warren Kiamco followed in the footsteps of Bustamante as he bowed out in the second round after losing 7-9 in a classic clash against Chao Fong Pang of Chinese Taipei. Kiamco once led 7-4, but the two-time world champion scored five racks in a row to claim a berth in the quarterfinal. That also put an end to Kiamco’s consecutive appearance in the final.Chao will face his compatriot Lu Hui Chan in the quarterfinal. Lu thrashed Hisashi Yamamoto of Japan in a 9-1 game.The Vietnamese players’ journey at their home leg also came to an end when Vu Trong Khai and Nguyen Phuong Thao were eliminated by Park Shin Young (4-9) of Korea and Alok Kumar (6-9) of India, respectively. Park will be on this way to make his second semifinal appearance if he beats Chatchawal Rutphae in the quarterfinal.For Kumar, he will face Chinese Taipei’s Wang Hung Hsiang in the quarterfinal. Wang took Hsia Hui Kai in an all-Chinese Taipei second-round clash. Hsia once led by 8-6 but failed to seal his victory and let Wang came back to win by 9-8.Satoshi Kawabata will make his second consecutive quarterfinal appearance in the tour. The world number 47 Japanese player edged Lin Didi of China 9-6. But he will need to face www.espnstar.com.San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour, Ho Chi Minh City 2004-LIVE on STAR Sports Mar 14 16:30 (L) 19:02 (R) Mar 15 Semifinals Mar 14 20:00 (L) 22:00 (R) Mar 15 FinalHong Kong/ Singapore Time. Schedule subject to change.Sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union, the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour is organized by ESPN STAR Sports’ Event Management Group (EMG). San Miguel Beer is the title sponsor for the Tour. Iwan Simonis and Aramith supply the official tablecloth and official balls, respectively. STAR Sports is the official broadcaster. The 2004 Tour has events in Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Taipei and Manila. Besides total prize money of US$250,000, top 10 on the Tour Order of Merit every year will directly qualify into the World Pool Championships. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest in the sport of billiards and pool.

Pool Balls and Billiard Balls at LOW PRICES!!!

About the Author:
Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.