Marlon Manalo Beats Jeff De Luna in Pool Showdown

IPT North American Eight-ball Open Championship 1st runner-up Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo dethroned two-time king-of-the-table Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna 11-5 in Pool Showdowns Match of the week Saturday night at Rizal Memorial Billiards Zone.

Manalo who chose 9-ball as the game to be played posted seven racks win after winning the lag in their race-to-11 winner's break format. In the eighth rack, the 23-yrs old De Luna finally got to the table to get his first win 1-7 after Manalo committed a foul.

Another foul shot for Manalo in the 9th frame prompted De Luna the two-time "Hari ng Mesa" champion to post his second win. However, De Luna's power breaks did not help in his attempt to retain his title as he continued to have bad luck with the cue ball.

Manalo resumed his winning streak with two game wins in three racks (10-3) and only needed one win to wrap up the match. But with three balls remaining on the table, Manalo sank the green ball and accidentally left himself hooked on the edge of the pocket. Manalo was that forced to kick at the next ball.

De Luna did not waste his opportunity to get back into the game as he snatched two racks to cut down the lead to 5-10 but the breaks still did not favor him and Manalo was able to bring home the final game. Manalo won $1,000.00 as the new king-of-the-table.

The 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball silver medallist De Luna was crowned as the first Pool Showdown "Hari ng Mesa" when he trounced Ricky Zerna (11-4) and defended his title against Panfilo Damuag Jr. (11-7)

Pool Showdown is a joint production of Raya Sports and ABC-5. It is broadcast every Tuesday and Saturday at 8:00 to 10-30 in the evening.