By MARK REY MONTEJO
Unheralded Ronel Nalaunan absorbed an 11-13 finals loss to hometown bet Ko Pin Yi, 11-13, in the 4th Universal Chinese Taipei 9-Ball Open last weekend.
In a three-day meet joined by several world champions including his compatriots Carlo Biado and Johann Chua, Nalaunan rose to the occasion en route to the finale where he gave Yi a huge scare.
This, after the Kalibo, Aklan native roared to a 5-2 lead and stretched it to an 8-5 advantage before the crowd favorite Yi rattled off the next five racks that helped the Taiwanese complete a come-from-behind triumph and hoist the ruler’s trophy.
Though he came up short for the crown, Nalaunan had an impressive wins in the prior rounds where he collected the scalps of Spaniard Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (11-10), Japanese Naoyuki Oi (11-5), Ryan Hidalgo (10-6), AJ Manas (10-6), and Taiwan’s Cheng Shun Yang (10-7).
He toppled Taiwanese Chao Fong Pang (9-2), and Jeffrey Ignacio (9-2) in the first stage on his way to a $12,000 (P711,510) final haul.
“Grabe ang nangyari, ‘di tayo pinalad pero ganun talaga… ginawa ko naman ang lahat eh kaso hindi ko alam saan ako nagkulang,” said Nalaunan on his social media post.
Yi, on the other hand, pocketed the grand winner’s purse of $30,000 (around P1.7 million) and also his second straight time besting a Filipino after he previously outlasted Manas, 13-12, in this year’s CTPBA Pro Tour Grand Finals.
“Sa totoo lang, ipaghiganti ko sana si AJ [Manas] eh,” Nalaunan quipped.
The competition, sanctioned as a Matchroom World Nineball Tour (WNT) Ranking Gold event, slated Jan. 8 to 11 and lured 128 players – all genders – across the globe.
