By James Sablan
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Variety News Staff
THE Hibiscus Division of the 2026 SBA Budweiser Open 8-Ball League featured a dominant night on Tuesday as Black8 Crooked Arrow 1, Black8 Ideal Signs Rustlers, and Last Shot Hobbies Shark all emerged victorious over their respective opponents at various venues.
The Rustlers nearly shut out VFW Noypi 2.0, 11-2, at their home court at VFW Bar.
The match opened competitively in the Singles 8-Ball set. Rustlers’ Rowel “Cobra” Mariano and Albert Pangilinan each secured wins, while Noypi’s Jerry Pelano and Jerry Cepeda responded with two victories of their own, resulting in the only deadlock of the night, 2-2.
Momentum shifted in the Partners 8-Ball set, where the Rustlers found their rhythm. The pairs of Rey Torres and Robert Sanciangco, and Soriano and Pangilinan, quickly closed out their matches, with their opponents left needing only a few remaining points, securing a clean sweep and a 4-2 lead.
The Rustlers then broke the match open in the second singles rotation, executing a 4-0 sweep that left Noypi struggling to recover. Ideal Signs carried the momentum through the remaining partner rounds and finished on a 9-0 run to secure an 11-2 victory.
At Black8 Pool Bar, Crooked Arrow 1 used its home-court advantage to defeat Black8 Rack N Roll 1, 9-4.
Crooked Arrow set the tone early as Boyet Sequioco, Rey Hermogenes, Ken Chen, and Joe De Leon Guerrero delivered a 4-0 opening run to take a commanding lead.
Rack N Roll attempted a comeback in the partner format, splitting the round with a win by Fel Kalen and Julian Reyes. However, Crooked Arrow maintained control, extending its lead with a 3-1 singles run to go ahead 8-2.
Although Rack N Roll continued to fight, Crooked Arrow closed out the match for a 9-4 victory.
In the final match, Last Shot Hobbies Shark also recorded a 9-4 win over Kanto 10 Strikers.
Strikers kept pace early, splitting the opening Singles 8-Ball set 2-2. However, the turning point came in the partner rounds, where Shark’s pairings showed superior chemistry. The duos of PJ Ramos and Brian Bernabajo, and Nolan Cultura and Frankie Blas swept the first doubles block to take a 4-2 lead.
In the second singles rotation, Ramos, Drake Taitano, and Blas secured key wins to extend the advantage. Cultura and Taitano later combined for another partner victory, and Cultura later teamed up with Bernabajo to close out the match, sealing a 9-4 win for the home crowd.
James Sablan has been a sports reporter for Variety since 2013. He was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College and covers all local sports.
