Orcollo, 6 other PH bets advance
THE FILIPINO assault in the 2014 WPA World 9-Ball Championship is on.
Flashing sharper form, former World No. 1 Dennis Orcollo led the march of Filipinos to the knockout stage of the prestigious tournament at Al Saad Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.
Looking more comfortable on the table than in his 9-8 win over Jason Klatt in the first round, Orcollo overwhelmed Taiwanese youngster Ko Ping-chung, 9-6, to make the round of 64.
Orcollo, currently ranked fourth in the world, is one of seven Filipinos who advanced unbeaten from the group stages.
Creating the biggest ripple among the Filipino bets is qualifier Johann Chua who continued his impressive form in the tournament that stakes $30,000 for the champion.
Chua beat Taiwan’s Lo Li Wen, 9-6, in a fitting follow up to his dominant win over American Corey Deuel.
“There’s no pressure on me right now because I wasn’t supposed to be here,” Chua said in the tournament website. “I got lucky to get into the tournament. There’s no pressure. A lot of people don’t believe I can win this tournament. But for me I can win. I always have confidence.”
World No. 2 Carlo Biado also moved into the knockout stage with a 9-7 nipping of Sweden’s Tom Storm, joining compatriots Raymund Faraon, Antonio Gabica, Elmer Haya and Jeffrey de Luna.
Gabica, who lost to Thorsten Hohmann in last year’s finals, rolled to his second victory by crushing Michel Bartol, 9-3, of Croatia, while Faraon dumped Young Hwa Jeong of Korea, 9-7.
De Luna moved into the knockout stage at the expense of compatriot Israel Rota, 93, while Haya who sent Lee Vann Corteza to the losers’ bracket, sustained his solid form with a 9-8 win over Artem Koshovyi of Ukraine.
Efren “Bata” Reyes, the 1999 champion, led the Filipino Day 1 winners on Sunday with a 9-8 win over Dennis Grabe of Estonia. Unheralded Johann Chua and Elmer Haya also prevailed.
The runner-up will receive $15,000 from the total prize fund of $200,000.
Sanctioned by the World Pool & Billiard Association (WPA), the world governing body of the sport of pocket billiards, a total of 128 players worldwide were entered.
Other previous Filipino winners were Ronato Alcano (2006) and Francisco “Django” Bustamante (2010).