MANILA – The Philippines has the most number of players still in contention in the ongoing World Ten Ball Championship.

A total of eight Filipino cue artists made it to the Round of 32: Warren Kiamco, Antonio Lining, Dennis Orcollo, Jomar de Ocampo, Lee Van Corteza, Elvis Calasang, Marlon Manalo and Jundel Mazon.

Kiamco scored a 9-8 win over Jalal Yousef of Venezuela Saturday at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Lining, meantime, beat Corey Deuel of the United States, 9-4.

De Ocampo defeated South Korean Jeong Young Hwa, 9-6, while Corteza edged Russian Konstantin Stepanov, 9-7. Manalo dismantled Chinese Fu Jianbo of China, 9-4, and Mazon got past Alain Martel of Canada, 9-8.

Calasang posted a 9-5 triumph over Finn Markus Juva while Orcollo thumped Oscar Dominguez of the US, 9-2.

Meanwhile, four players from Great Britain advanced to the Round of 32: Darren Appleton, Daryl Peach, Imran Majid and Jonni Fulcher.

Germany, China and Japan each have three representatives into the next round while Chinese Taipei has two. Other countries represented in the Round of 32 are Russia, Finland, Sweden, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Wishing for luck

The Filipino players are hoping to continue their run to claim the top prize of $60,000.

“Sana suwertehin pa din at pumanig ang bola sa susunod na game ko. Hindi basta-basta si [Thorsten] Hohmann,” Kiamco said of his German opponent.

Kiamco recently finished third in the All Japan 9-Ball Championships topped by Francisco “Django” Bustamante.

Lining, for his part, added: “Gaya sabi ni Pareng Warren [Kiamco], sana kapitan din tayo ng suwerte, iba talaga pag pumanig ang bola sa atin.” Lining, who lost to Bustamante in the All Japan 9-Ball finals, will play against Japanese Naoyuki Ooi.

The other upcoming matches featuring Filipinos are de Ocampo vs Vietnamese Nguyen Anh Than, Manalo vs Finn Mika Immonen, Mazon vs Russian Ruslan Chinakhov, Calasang vs Indonesian Alwi, Corteza vs Chinese Taipei’s Chang Yu-Lung, and Orcollo vs Japanese Hayato Hijikata. – With reports from Raya Sports and Marlon Bernardino