Filipino Jeff de Luna got bounced early in the 2021 World Pool Championship in Milton Keynes, England after falling prey to Austrian Jasmin Ouschan in their knockout match on Monday, June 6.

Relegated to the losers’ round following a first-round loss to Swiss Dimitri Jungo, De Luna ended his World Pool Championship stint winless as Ouschan hacked out a 9-5 win in their race-to-nine duel.

De Luna needed to beat Ouschan to set up a losers’ classification clash with English Mark Gray, with the winner advancing to the last 64.

But Ouschan – a World Games nine-ball champion – proved to be a formidable foe as she seized a sizable 5-0 lead and denied De Luna of a monumental comeback.

De Luna narrowed the gap to 5-6 only to watch Ouschan win the next three games to advance.

His exit leaves only one Filipino bet among the 128 participants in Roberto Gomez, who is already secured of his spot in the last 64.

Gomez has yet to drop a match after toppling English Stewart Coclough, 9-8, in the first round, and Austrian Albin Ouschan, 9-7, in the winners’ classification round on Sunday.

Starting in the last 64, Gomez has to win all of his matches as he tries to become only the fifth Philippine representative to rule the World Pool Championship.

Efren “Bata” Reyes (1999), Ronnie Alcano (2006), Francisco “Django” Bustamante (2010), and Carlo Biado (2017) all won the World Pool Championship for the Philippines.

Gomez reached the final in the 2007 edition but fell short to English Daryl Peach. – Rappler.com