In booting out the top Air Force bet in straight sets, Escoses found himself range against the most feared player in the fold ­ Ian Piencenaves ­ whom he will face in the semis of the centerpiece event Thursday.

Piencenaves, playing out of Philippine Army, remained on course of his title-retention bid although he had to go through some anxious moments before thwarting the hard-fighting Bogie de Guia of Valle Verde, 152, 17-14.

Kennevic Asuncion, the second seed player in the event sponsored by JVC, whipped the other FEU entry, Christopher Flores, 152, 15-4, to arrange the other semis clash with third ranked Arolas Amahit Jr., also of Army, who beat Jaime Llanes of PNP, 1510, 15-6.

The ladies side went according to form with the top four seeds all moving into the semis of the annual event backed by Technomarine, Colours, Alaska, Rudy Project, Accel, Ayala Center, The STAR, Tokyo Tokyo, Lactacyd, 103.5 K-lite, Pioneer Insurance, Gosen and Victorinox Orginal Swiss Army Knives.

Defending champion Kennie Asuncion of Valle Verde tripped Athena Alvarez, 11-0, 11-3, to set up a clash with Amanda Carpo, who defeated Ronnielie Kagalingan, 13-10, 11-8, while second ranked Irene Chiu of Premiere Club/Ateneo trounced Aldelly Po, 11-1, 11-2, to arrange a duel with Alma Ledesma, an 11-7, 11-6 winner over UP’s Lisa Sormillo.