One Pinoy down, one to go

MANILA - Mika Immonen of Finland marched on to the finals of the WPA World Ten-Ball Championships after beating Filipino veteran Antonio Lining in a semi-final match Monday at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Immonen is one of the world's hottest players this season with a streak of big wins including the US Open, Tournament of Champions, World Classic 10-Ball, and the Qatar International Open. These 4 victories combined has raked him $130,000.

The semi-finals match versus Lining looked to be a breeze early on as Immonen took a commanding 4-1 lead. But the tide shifted for the Filipino as Lining racked up 4 straight to charge back into the lead at 5-4.

It then became a neck-to-neck battle as both players traded scratch and dry breaks. The back and forth scoring went on all the way to 7-all.

The most intense part of the match came in the 16th rack with Immonen leading 8-7.

The Finnish “Ice Man” sank the 1-ball but got himself blocked for the 2. He was even cheered on by the partisan Filipino crowd which was not appropriate etiquette for an error by any of the players.

The Finnish veteran nonetheless took it in stride and shot an amazing safety to give Lining a tough look at the 2. In the ensuing shot, Lining scratched.

From then on, it was all for Immonen.

Lining took home $15,000 for finishing in the Round of 4.

At 6 p.m., Immonen is set to go up against the winner of the Lee Van Corteza of the Philippines and David Alcaide of Spain semifinal match (on-going) for the title and the $60,000 prize money.

Immomen said he would love to have Corteza in the finals to give local fans a match they would like to see. The last time Immonen won a title in the Philippines was when he beat Efren “Bata” Reyes in the Philippine Open in 2003.