De Luna, 2 other RP bets reach Last 8

MANILA, Philippines - Jeffrey de Luna pulled off twin victories, including a 10-2 rout of compatriot Lee Vann Corteza to barge into the quarterfinal round of the WPA World 8-Ball Pool Championship at the Fujairah Tennis Club in UAE Thursday.

De Luna nipped Indonesia’s Ricky Yang, 10-8, in the Last 32 then dominated Corteza in the next round to move into the Last 8 of the week-long event sanctioned by the World Pool Billiard Association (WPA).

“I hope to keep my momentum,” said De Luna, a silver medalist in the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball event, in Filipino.

Unfancied Venancio Tanio and snooker specialist Joven Alba also advanced to the Last 8 along with Russian Ruslan Chinakhov, Niels Feijen of the Netherlands, Andreas Roshkowski of Germany, Karl Boyes and Darren Appleton of Great Britain, the 2008 WPA World Ten-Ball champion.

Tanio nipped Jalal Al Saresi of UAE, 10-6, and 2007 WPA World 8-ball titlist Ronnie Alcano, 10-4; Alba trounced Oliver Medanilla, 10-3, and Antonio Gabica, 10-8; Chinakhov beat current WPA World World Ten-Ball Champion Mika Immonen of Finland, 10-5, and Yukio Akakariyama of Japan, 10-7; Feijen crushed Basher Hussain of UAE, 10-5, and edged reigning WPA World 8-Ball Champion Ralf Souquet of Germany, 10-9; Boyes beat Masaki Tanaka of Japan, 10-3, and Stephan Cohen of France, 10-6; and Appleton defeated John Morra of Canada, 10-4, and Pin Yi Ko of Chinese-Taipei, 10-4.