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Taiwan leads charge as seven Asians make quarterfinals of WPC
Nov 10, 2006, 2:25 PM

MANILA, Philippines – The change in locale doesn’t matter – Taiwan is still king at the World Pool Championship.

Taiwanese players dominated the WPC when it was held in their home country in 2005 and 2004. Last year, in fact, both the finalist and runner-up hailed from Taiwan. And as the 2006 WPC headed into the quarterfinal stage at the Philippine International Convention Center, three Taiwanese players had taken places among the final eight.

Leading the pack was 17-year-old Wu Chia-ching, the defending champ. His surviving countrymen were Liu Cheng-chuan and Fu Che-wei.

The host country could place their faith with two players: Rodolfo Luat and Ronato Alcano. Two other Asians also made the cut: Li He-wen of China and Luong Chi Dung of Vietnam.

That makes seven of eight players from Asia, further testament to the continent’s new dominance of international pool.

The sole Westerner left in the field is Germany’s Ralf Souquet, who was celebrating the 10th anniversary of his 1996 WPC title.

Here are the match-ups for Saturday’s quarterfinals

Ronato Alcano (Philippines) vs. Wu Chia-ching (Taiwan)
Luong Chi Dung (Vietnam) vs. Li He-wen (China)
Liu Cheng-chuan (Taiwan) vs. Ralf Souquet (Germany)
Rodolfo Luat (Philippines) vs. Fu Che-wei (Taiwan)

How did they get there? Here are the results from the round of 16:

Ronnie Alcano (Philippines) def. Po-Cheng Kuo (Taiwan), 11-5
Chia-Ching Wu (Taiwan) def. Pat Holtz (Scotland), 11-6
Luong Chi Dung (Vietnam) def. Jeff De Luna (Philippines), 11-6
Li He-Wen (China) def. Sandor Tot (Serbia), 11-7
Liu Cheng-Chuan (Taiwan) def. Tyler Edey (Canada), 11-6
Ralf Souquet (Germany) def. Konstantin Stepanov (Russia), 11-4
Rodolfo Luat (Philippines) def. David Alcaide (Spain), 11-10
Che-Wei Fu (Taiwan) def. Steve Davis (England), 11-8