KOROR (Palau Horizon) — Rolando Delarial rallied from 0-4 down to beat Rudy Quillano, 5-4, and led two other undefeated players in the winning bracket of the ongoing First All-Filipino Budweiser 9-Ball Billiards Tournament at the Q-Ball.
Delarial survived several missed attempts by Quillano on easy shots of the nine ball, twice in the sixth frame and twice again in the ninth.
Also in the eighth frame, Quillano scratched the No. 8 ball that sent the match into a 4-4 tie and further put the pressure on him and could not get the needed breaks.
Delarial thus joined Paul Salonga and Glen Priscilla with 2-0 records and further boosted their chances for the next phase.
Other results of games for the winning bracket included a 5-2 win by Salonga over Gilbert Navarro, forfeiture by Feliciano Flores Jr. over Jojo Manabat and 5-1 win over Benjie Doma.
Delarial and Salonga have already assured of a seat to the four-team cast from the winning bracket in the play-off round even if they loss their remaining game on Sunday.
Priscilla, on the other hand, needs to win his game against Flores to make it or he can still make it even if he drops his game hoping that Doma will lose to Manabat.
Manabat, however, has lost his previous two games via default.
In the losing bracket, Gerlad Sison and Bong Gayongorza won over their respective opponents via forfeiture and assured of a slot to the play-off round even if they lost their games next Sunday.
In Group D, Albert Bautista also won via forfeiture against a no-show Ariel Duenas for a 2-0 record but needed to win his last game over Jun Rodriguez next Sunday to advance.
Rodriguez has a 1-1 card following a 0-5 defeat to Randy del Castillo, who also has a 1-1 record, in another Group D match.
In the semifinal phase, the top four players on winning bracket will play knoc-out games on a rce to seven with number one on Group A to play number 2 in group B.
The top four players on losing bracket will play knock out game on a race to seven with nuymber 1 in groupo C to play number 2 in Group D.
In the championship round, winners on the winning bracket will play for first and second place while the losers will battle for third place and fourth.
Winners in the losing bracket will play for fifth and sixth place and the losers will play for 7th and 8th.