Top seed Orcollo reaches Guinness Tour semifinal

Saturday, July 26, 2008

World no. 1 Dennis Orcollo joined compatriot Alex Pagulayan in the Final Four phase of the Singapore leg of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour 2008 at the Velocity@Novena Square.

Orcollo reached the semifinals by beating Fu Jian Bo of China, 9-6, to become the second Filipino to earn a Final Four berth. Pagulayan earlier qualified in the semis after a 9-4 win over Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Tuan.

For entering the Final Four round, the Orcollo and Pagulayan are already assured of $3,500 (P157,500).

Orcollo, who eliminated top favorite Chang Jung-Lin of Chinese Taipei in the group stage on Friday, capitalized on Fu’s miscues late in the match as he broke away from a 6-all tie to win three straight racks.

Fu had a scratch on the 13th rack and a foul in the 14th after Orcollo suffered a dry break in the same rack. Fu topped Group B following wins over Ryu Sheung Woo of Korea and Naoyuki Oi of Japan.

Orcollo will meet the winner of the quarterfinal match between Antonio Gabica and Yang Ching Shun, who are still playing as of posting time.

“I knew that it was going to be a tough match since I already faced Fu in several international competitions in the past. I wanted to finish the match as soon I had a chance since I consumed all my allotted extensions," Orcollo said.

In an earlier Group A match, Orcollo showed why he is the top ranked cue artist when he eliminated defending Grand Finals champion Chang Jung-Lin of Chinese Taipei, 9-7.

“I wasn’t nervous at all. It was unfortunate that he (Chang) had a lot of dry breaks, but that’s how the game goes. They kind of placed the racks a bit higher so I adjusted my breaks. This is a big win for me."

A fourth Filipino, Antonio Gabica, also reached the quarterfinals and is set to meet Yang Ching Shun of Chinese Taipei.

Dennis Orcollo wins 2008 Qatar International Open 9-Ball Championship

Thursday, July 17, 2008

dennis_orcollo_01 Filipino cue master Dennis “Robocop” Orcollo defeated Niels Feijen of The Netherlands to win the inaugural 2008 Qatar International Open 9-Ball Championship Saturday night at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha.

He arrived in Manila at dawn Monday, $40,000 richer. Top Filipino cue artists Efren “Bata” Reyes, Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, former world No. 1 Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Gomez, Gandy Valle, Joven Bustamante Lee Van Corteza and Benjie Guevarra, as well as Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Jeff De Luna and Middle East-based Alan Cuartero, Joyme Vicente and Ruben Cuna also participated in the tournament but failed to make it to the finals.

World No. 1 Orcollo Aims to End Taiwan's Guinness Streak

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Dennis Orcollo seeks to continue his hot streak as the reigning world No.1 when he mixes it up with 23 other top Asian cue artists in the fourth leg of the six-city Guinness 9-Ball Tour that kicks off on July 25 to 27 at the Velocity@Novena Square in Singapore.

Fresh from winning the inaugural World 9 Ball Open in Qatar this month, Orcollo, playing under the banner of Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), will be joined in the five-man Philippine squad by world number six Joven "The Shark" Bustamante, Genting leg runner-up Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, Philippine Junior Pool champion Jericho Bañares and 2004 World Pool Champion Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan. The Filipinos last claimed victory in 2006.
"I feel great about joining the Guinness 9 Ball Tour again and being ranked world number one definitely adds to my self confidence. At the same time, it gives me pressure because I know that people are watching, and I have to live up to my being world number one," said Orcollo, fondly called Robocop in the pool world.
]"All the participants in the Guinness 9 Ball Tour are good and the players from Chinese-Taipei obviously dominate this tour, but wherever I go I do my best and focus on winning. I want to bring honour to my country, so it will be a challenge to defeat the players from Chinese-Taipei this leg," added the petite Orcollo, who hails from Bislig, Surigao del Sur.

Orcollo also topped the First San Miguel Beer-Quezon City 9-Ball Championship and the Japan 9-Ball Open last March.
Orcollo previously joined the second leg in Penang, Malaysia, but was ousted in the group stage by Taiwanese rival Ching-Shun Yang who also beat him in the their one-one-one encounter last year organized by ESPN STAR Sports.
Defending Grand Finals champion Jung-Lin Chang of Chinese-Taipei is still the man to beat as he conquered the 2008 Tour's first three legs in Chinese-Taipei, Penang and Genting Highlands.

The seemingly unbeatable Chang now holds the Tour record for most consecutive legs won with four titles, including last year's Finals. Chang, who surpassed the legendary Efren Reyes' record, spearheads the dominant Chinese-Taipei contingent, which is comprised of 2007 Singapore leg winner Ching-Shun Yang, 2008 Penang leg runner-up Hung-Hsiang Wang and 2005 WPA World Pool Champion Chia-Ching Wu.

Players from host Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India and Indonesia are also expected to get a crack at the title and earn valuable ranking points. The 24 participants will be assigned to eight groups following the draw that will be conducted on July 24 at Velocity.

At stake in the Singapore leg is a total prize purse of US$50,000 as well as points to qualify for the Tour's Grand Final in Jakarta, which will feature the Top Ten players in the overall Order of Merit. The winners of each leg will get to earn US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will pocket US$36,000.

Following Singapore, the Tour will have its penultimate leg in Guangzhou in September before heading to Jakarta for the Grand Finals in October.

Orcollo Last Filipino Standing in Qatar World 9-Ball Semis

Saturday, July 5, 2008

All eyes are on World No.1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, the last Filipino standing who racked up two consecutive wins to move into the semi-final round of the on-going Qatar Open 9-Ball tournament at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Al Muntazah Road in Doha, Qatar, on Friday.

The Bislig, Surigao del Sur pride Orcollo, stunned compatriots Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, 11-6, and Japan based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, 11-9, respectively. Gallego, earlier eliminated Francisco "Django" Bustamante, 11-8, in the round-of-16.

Orcollo's next assignment is Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany, winner over Darren Appleton of Great Britain in the round-of-16 and fellow World 9-ball titlist Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan in a similar 11-9 victory, in the round-of-8.

Pagulayan eliminated countryman Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez, 11-6, in the round-of-16 before bowing to Souquet. Joining them into the final four are reigning US Open 9-Ball kingpin Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening of the United States and Derby City Classic ruler Neils "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands, who routed their respective opponents. The duo will clash for another semi-final pair.The finals of the $150,000 total pot prize tournament will be using race-to-13.

Van Boening beat Radoslaw Babica of Poland, 11-10, and Thomas "The Lean Machine" Engert of Germany, 11-9, while Feijen trounced 2007 WPA World Junior champion Pin-Yi Ko of Taiwan, 11-8, and Naoyuki Oi of Japan, 11-7. Oi, conqueror of 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball champion Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, 11-8, in the round-of-16.

The champion here will receive $40,000, the runner-up gets $20,000, the losing semi-finalists will bring home $10,000 each, 5th to 8th placers will receive $5,000 each, 9thto 16th placers will pockets $2,500 each. While the 17th to 32nd placers will not go home empty-handed with $1,200 each.