By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Jeff De Luna outclassed compatriot Roberto Gomez, 4-3, 4-1, 4-0, to barge into the semifinals in the 2025 Las Vegas 10-Ball Open at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Nevada.
The 41-year-old De Luna dug deep into his bag of tricks in the first set before dominating the next two in a match that lasted two hours and 27 minutes to become the last Filipino standing.
The victory for the 2006 Doha Asian Games silver medalist inched him closer to the title in the $125,000 tournament and set him up a Final Four meeting with Estonia’s Denis Grabe.
Grabe, who won the Maldives Open 10-Ball crown last year, asserted his dominance over Germany’s Stefan Kasper, 4-2, 4-2, 4-2.
Former European 10-ball champion Joshua Filler of Germany also advanced to the semis after surviving Netherlands’ Marco Teutscher, 4-0, 1-4, 4-2, 1-4, 4-3 in a match that lasted two and a half hours. He awaits the winner between Greece’s Alex Kazakis and Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk, who are playing at press time.
In the distaff side, Chezka Centeno opened her title-retention campaign on a bright note by blanking American Nicolle Cuellar, 4-0, 4-0.
Rubilen Amit also made her title bid felt after dispatching Ada Lio of the United States, 4-2, 4-0, to also advance to the next phase.
They next clash with American counterparts with Centeno facing April Larson and Amit meeting Briana Edwards.
Larson survived fellow American Sue Orr, 4-2, 3-4, 4-1 in a three-hour battle, even as Edwards also outhustled compatriot Eva Myers, 4-1, 1-4, 4-1.
