Tuesday, September 04, 2007 Pinoy cue artist bows to Taiwanese in Guinness 9-ball finals
* Chang beats RP's Corteza
CHINESE Taipei's Chang Jung-Lin proved to be too much for the Philippines' Lee Vann Corteza in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour grand final held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bali, Indonesia clinching the title as the tour's first ever champion with a 11-8 win and pocketing the top prize of US$36,000 as Asia's Pool King of 2007.
The two faced each other in the first leg of the Guinness 9 -all Tour in Jakarta last April. This contest was supposed to be Corteza's chance to avenge his loss in the finals to Chang. The Filipino's runner-up finish in the grand final earned him US$10,000.
Still using the soft-break which allowed the Davao City native to orchestrate an 11-9 come-from-behind win over Chinese Taipei's Wu Chia-Ching in the semi-final earlier, Corteza was expected to deliver a strong performance in the final against Chang - especially since he had beaten him in the preliminary round in convincing fashion 9-3.
However, it was Chang who opened up with a commanding 4-1 lead. But through sheer determination and perseverance, Corteza was able to chip away at the lead and knot the score at seven racks apiece, punctuated by a table rout at the 12th rack and brilliant clean-ups at the 13th and 14th racks.
Sensing the threat of a momentum shift, Chang answered right back with two straight racks of his own - breaking and running out in the 16th frame and capitalizing on a Corteza scratch off the break in the 17th rack to lead 9-7. In the 19th rack, with Chang sitting on the hill, Corteza was dealt a final blow as he committed a scratch off his break to concede the Grand Champion title to his opponent.
Said an emotional Chang: "Before today's victory, I sometimes felt that I don't deserve to be here with my Chinese-Taipei teammates because compared to them, they are already established international names in the region.
"Now that I've won my first international title, it gives me immense relief and joy because it means that all my years of training has finally come to fruition. It's more than just the monetary reward - it's about being recognized as an international player that makes this victory means so much to me."
In the first semi-final, Chang made a remarkable comeback to beat his compatriot and leader of the Order of Merit list, Yang Ching-Shun in the narrowest of margins, 13-12. Neither player gave an inch to each other, which stretched the match to a 3 and a half-hour marathon that got the crowd of more than 580 pool fans on the edge of their seats.
Players must clinch 11 racks to win from the semi-finals stage onwards. Where there is a 10-all tie, players must beat their opponents by two clear racks, up to a maximum of 13 to win.
Wu, the 2005 World Pool Champion, was unbeaten in the Grand Final tournament until he met Corteza in second semi-final. The Filipino stunned the Chinese Taipei native 11-9 to clinch his final berth earlier.
Champion (US$36,000)
Chang Jung-Lin (TPE)
Runner-Up (US$10,000)
Lee Van Corteza (PHI)
Joint-third (US$5,400)
Wu Chia-Ching (TPE)
Yang Ching-Shun (TPE)
Preliminaries - 4th Place (US$2,200)
Dharmindar Singh Lilly (IND)
Ibrahim Amir (MAS)
Preliminaries - 5th Place (US$2,000)
Ricky Yang (INA)
Bernard Tey (SIN)
In the finale of Asia's first-ever International Guinness Black Challenge over the weekend, Raymond Isham of Indonesia paired up with countryman Ricky Yang to win US$1,000 in the first Pro-Am tournament for consumers.
The Guinness 9Ball Tour is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) and organized by ESPN Star Sports' Event Management Group (EMG). Guinness is the title sponsor for the Tour. The local sanctioning body is Persatuan Olahraga Billiar Seluruh Indonesia (POBSI). Iwan Simonis and Aramith supply the official tablecloth and official balls respectively. Brunswick Metro provides the official pool table while Predator is the official cue. The official venue is the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Star Sports is the official broadcaster. (Press release)
