Pinoy cue artists off to big start in Doha 9-ball

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino bets got off to a rousing start in the 2017 World 9-ball Championship, going six-for-six at the start of group hostilities yesterday at Al Arabi SC in Doha, Qatar.

Francisco Felicilda outlasted Argentine Jorge Llanos in a hill-hill opening encounter, 9-8, to get things going in Group 1 while Johann Chua and Jeffrey de Luna hurdled their respective first opoonents, Iranian Hasaan Zeraatgar (9-4) and Algerian Mohammed El Raounsti (9-1) in Group 2 and 3.

Veteran Warren Kiamco and Jeffrey Ignacio hammered out identical 9-3 verdicts over South African Jason Theron and American Robert Hart over in Group 4, while Roland Garcia posted a 9-6 victory over Indian Aayush Kumar in Group 7.