VETERAN internationalist Lee Vann “The Slayer” Corteza of Davao City grabbed the runner-up honors of the Derby City Classic Big Foot 10-Ball Challenge held at Caesars Southern Indiana Casino and Hotel in Southern Indiana, USA.
The 40-year-old Corteza, who hails from Mintal, bowed to World No. 7 Jayson Shaw of Great Britain, 5-11, in their recently-concluded championship match.
Corteza, who is already based in Metro Manila, earlier dismantled James Aranas, 11-7, before eking out an 11-9 upset victory over World No. 2 Joshua Filler of Germany.
In the semifinals, the Dabawenyo escaped past World No. 8 Filipino-Canadian Alex Pagulayan, 11-10, to arrange a titular showdown with Shaw who also survived an 11-10 thriller over Filipino Francisco “Django” Bustamante.
Shaw also eliminated Skyler Woodward (11-3) and John Morra (11-8) before colliding with Bustmanate.
On her Facebook post, Corteza’s wife Gelia of Panabo City wrote, “Congrats on your runner-up win Lee Vann Corteza! We are very proud of you! We love you.”
Champion Shaw received US $16,000 while Corteza pocketed the runner-up prize of US $8,000.
Corteza, who has collected several medals in the Southeast Asian Games for the Philippines in the past, was also a 2018 Japan Open champion, bottleneck.net 77th World 14.1 Tournament titlist after shocking four-time champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, 2017 US Open Straightpool Championship champion, and 2013 888.com World Cup of Pool champion with good friend Dennis Orcollo of Bislig, Surigao del Sur.