MERVIN Sahagun and Jess Farinas have qualified for the championship of the New Bamboo Bar January Pool Tournament after their victories early this week at the New Bamboo Bar of Saipan Vegas.
Jess Farinas aims for an 8-ball finish during a pool tournament at the New Bamboo Bar of Saipan Vegas.
Photo by James F. Sablan Jr.
Mervin Sahagun secured his spot in the championship by outperforming the competition on Monday.
He established dominance right from the start with a quick victory over Albert Pangilinan in round 1. He then notched two more wins, sending Cesar Sangalang and Rey Hermogenes to the losers bracket. He barged into the finals by beating Jerry Soriano.
Lito Pangilinan, who went down in round 2, fought back and cleared a path by eliminating Nolan Cultura, Ben Norita, Rey Hermogenes and Jerry Soriano to face Sahagun in the finals.
Against Sahagun, however, Panglilinan’s fighting spirit was not enough.
On Tuesday, Farinas had a much tougher battle as he fell into the pits early after losing to Roel Baretto in round 1.
But Farinas showed that he could excel under pressure. He bested five players one after the other — Rey Hermogenes, Ben Norita, Nolan Cultura, Jerry Soriano and Cesar Sangalang — to reach the finals where he faced Ray Matsunaga.
Farinas triumphed in the first game to extend the match because it was Matsunaga’s first defeat of the night. To win, Farinas must beat Matsunaga twice.
But in their second game, Matsunaga fended off Farinas’s rally to secure the win.
However, Matsunaga has already qualified for the championship, and so the next spot was given to Farinas.
