Cool, composed Peach takes cake as Gomez gives it all away

It took a steel-nerved performance from Daryl Peach of England that outlasted Roberto “Superman” Gomez and broke Filipino hearts in the World Pool Championships last night.

Minimizing his mistakes and making most of his opportunities, Peach pulled off a title-clinching 17-15 victory, dashing the hopes of a spirited crowd that was looking forward to a new Filipino champion at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Gomez was two racks away from a historic win on the 28 th rack but fouled while jumping cue on the red-three after a long safety exchange and Peach was quick to pounce on the chance that came his way.

It should have been over by then but another chance fell on the Filipino on the 31 st rack, where Peach's table-length bank shot on the blue two wobbled out of the bottom left pocket, typifying the struggle of both players under pressure.

The miscue left the table wide open for Gomez, who, however, missed a long shot on the orange five.

Peach's position error on the nine-ball provided the opening for Gomez.

But the Filipino, still reeling from the miss on the orange-five, choked anew while shooting a difficult cut, a miss that not only put the Englishman on the hill but will also haunt him forever.

Peach won the $100,000 purse, while Gomez, who was installed as the odds-on favorite in the finals because of his scintillating run in the knockout stages, bagged the biggest paycheck of his career --- $40,000.

Unable to adjust to the speed of the table early on, Gomez, who ditched his effective soft break for a harder push, fell behind 3-8 but saw a glimmer of hope in the 12 th frame when Peach scratched on his break.

From there, Gomez took the next six straight racks but was halted when he scratched on his break on the 18 th frame.

Peach looked poised to wrap up the match when he stretched his lead to 12-9, before Gomez fought his way back with brilliant safety shots and precise pocketing.

Time and time again, the pockets seemed smaller than usual for both players as they committed many unforced errors in a nervy encounter that took four hours to finish.

On his way to the final, Peach earned a reputation as a scourge to Filipino bets.

He ousted 2006 champion Ronnie Alcano in the round of 64, before dispatching Django Bustamante in a controversy-marred quarterfinals Saturday.

Gomez was even more impressive and his victories, even more convincing.

A shutout victory over Neils Feijen in the last 16 (11-0) and 11-4 wins over Kuo Po-cheng of Taiwan and Karl Boyes of England in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively shoved him to the finals.

"With the crowd backing me up, I was really pressured (to win),” the 29-year-old Gomez, a former reporter in a television station in Zamboanga, told billiardphilippines.com.

Gomez, winner of the recent Norway Open, said he was "deeply depressed" by the loss, admitting that he cracked under pressure.

"There was pressure. It was an amazing match ...But I just kept my head still and focused on the game and took one shot at a time," said Peach, who snapped the Asian domination in this event the past four years.

Fil-Canadian Alex Pagulayan topped the 2004 edition, Wu Chia-Ching of Taipei won in 2005 and Alcano came out of nowhere to triumph in 2006.

Bacoleño Ramil Gallego also saw action in the WPC but was ousted in the round of 64. *CPT

RP's newest pool superstar

Roberto Gomez


He wasn't world champion material when I first saw him in person. You couldn't blame me for that impression.

Wearing a white polo shirt, he held a cluster of playing cards and was seated opposite Efren Bata Reyes. As Bata shakes his head, apparently because of a poor roster of cards, Gomez halts the air of seriousness with a joke.

And if I wasn't inside the foggy, dark and cramped VIP room of the Celebrity Bar and Billiards in Bacolod City, I could have mistaken him for a big-time gambler who was there for the poker, not for the billiards. I was mistaken.

Much has changed since that late August night for Gomez.

Now, he is on the brink of becoming the Philippines' third world billiards champion, after amazing displays of pocket billiards that have propelled him past fancied opponents.

The $100,000 purse, instant fame, endorsement deals and of course, pool immortality beckons for the 28-year-old from Zamboanga, who, according to my good friend Marlon Bernardino was an ABS-CBN Zamboanga field reporter.

Just like Ronnie Alcano last year, no one expected Gomez to be the last Pinoy standing in the 128-player tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

When I saw him dismantle Dutchman Niels Feijin, 11-0, in the Round of 16 early this morning, I thought he had all the tools to ensure that the crown stays with the Philippines. An ability to make adjustments on his break (soft break in table 1 to hard break in table 2), a composed and confident demeanor and superb pocket billiards skills.

At this moment when everything seems to be falling into place for Gomez, Daryl Peach of England may not be the biggest stumbling block from pool immortality. Its Gomez himself.

"I just make sure I play well. I dont mind who my opponent is," Gomez told Georgina Chang of Espnstar following his win over Feijn.


Here's the Agence France Presse news story about Gomez and Peach's wins. I think the reporter got mixed up in the last paragraph where he said that Gomez beat Vilmos Foldes of Hungary in the semis. (It was Karl Boyes who lost to Gomez in the semis)