Dennis Orcollo

Personal Background

• Name: Dennis Orcollo
• Known as: "Surigao", "Robocop" or "the Philippines' Money-game King"
• Sex: Male
• Age: 28 years old
  
• Date of Birth: January 28, 1979
• Place of Birth: Surigao, Philippines
  
• Country: Philippines
• Nationality: Filipino
• Hobbies: Playing Pool
• Spouse: na
• Sports: Billiard

Achievements:

• 2007 World Straight Pool Championship 5th place
• 2007 World Eight-ball Championship 2nd place
• 2007 BCA Open Nine-ball Champion
• 2006 World Pool League Champion (bar-table nine-ball)
• 2006 US Bar Table Champion (eight-ball)
• 2006 Reno Open winner (nine-ball)
• 2006 Hard Times Billiards Summer Jamboree winner (nine-ball)
• 4th place - US Bar Table Championship (nine-ball)
• 4th place - SML Entertainment Open Nine-ball Championship
• 17th place - BCA Open Nine-ball Championship
• 2nd place - Hard Times Billiards Summer Jamboree (one-pocket)
• 3rd place - IPT North American Open Championship (eight-ball)
• 5th place - IPT World Open Championship (eight-ball)
• 33rd place - World Pool Championship

Trivia:

• Dennis Orcollo sometimes called Dennis Orcullo, Like a number of upcoming players from the Philippines, Orcollo was first seen on television in his contention at the Rising Stars Tournament in 2000.

• At the 2002 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, he unexpectedly beat champion Ralf Souquet 9-8 in the last 64, but eventually lost 6-9 to Efren Reyes in the last 32.

• In 2006, Orcollo began his campaign in the U.S.. There, he won a number of tournaments, including the Reno Open, the Hard Times Nine-ball Tournament and two bar table events. Because his compatriots had entered a less prestigious event in Asia, Orcollo was the only player from the Philippines to compete in the World Straight Pool Championship, which was ultimately dominated by Thorsten Hohmann. Although he neither won nor received any prize money, Orcollo made a respectable high run of 91. The following year, he made a better straight pool run of 93 at an exhibition in the USA.

• In 2007, he was runner-up to his fellow countryman Ronato Alcano at the WPA World Eight-ball Championship. Also in this year, he won the BCA Open Nine-ball Championship, a tournament where three fellow Filipinos were defeated in the final in past editions of that event. He competed for the second time at the World Straight Pool Championship. Unlike the previous event, where he was the only Philippine player in contention, Warren Kiamco joined him. He had a much better performance in the tournament and achieved a high run of 117 (the fourth highest in the tournament). However, he was defeated by Oliver Ortmann, the eventual winner of the event, in the quarter-finals by a lopsided 200-7 score, the largest margin in the history of the tournament.

Dennis Orcollo, aka Robocop, wins the 2007 EnjoyPool.com 9Ball Championship

Dennis Orcollo aka Robocop shut out (7-0) Shane Van Boening, 7-0, to grab the EnjoyPool.com 9Ball Championship at the Riviera Hotel and Casino In Las Vegas, NV. An impressive finish for a well-deserved victory! When Dennis was not running racks, he put Shane in safeties with little or no chance at all to do anything offensively. In the women's category, Karen Corr won against the Duchess of Doom, Allison Fisher, (7-4) to win the title and US$15,000.

Other Filipino cue artists in the tournament failed in their respective bids and were eliminated early. These include Francisco Bustamante aka Django, Jose "Amang" Parica, Marlon Manalo, Santos Sambajon and Warren Kiamco.

On a personal note, Dennis Orcollo is indeed a tough cookie. The first time I saw Mr. Orcollo play was about 2-3 years ago. He won against Efren Reyes aka The Magician in a race-to-21, 10-ball match at the Coronado Sports Complex, Makati City. It was a close game, 21-19! Robocop used a Predator pool cue, while a Pampanga tako (cue stick) was Bata's weapon of choice.

Corteza, Orcollo Take Charge at Guinness Tour; De Luna Suffers Double Black Eye

The Philippines' hottest young cue artists Lee Van "The Slayer" Corteza and Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo easily hurdled their first round assignments in the inauguration of the 2007 Guinness 9-ball tour being held at the Golden Ballroom of Sultan Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

According to Dux Carvajal of ESPN who was at the venue on Friday, Corteza, top player of Negros Billiards Stable (NBS) easily completed an 9-5 first-round victory over Muhammad Zulfikri of Indonesia in group G while Orcollo had an easier time with an 9-4 win against another Indon bet, Siauw Wieto in group F.

The 28-years-old Davao cue master Corteza, playing under the banner of sportsman/businessman Jonathan "Bacolod" Sy is the reigning national open champion and 39th All Japan Championships winner, will face Lee He Wen of China in the next round.

