Rodney Morris
One round into the final 32 player bracket at the 2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup Singles event, the remaining field of players is dominated by Filipino talent. The final sixteen players are comprised of 13 Filipino players, one American, one Canadian and one Filipino transplant to Canada.
Even with a handful of the top international players attending the event, the sheer number of Filipino cue artists was too much for the international players to fade at this event. BCA Hall of Famer Mika Immonen made the final 32 player bracket, but fell to Ramil Gallego 9-5 in the first round. Thorsten Hohmann came up short after losses to Arnel Bautista and Anthony Raga in the group stages. After unscrewing his cue while down 5-4, over a controversial call against Ronnie Alcano, US star Shane Van Boening rode the one loss side of this group, only to come up short 9-7 in the final match to Cristian Gariando.
The lone US representative in the field, Rodney Morris, will face Michael Feliciano in the round of sixteen on Friday. Other marquee matches on Friday include Efren Reyes vs John Morra and Ramil Gallego vs Lee Van Corteza.
