Philippines Victorious But Not At Their Best

PHILIPPINES were made to fight all the way but did enough to become the last team to reach the semi-finals at the PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool.

The number one seeds raced into an early 3-0 lead against unseeded Czech Republic but then only won one of the next seven racks as the Czechs gained a 6-4 advantage.

However, the Filipino duo of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante showed their mental strength to win the next five to clinch the win at 9-6 and set up a semi-final clash against Germany.

“This was a scary match for us,” said Bustamante. “We got 3-0 ahead then they came back and they beat us four times in a row then it was 5-4 and 6-4. But it’s a race to nine and everybody can win. It’s very important that we played badly but still won - I broke four times and never had a shot.”

Reyes added: “Tomorrow we play Germany and they are good players and a very strong team so we need some luck.”

Philippines won the lag but had no clear shot although it was not long before they were back at the table with ball in hand. Roman Hybler scratched while attempting a jump shot on the 1-ball and Reyes sunk the 9-ball for a 1-0 lead.

It soon became 2-0 as Czech Republic immediately had a battle on their hands and when Reyes pocketed the 9-ball for 3-0 the game looked over before it had begun.