Saturday, August 25, 2007 Davao's Corteza sets sights on Guinness 9-Ball tourney By Marianne Saberon-Abalayan
AFTER a sterling title stint in New York City, Davao City's Lee Vann Corteza sets his eyes on the Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Championship Final in Bali, Indonesia set on August 31 to September 2.
Corteza emerged champion Monday in the Turning Stone Classic XI at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York City.
He is the second Filipino to make the cut in the 10-man Guinness 9-Ball Tour of Merit. The other one being reigning World 9-Ball and 8-Ball champion Ronato Alcano of Laguna.
The eight other qualifiers in the Bali final are Chinese Taipei cue artists Yang Ching-Shun, Chang Jung-Lin, Chao Fong-Pang and former World Pool champion Wu Chia-Ching, Indonesian Ricky Yang, Mindanao-born Malaysian Ibrahim Amir, Indian Dharminder Singh Lilly and Singaporean Bernard Tey.
The Dabawenyo planed from New York to Manila on Thursday to spend time with his wife Gelia and son Lee Vann Jr. before he leaves for Bali on Monday.
Corteza admitted it will be anybody's game in Bali considering that his rivals are also very good players.
But he said he is praying for good breaks and consistency to pull through his matches in the Chinese-dominated championship round.
Corteza gained a total of 100 points needed to qualify for the finals after earning 50 points in his runner-up finish in the Jakarta leg, 30 points in his quarter-finals finish in Malaysia and 20 points in the final leg in Shanghai, China.
