Ronnie topped his group in the elimination round last friday in the 2nd leg of the Guinness 9-ball tour held in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei. In the quarter-finals, Alcano, despite playing a sub-par game, was able to overcome Singapore’s Chan Keng Kwang, 9-5.

He and Taiwan’s Wu Yu-Lun, a WPA Junior 9-Ball Champion are the first to make it to the semis. Alcano will next meet the winner of the quarterfinal duel between former World Pool Champion Chao Fong-Pang and Pagulayan’s tormentor Ricky Yang, and already has a guaranteed prize of $3,500 for making it to the semifinals.

The three other Filipinos, Antonio Gabica, Alex Pagulayan and Antonio Lining all failed to move past the group stage as they split their two assignments.