MANILA.
The man who knocked out the Philippines' brightest-and most loved-hope proved
to be its worthiest hope after all.
Ronnie
Alcano, the last Filipino standing after eight days of the World Pool Championship,
prevailed in a match littered with errors and grievous misses, downing China's
Li Hewen, 11-8, yesterday to reach the finals against methodical German Ralf Souquet
at the PICC in Pasay City.
The
1996 champion Souquet bundled out the last entry from the rock-solid Taiwanese
delegation, knocking down impossible shots and displaying nerves of steel in a
hill-hill game against Fu Che-wei, 11-10.
"I'm
happy to make it to the finals," the 37-year-old Souquet said. "I don't
care who I play against, because obviously, anyone who gets to the finals is a
good player. You don't get there by being lucky."
The
championship match today starting at 4 p.m. is a race-to-17 duel with the winner
clinching the tournament's biggest first prize of $100,000.
"I
am very happy, because all of this has happened in my country," Alcano, 34,
told reporters in Filipino after his semifinal win.
"It
was a tough match because I was not getting a lot of balls to drop in my breaks,"
added the lanky Alcano, who won only one elimination round match and entered the
KO phase at the very bottom of the 64-man draw.
Alcano's
victory came just a few hours after Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat, the veteran
internationalist, took a 7-11 beating from Fu in the quarterfinals earlier in
the day.
Luat
committed a crucial error on the yellow 1 in the 16th rack while trailing, 7-8.
He overplayed a safety which left the table wide open, a far cry from the form
he displayed in knocking out the Spaniard David Alcaide, 11-10, in the Last 32.
Alcano,
who is assured of $60,000 (around P3 million) for making the last dance, sustained
his blazing run after taking out Efren "Bata" Reyes, the top favorite
and the country's main hope in the Last 32.
He
showed the door to last year's runner-up Kuo Po-cheng of Taiwan, 11-5, in the
Last 16 Friday then went a step further by toppling defending champion Wu Chia-ching
also of Taipei in the quarterfinals, 11-6, early yesterday.
Returning
to the table less than an hour after booting out Wu, Alcano struggled to keep
his form after bagging the first three racks against Li. A comedy of errors punctuated
the match as both committed lousy fouls, missed numerous safety plays and overshot
target balls by wide margins.
But
it was Li who bungled the most crucial shot on the 9-ball in the 19th rack while
trying to move within 9-10 off Alcano.
The
Chinese did not only leave the final ball in the right corner pocket's mouth but
scratched as well. He then immediately shook Alcano's hand after the blunder to
indicate his surrender.
Li
earlier made it to the Last 8 by bundling out countryman Luong Chidang, 11-7.
"I
was still confident, despite losing that 3-0 lead and being tied (4-4 and) 5-5,"
Alcano, toothless
and with long nails, added. "I don't know, I just had much confidence going
into the match."
"I'd
like to ask the crowd to respect my opponent, Ralf Souquet (in the finals),"
added Alcano.
Souquet
is in the third finals in his WPC career. He also lost in the finals in 2002 in
Cardiff, Wales, site of the first Filipino victory chalked up by Reyes in 1999.
"I
know the crowd will be against me, bigtime," Souquet, who humbled another
Taiwanese, Li Cheng-chuan, 11-8, in the quarterfinals, said. "But that is
part of the deal and I like the idea of being the underdog." | 
