Orcollo rises from loser’s bracket to make knockout rd.

DENNIS “Robocop” Orcollo and five other Filipino cue masters won their respective do-or-die matches yesterday to advance to the knockout stage of the 2012 World 9-ball Championship at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

They will join six other Pinoys who marched outright to the KO stage last Tuesday.

Orcollo routed compatriot Raymund Faraon, 9-2 in Group 15 to stay in the title hunt in the $300,000 tournament.

Last Tuesday, Orcollo suffered a heart-breaking, 9-5 loss to Andrew Kong of Hong Kong that dropped him to the loser’s bracket.

Joining Orcollo in the knockout phase are Jundel Mazon, Marlon Caneda, Joven Alba, Cebuano Israel Rota and Elvis Calasang.

Mazon shocked American Shane Van Boening in Group 3, Caneda blasted Ceri Worts of New Zealand, 9-3, in Group 14; Alba beat Afou Nayf Abdel of Jordan while Rota nipped David Anderson of South Africa, 9-7, in Group 16; and Calasang topped Al Amar Abdul Rahman of Saudia Arabia, 9-7, in Group 11.

The latest Filipino casualties include Ramil “Bebeng” Gallego who yielded to Hsu Kai-lun of Chinese-Taipei, 9-7, in Group 2 and Joyme Vicente who suffered a sorry, 9-8 loss to Huidji See of the Netherlands in Group 1.

The six Pinoys who advanced outright to the KO stage last Tuesday include hall of famer Efren “Bata” Reyes, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Lee Vann “The Slayer” Corteza, Ronato “Volcano” Alcano, Cebuano Antonio “Ga-Ga” Gabica, Carlo “The Black Tiger” Biado and Roberto “Superman” Gomez.

A total of 128 of the best pool players from over 50 countries are vying in the $300,000 tournament which awards $40,000 to the winner. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino