The Rendezvous IT&E Destroyers and Black 8 Ideal Signs Rustlers pose for a photo after their game in the Tuesday Division of the 2023 SBA Budweiser Open 8-Ball League at the Rendezvous Restaurant, Saipan Vegas.
THE Black 8 Ideal Signs Rustlers and the Rendezvous IT&E Destroyers will face off for the Tuesday division title of the 2023 Budweiser Open 8-Ball League after eliminating their respective adversaries on Tuesday.
The Black 8 Ideal Signs Rustlers bested the Black 8 Slayers, 9-4, while the Rendezvous IT&E Destroyers outlasted the Rendezvous Warriors, 9-6.
Against the Slayers at the Black 8 Pool Bar, the Rustlers’ Chester Hamoy and Rowel “Cobra” Mariano snatched the opening Partners 8-Ball match by defeating the Slayers’ Ray “Stingray” Matsunaga and Fel Kalen, 1-0.
In the individual matches, Hamoy and Mariano held their ground and added a win each before the Slayers’ Rey Hermogenes stopped the bleeding by claiming the third game of the Singles 8-Ball match to cut the lead, 1-3.
In the second Partners 8-Ball match, the Slayers’ Matsunaga and Maverick Espinosa scored their team’s second consecutive win. The Rustlers, however, retaliated with a three-win sweep in the third Singles 8-Ball match followed by another win in the third Partners 8-Ball match to secure victory, 7-2.
But the Slayers continued to fight with Boyet Sequioco and Hermogenes clinching two more wins before settling for defeat, 4-9.
Destroyers vs Warriors
It was a seesaw battle between the Rendezvous IT&E Destroyers and the Rendezvous Warriors.
The Warriors grasped the early control thanks to the teamwork of Jerry Soriano and Jess Guerra, who claimed the opening Partners 8-Ball match followed by a 2-1 run in the following Singles 8-Ball match.
The Destroyers’ Nolan Cultura and Roman Rodriguez answered with a win in the second partners matchup, but the Warriors scored another 2-1 run in the solo battles to remain ahead, 5-3.
Despite the Warriors’ strong start, they eventually lost touch as the Destroyers swept the next two matches to collect four wins and snatch the lead, 7-5.
The Warriors tried to stay alive with Soriano and Juancho Mendoza taking the last Partners 8-Ball match, but their hopes were shot down by the Destroyers’ Rey Pinangay and Rodriguez, who claimed the final two wins needed to secure victory and a spot in the finals, 9-6.
