Caneda stuns 'Bata' in World 9-Ball c'ship

Marlon Caneda pulled off a major upset late Wednesday night when he eliminated "The Magician", Efren "Bata" Reyes, 11-5, in Round of 64 of the 2011 World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Saab Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

Caneda, a Saudi Arabia-based billiards coach, took an early 3-0 lead and never looked back as Reyes struggled to find his touch.

"He's the people's champ but I can't think about that," said Caneda on the World Pool Association (WPA) website. "I just focused on the table. Maybe he's not in the best condition. He told me afterwards that he was having a problem with his eyes."

With the victory, Caneda advanced to the Round of 32 where he will face compatriot Dennis Orcollo, an 11-9 conqueror of Indonesian Muhammad Zulfikri.

Other Filipinos who won their respective Round of 32 matches are defending champion Francisco "Django" Bustamante, former 9-ball champion Ronnie Alcano, Antonio Lining, Antonio Gabica, Lee Van Corteza, Carlo Biado, Venancio Tanio and Allan Cuartero.

Bustamante defeated Sascha-Andrej Tege of Germany, 11-3, while Alcano won over Chris Orme of Canada, 11-7. Lining downed Oliver Ortmann of Germany, 11-5.

Bustamante will face Indonesian Riyan Setiwan, who scored an 11-8 decision over Spaniard Carlos Cabello while Alcano will take on Raj Hundal after the Indian dispatched Tomoo Tanako, 11-10.

Lining goes up against Roman Hybler of the Czech Republic, an 11-7 winner against China's Liu Haitao.

Tanio collides with Li Wen Lo of Japan, Corteza takes on Biado, Gabica battles Naoyuki Oi of Japan and Cuartero faces Darren Appleton of Great Britain in other Round of 32 matches.

Israel Rota lost a heartbreaker to Chang Yu Lin of Chinese Taipei, 11-10, while Roberto Gomez was defeated by Daryl Peach of Great Britain, 11-4, in a rematch of the 2007 World Pool Championship final. Jeff De Luna was eliminated by Fu Che Wei of Chinese Taipei, 11-9.

Reuben Terrado, GMA News TV