FRESH from knocking out the top seed and Spanish defending champion duo of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide last Tuesday, the Philippine tandem of Johann Chua and James Aranas will be back in action against the Spanish B team in round 2 of the World Cup of Pool today.
Chua and Aranas, who bundled out Ruiz and Alcaide with a pulsating come-from-behind 7-5 win, battle the young Spanish tandem of Jonas Souto Camino and Jose Alberto Delgado at 1 p.m. (7 p.m. Manila time) at the Pazo de Feiras e Congresos de Lugo in the walled city of Lugo, Spain.
With their illustrious compatriots out, Camino and Delgado kept the hometown hopes alive by thrashing the debuting Saudi Arabian pair of Khalid Alghamdi and Mohamman Hamoud Alghumayz 7-1 in round 1 last Wednesday.
Chua, the men’s singles 9-ball champion in the 2022 Vietnam Southeast Asian Games, and Aranas, the losing finalist in last year’s Asian 9-ball championships in Singapore, are already guaranteed $4,500 (P250,000) by reaching round 2 of the tourney that offers a top pot of $60,000 (P3.3 million).
They intend to go all the way and clinch the championship last won by the Filipino pair of Lee Van Corteza and Dennis Orcullo in 2013 in London, England.
