JERRY Soriano, Albert Pangilinan, Ben Norita and Jess Farinas have earned spots in the championship of the August New Bamboo Bar 8-Ball Tournament at Saipan Vegas.
Soriano was the first to qualify via a 5-0 run on Friday.
He first took down Patrick Stallion before dispatching Albert Pangilinan and Ray Matsunaga to reach the semifinals where Soriano’s sense of placement and accuracy brought down Rey Hermogenes.
Although Matsunaga fell early in the third round, he managed to stay alive and defeat Danny Miranda, Albert Pangilinan and Rey Hermogenes to earn a rematch against Soriano.
Despite Matsunaga’s fighting spirit, he could not find a weakness in Soriano’s play. It was a close game but Soriano eventually came out on top to take the first slot in the championship.
Albert Pangilinan managed to redeem himself in the next qualifying round.
He started by taking down Cesar Sangalang and Hermogenes to reach the semifinals.
Pangilinan then vanquished Jesse Guerra and Rowel Mariano to clinch a spot in the championship.
Veteran Ben Norita also joined the elite after moving up from the pits following a second-round loss.
He eventually found his stroke and bested five opponents, including two clutch victories against Soriano to earn the third slot in the finale.
Fourth on the list was Farinas. He was nearly unbeatable as he moved through the preliminaries.
He then lost to Hermogenes who was also undefeated, but Farinas managed to recover with two consecutive wins to lock in his seat in the championship.
Ray Matsunaga lines up for the shot during the New Bamboo Bar 8-Ball Tournament at Saipan Vegas.
