World 9-ball finalist Gomez wins Davao stop of Villar Cup

Roberto Gomez defeated Gandy Valle 11-4 to win the Davao City leg of the Manny Villar 9-ball Cup Saturday night at the Gaisano Mall.

Gomez received P300,000, while Valle pocketed P120,000.

Gomez lost the lag but he took the opening rack after Valle missed a tough-angled shot of the red-3. That ignited Gomez’s run, where he scored seven of the first nine racks to take a 7-2 lead and coast to the title.

Before he faced Valle, Gomez had to endure a tough grind. He opened his campaign by beating two-time world juniors campaigner Rene Mar David 9-4 before downing another rising star Elmer Haya, 9-6, in the second round.

That set Gomez up for a quarterfinals encounter with former double world champion Ronnie Alcano, whom he narrowly beat 9-7.

In the semis, Gomez just had enough nerves in the end game to escape with a 10-7 win over world no.1 Dennis Orcollo.