Pagulayan, Orcollo in Asian 9-Ball Tour 'group of death'

MANILA, Philippines - Alex Pagulayan and Dennis Orcollo will have to beat one another - if one of them wants to reach the final round.

The Filipino pool heavyweights were bracketed in one group after the players' draw for the Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Final was held Thursday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

But that was half of the RP duo's ill luck; they would have to contend with Chang Jung-lin of Chinese-Taipei, the defending Grand Final champion and winner of the first three Tour legs.

The Taiwanese were undefeated in the Tour until Pagulayan won in Singapore and Orcollo took the title in Guangzhou.

"You can't do anything about the draw," Pagulayan, a former world 9-ball champion, said. "Dennis and I were bound to meet anyway. It just so happened that we were going to meet a bit earlier than expected."

Ryu Seung Woo of Korea completes Group A.

In Group B, Joven Bustamante and Asian Games champion Antonio Gabica will be bunched with hometown bet Ricky Yang, Ibrahim bin-Amir of Malaysia, Yang Ching-shun and Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei.

The tournament, which offers a champion's purse worth $36,000 (P1.72 million), begins Friday.