The Philippines' Dennis Orcollo improved on his runner-up finish in the Singapore leg of the Guinness 9-Ball Championships by winning the Guangzhou, China stop by beating Chinese-Taipei’s Wang Hung Hsiang in the finals, 11-7.
Orcollo whipped the “Son of Pool” Yang Ching Shun in the semis after compatriot Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan. Incidentally, Pagulayan defeated Orcollo in Singapore.
Pagulayan, meanwhile, blew a great chance for an all-Filipino final when he lost a 9-8 heartbreaker to Wang that was a mixture of some spectacular shots and forgettable errors. On Pagulayan's part, his gambles backfired during safety battles.
In the final battle, Wang took a 2-1 lead. Orcollo then ran off six of the next seven racks to lead 7-3 after a breathtaking safety battle marked by an incredible safety by the Filipino who is ranked No. 1 in the world.
A lucky bank shot on the 1-ball enabled Wang to come to within 5-7 before he broke to get one more rack back to come to within one at 6-7. But Orcollo quickly eased the pressure somewhat to open up a two-rack lead at 8-6 .
After Orcollo, who was leading 7-3, squandered his chances with a poor miss on the number 2 ball, Wang who won four of the last five racks closed to within one, 8-7, before the Filipino played a fantastic jump shot to go ahead, 9-7. He then cut the cue ball between the 4 and 6 balls to get to the hill9-7.
Both players felt the pressure and committed a series of errors but when Wang missed a fairly straightforward shot on the 2 ball which would have given him a chance to join Orcollo on the hill at 10-10.
Orcollo seized the opportunity to clean up and pocket the top prize of $15,000.
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