Thursday, June 26, 2008 High hopes for Valle in Qatar 9-Ball event By Marianne Saberon-Abalayan
DAVAO City's Gandy Valle left for the Qatar 9-Ball on Wednesday in high spirits after his gigantic win against current World number 1 Dennis Orcollo of Surigao in the finals of the First Senate President Manny Villar-Sun.Star Superbalita 9-Ball Challenge in Cebu City over the weekend.
Valle, a 1998 Bangkok Asian Games gold medallist, racked up a come-from-behind 11-5 win against Orcollo in the championship to pocket the P400,000 purse in the eighth edition of the Superbalita challenge also sponsored by Senate President Manny Villar.
"I'm very happy because I won in a major tournament. I feel confident and proud to have beaten him (Orcollo) again, even more so that he's number 1 now. The victory is sweeter because it was a championship. It was our sixth meeting and I'm still ahead, 4-2, in our personal record," beamed Valle, a father of two kids, during a phone interview with Sun.Star Davao Wednesday.
The Davao plyer, who is the secretary-general of the Billiards Managers and Players of the Philippines (BMPAP), also triumphed over Orcollo in the semifinals of the Manny Pacquiao Cup, National Open and in the Asian 9-Ball Tour elimination in their past encounters.
