Thursday, July 17, 2008 Orcullo leads RP cue artists in Singapore
DENNIS Orcullo seeks to continue his hot streak as the reigning world No.1 mixes it up with 23 other top Asian cue artists in the fourth leg of the six-city tour of the Guinness 9-Ball competition, which kicks off on July 25 at the Velocity@Novena Square in Singapore.
Fresh from winning the inaugural World 9-Ball Open in Qatar earlier this month, Orcullo, playing under the banner of Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), will join the rest of the Philippine squad—world number six Joven Bustamante, Gui–nness Genting leg runner-up Antonio Gabica, Philippine Junior Pool champion Jericho Bañares and 2004 World Pool Champion Alex Pagulayan. Pagulayan is the last Filipinos to have claimed the Guinness victory in 2006.
“I feel great about joining the Guinness 9-Ball tour again and being ranked world number one definitely added 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, who is 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 will 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 Orcullo, how hails from Bislig, Surigao del Sur.
Orcollo, who won the San Miguel Beer-Quezon City 9-Ball Championship and the Japan 9-Ball Open last March, had joined the Guiness event’s second leg in Penang, Malaysia, but was ousted in the group stage by Taiwanese rival Yang Ching-Shun, who also beat him in the their one-on-one encounter last year at the Gateway Mall, which was an event organized by ESPN STAR Sports.
The defending grand finals champion Chang Jung-Lin of Chinese-Taipei is still the man to beat in the Singapore leg. He is already on the right track to defending his title as he had won the titles of the Tour’s first three legs this year—Chinese-Taipei, Penang and Genting Highlands.
The seemingly unbeatable Chang now holds the new record for the most consecutive number of legs won. He had four straight leg titles tucked under his belt surpassing that of the legendary Efren Reyes’ record.
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 cash purse of $50,000 as well as points to qualify for the Tour’s grand final in Jakarta, which will feature the top 10 players in the overall standing.
The winners of each leg will earn $15,000 while the grand final champion will pocket $36,000. (PR)
