There will be no Filipino in the semifinal round of the 2012 World 8-Ball Championship at the Fujairah Tennis and Country Club in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.
Roberto “Superman” Gomez, the last Filipino with the chance of nailing a Final 4 slot, racked up two straight wins but failed to sustain his winning form after losing his quarterfinal match late Thursday to join compatriots Lee Vann “The Slayer” Corteza and Carlo “The Black Tiger” Biado at the sidelines.
Gomez, the 2007 World 9-Ball runner-up, defeated Mark Gray of Great Britain, 9-6 in the Round-of-32 then subdued Yukio Akagariyama of Japan, 9-5 in the Round-of-16. But he ran into an in-form Chris Melling of Great Britain who beat him, 4-9, in the quarterfinals of the $156,000 tournament that awards $20,000 to the champion.
Corteza of Davao City beat Nguyen Phuc Long of Vietnam, 9-4, in the Round-of-32 but lost to Fu Che Wei of Chinese-Taipei, 5-9, in the Round-of-16 while Biado toppled Toru Kuribayashi of Japan, 9-1, in the Round-of-32 but succumbed to Chang Jun Lin of Chinese-Taipei, 3-9, in the Round-of-16.
Semifinal matches pit Fu Che Wei vs. Liu Haitao of China and Chris Melling vs Chang Jun Lin.
Earlier, defending champion and world No.1 Dennis “Robocop” Orcollo went down to a shock defeat to Karol Skowerski of Poland, 3-9, in the Round-of-32.
Meanwhile, Orcollo and boxing champion Nonito Donaire Jr. will share the coveted Athlete of the Year award from the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) during its annual Awards Night on March 3 at the Manila Hotel.