World No.1 Dennis Orcollo manhandled arch rival Yang Ching-shun, 9-1, in the semifinals and then subdued another Taiwanese, Wang Hung-hsiang, 11-9, in the title duel to rule the penultimate leg of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour 2008 Sunday at the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou, China.
The feat earned Orcollo the $15,000 (P705,000) top purse, and a slot to the Grand Finals on Oct. 24 to 26 in Jakarta, where the champion will win $36,000.
“Wang was really a tough opponent, but I was confident and ready throughout the tournament,” said the 29-year old Orcollo. “I’m happy for beating players like Yang and Wang, who are among the best cue artists in the world.”
Wang settled for the runner-up prize worth $6,000. He made it to the finals by edging out former world champion and previous-leg winner Alex Pagulayan, 9-8, in the semifinals.
Only the top 10 players in the Tour’s Order of Merit will qualify for the Grand Finals and a qualifying spot in the WPA World Pool Championship.
On the hill at 10-7, Orcollo blew a chance to close out the match as he failed to pocket the 3 ball on a seemingly easy try, allowing Wang to win the rack.
The Surigao ace then fouled in the 19th rack and Wang converted on a 1-9 combination to narrow the gap, 10-9.
But the Taiwanese failed to knot the match in the next rack, bungling an attempt on the 2 ball and allowing Orcollo to clean up and win.
Pagulayan fell short of a second consecutive leg victory.
With the match deadlocked at 8-all, Pagulayan, who already made the Grand Finals by winning in Singapore, had a golden opportunity to win as he had the break in the final rack.
His break, however, set up a bad lay-out on the 2 ball and forced him to yield possession following a push shot. Wang then made a nifty bank shot that pocketed the 2 ball in the right corner pocket.
Luck was simply on the side of the Taiwanese as he converted on an almost similar bank shot, this time on the 5 ball, before cleaning out the rack and clinching the first spot in the championship match of the six-city tour organized by ESPN STAR Sports.
“I did my best, but sometimes the breaks don’t go your way,” said Pagulayan, who was penalized in the sixth rack for going over the 40-second shot clock. “I honestly did not hear the referee say that there were 10 seconds left, so I took my time.
“If I wasn’t penalized I would have probably been up 5-2 in the next rack instead of 4-3.”
Pagulayan settled for $3,500.
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