On the other hand, the 28-year-old Bislig, Surigao del Sur native Orcollo, the 2006 World Pool Leaque ruler takes on Liu Hao Tao of China.

A third Filipino, Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, the 2006 Doha Asian games 9-ball silver medalist was not fortunate this time losing to 2005 World Pool Champion Chia-Ching Wu of Chinese-Taipei, 4-9, in group A.

De Luna defeated Dharminder Singh Lily of Indonesia, 9-1, in the next round to finish with 1 win and 1 loss in the three-man group stage, single elimination round-robin format.

However, in a long distance exclusive interview with Carvajal yesterday, he mentioned that De Luna's quest for the next stage has small chances as Wu takes on Lily where the former (Wu) is a big favorite to win for a possible perfect 2.0 win-loss record.

"Wu is expected to win his last match against his Indon rivals for a possible 2-0 win-loss record." Carvajal said yesterday before the match of Wu against Lily.

It was a double black eye for De luna who lost in a money game battle last Wednesday against local player Siaw Wieto, 10-12, where at stake was US$1,100 according to news report of matchroom forum sports.

The fourth Filipino in the group is double world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball) Ronato "Volcano" Alcano still playing as of press time (yesterday afternoon at 5 pm in Manila time) with Patrick Ooi of Malaysia in group H. The 34-years-old lanky cue artist Alcano from Calamba City, Laguna is also scheduled to meet Ching-Shun Yang of Chinese-Taipei late Friday.

The Philippine team will be missing the celebrated hall of famer Efren "Bata" Reyes and former world no.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante this time.

Reyes and Bustamante, both top player of RP billiards patron Aristeo "Putch" Puyat are brand endorsers of San Miguel Beer, direct competitor of Guinness, the Irish stout beer, famous in whole part of Europe as well in Asia but not in the Philippines.

All four Filipino representatives this year did not see action in the Tour last year. But Alcano won a leg in the 2005 Tour and Corteza topped the Philippine leg in the 2004 Tour. All four are considered among the elite in Filipino pool today.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Chang Jung-Lin dominated his group D matches by beating 2003 and 2005 Southeast Asian games gold medallist Luong Chi Dung of Vietnam, 9-8, and Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 9-7, respectively to advance in the next round.

Local star Jimmy Jusman also made it in the next round after sweeping his group C assignment. He overpowered Filipino-Malaysian Ibrahim Bin Amir, 9-8, and Tan Tiong Boong of Singapore, 9-6, in order.

Nitiwat Kanjanasri of Indonesia who pulled an 9-6 victory against Bernard Tey Choon Kiet of Singapore, 9-6, in the opening match in group B stage failed to sustain his momentum yielding to Au Chi Wai of Hongkong, 5-9, in next round match.

Another ex-world champ Taiwan's Fong Pang Chao opened his bid on a high note with a 9-5 victory against Japan no.1 player Naoyuki Oi in group E.

With Guinness as the new sponsor, the entire Tour offers total prize money of $320,000 (up from US$160,000 last year), and it will feature a Grand Final in Bali for the Top 10 players. Winners of each leg will win US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will walk away with US$36,000. With six stops, this is the biggest Tour since its inception in 2003.

After the opening leg in Jakarta, the Tour's other stops are Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei on May 18 to 20 then off to Genting Highlands Resort in Malaysia on June 15 to 17, 2007. The next leg will be in Singapore on July 13 to 15, 2007, and in Shanghai, China on August 3 to 5, 2007.

The Grand Championship Final is slated August 31 to Sept. 2 in Bali, Indonesia.

The Tour qualifies players for the WPA World Pool Championship. The top ten finishers will automatically qualify for pool's most prestigious event, which is slated in Manila on November 3-11.

The Guinness 9-Ball Tour will be broadcast live by Star Sports, with 15 hours devoted to each leg. Each leg will be held over three days, with the field of 24 players divided into eight groups which will play a single round-robin format. The eight group winners will advance to the quarter-finals where the knockout format will apply as the players play through to the final.

World 8-Ball Pool Championships Fujairah, UAE Day Three

Erik Hjorleifson and Jason Klatt are representing Canada at the World 8-Ball Championship. Both players have played their way to the next stage.

The field at the World 8-Ball Pool Championships in Fuijairah has now been reduced to thirty-two players. On this elimination day perhaps the most surprising exit from the tournament is that of Oliver Ortmann. Ortmann lost yesterday to Farhad Shaverdi of Iran (8-7) and was eliminated today by Joven Bustamnte of the Phillipines (8-3).

The players who successfully negotiated this first stage of the event include most of the familiar names. Those include Thorsten Hohmann (GER), Hui-Kai Hsia (TPE), Nick Van Den Berg (NED), Ronnie Alcano (PHI), Dennis Orcollo (PHI), Francisco Bustamante (PHI), Marcus Chamat (SWE), and Efren Reyes (PHI). A complete list follows this report.

