Alberto James “AJ” Manas cruised to the quarter-finals of the J and P 9-Ball Cup 2021 tournament on Friday (Dec. 10) night after defeating William Brillantes, 7-5, at the House Manila Pool Bar & Lounge, basement 1 of Holiday Inn Express, Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.
The 14-year-old Manas, a Grade 9 Student of San Roque National High School in Antipolo City got off to a confident start taking a 5-3 commanding lead. Brillantes rallied to take the next two racks to level the count at 5 all. However, Manas won the next two to make it 7-5 to win the match.
In the next round, Manas will meet John Ray Arsenio, who won over JR Dela Cruz, 7-4,
“It’s going to be tough in my next match, but I believe I have a great chance to win,” Manas, who settled for third in the 2018 edition, said.
Meanwhile, Jojo Santos and Patricia Galleto hurdled their respective assignments to face each other in the round-of-eight.
Santos, an entrepreneur defeated Joshua Milatante, 7-3, while Galleto upset Arvin Arceo, 7-5.
Other players who made it to the quarterfinals were Tristan Tenio, RR Buenaventura, Malony Fortunato, and John Sy.
The winner in this event will fly to Japan in an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the Japan Tournament next year in this Games and Amusements Board (GAB) sanctioned tournament apart from the top purse worth P40,000. (PR) – bny
