Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Orcollo rules Japan 9-Ball Open, wins P.8M
REIGNING world No.1 Dennis Orcollo remains fiery on the table and emerged on top of 200 cue artists at the 2008 Japan 9-Ball Open late Sunday in Tokyo.
With his win, the 29-year-old Orcollo from Surigao del Sur took his second major title within a week after ruling the recently concluded San Miguel Beer-Quezon City 9-Ball Championship last Wednesday.
The stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano routed veteran Japanese pro player Ryoji Aoki, 9-2, in the finals to bag the title and the P836,000 top purse in the competition.
“I’m very happy to win two major tournaments in just one week. I just hope that I could sustain this performance,” said Orcollo, who also trounced stable mate and former double world champion Ronnie Alcano, 9-3, in the semifinals after rallying from a 3-1 deficit in their final four matchup.
“My goal is to become a world champion, and I’ve been working hard for that,” he added.
Orcollo, whose campaign was also supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Phillipines, continued his good performance in the tournament and played impeccably in his title showdown against Aoki as he pocketed the first seven racks for an easy victory.
“Dennis is really one of the best pool players in the world today, and his winning two big tournaments just a couple of days apart more than justified his status as the world’s current top-ranked player,” said Mariano.
World title
Before he will be aiming for his first world title crown in the 2008 World 8-Ball Championship on April 18 to 25 in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, where he is seeded for being the runner-up last year to Alcano, Orcollo will be competing in the second leg of the Guinness Asian Tour from April 2 to 4 in Penang, Malaysia.
After Orcollo and Alcano, the next best finisher was Japan-based veteran international campaigner Roel Esquillo, who made it to the quarterfinals.
Former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Warren Kiamco of Jonathan Sy’s Negros Billiards Stable went as far as the Last 16, while defending champion Alex Pagulayan was eliminated in the Round-of-32, along with compatriots Joven Bustamante, Roberto Gomez and Lee Van Corteza.
Gandy Valle, Antonio Lining and Ramil Gallego were booted out in the Last 64, while Dondon Razalan and Jharome Pena exited in the earlier round. (NSM from PR)