But first, a day off and a little celebrating. Tomorrow will be void of competition as the players will take some time off and will all be treated to a desert safari, including camel rides and a desert barbecue. This will be followed by a taste of the Dubai nightlife before returning to Fujairah to resume play on Tuesday.

Our hosts here in Fujairah have gone out of the way to make the players comfortable. Each evening a meal is catered to the tournament site by the restaurant of the five-star Meridian Al Aqah Beach Resort that includes five main courses accompanied by side dishes, salads and a huge selection of desserts. The playing conditions in the brand-new Al Bustan Centre are excellent, well-lit with lots of room between the tables and each individual match is presided over by local referees who answer ultimately to the WPA Sports Director, Thomas Overbeck, who is on-site overseeing the action.

Following are the results of play on Sunday and the pairings for play on Tuesday.

Results From Day Three:

Darren Appleton (GBR) def Olaf Köster (GER) 8-3
Marcus Chamat (SWE) def Saleem Al Juneebi (UAE) 8-3
Ralf Souquet (GER) def Jobert Panga (PHI) 8-2
Hisashi Kusano (JPN) def Mohammed Asim (IND) 8-5
Fabio Petroni (ITA) def Joybe Vincente (PHI) 8-3
Efren Reyes (PHI) def Bashar Hussein (QAT) 8-5
Muhammed Benali (QAT) def Zbyniek Vaic (RSA) 8-2
Rizandro Arrieta (VEN) def Mubarak Al Juneebi (UAE) 8-6
Jason Klatt (CAN) def Kareem Al Gendi (EGY) 8-2
Naif Al Jeweni (KSA) def Thomas Damm (GER) 8-4
Thomas Engert (GER) def Günter Geisen (GER) 8-1
Mario Tolentino (PHI) def Nasser Al Mujebel (KUW) 8-3
Joven Bustamante (PHI) def Oliver Ortmann (GER) 8-3
Thorsten Hohmann (GER) def Henrik Asperup (DEN) 8-3
Kevin Becker (GER) def Alex Evreniadis (AUS) 8-4
Lee Vann Corteza (PHI) def Issa Al Boloshi (UAE) 8-1
Satoshi Kawabata (JPN) def Hani Al Howri (UAE) 8-1
Ben Nunan (AUS) def Joven Alba (PHI) 8-4
James Ortega (PHI) def Karl Boyes (GBR) 8-6
Ralf Souquet (GER) def Saleem Al Juneebi (UAE) 8-1
Muhammed Benali (QAT) def Bashar Hussein (QAT) 8-2
Joybe Vincente (PHI) def Rizandro Arrieta (VEN) 8-2
Hisashi Kusano (JPN) def Olaf Köster (GER) 8-4
Alexander Dremsizis (GER) def Aki Heiskanen (FIN) 8-6

For Orcollo, billiards is bread of life

For Dennis Orcollo, billiards is all about money by Noli Cruz.

"Bilyar ang dahilan kaya medyo nahango sa kahirapan ang pamilya ko," he said. Even in tournament settings, it is the cash prize which inspires him to go deep and all the way. Orcollo, although lacking in major titles here and abroad, is considered by his peers as the best pool player in the country right now.

The 28-year-old son of a fisherman knows why. "Money game ang dahilan kaya sinasabi nila na ako ang pinakamagalingna player ngayon dito sa atin."

Most of the fancied players in money game are Filipinos. Jose "Amang" Parica and Efren "Bata" Reyes used to be the best in the business. Orcollo himself has high regards to his compatriots.

"Maraming kinatatakutang Pinoy sa pustahan. Kina Ga-Ga (Antonio Gabica), Django (Francisco Bustamante) at Van-Van (Lee Vann Corteza) medyo ingat ako," he said. Never mind the humility, he has beaten the best of local pool in money game.

On April 20-22, Orcollo will take on a different challenge as he faces Yang Ching-Shun of Taiwan in a winner-take-all 9-ball marathon presented by Golden Pool Classic at the Gateway Mall in Cubao, Quezon City.

The race-to-60 duel dubbed as "It’s all about money...and more" and organized by Bugsy Promotion and Rocketman Enterprises offers ,000 to the winner. Yang is acknowledged as the best money game player in Taiwan. He’s rated higher than former world champions Chao Fong-Pang and Wu ChiaChing.

"Dennis and Yang are similar in many ways. They’re both without world title but fearsome money game players," said Mon Tuason, head of the co-organizing Rocketman Enterprises. Perry Mariano, Orcollo’s manager and Bugsy Promotion boss, believes neither of the two has a clear edge over the other.

"Isa’t isa ang laban. Mahirap sabihin kung sino ang lamang lalo na’t di pa sila nagharap before," Mariano said. "Pero sa mahabang laban ‘yung mas kondisyon ang t’yak na aangat."