Pinoy pair bags 888.com World Cup of Pool title

THE Filipino tandem of Dennis “Robocop” Orcullo and Lee Vann “The Slayer” Corteza yesterday edged the Dutch pair of Niels Feijen and Nick Van Den Berg, 10-8, in the finals to win the 888.com World Cup of Pool 2013 in London, England.

Orcullo and Corteza became the second Filipino pair to win the prestigious event after billiards legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante topped the inaugural event in 2006 by crushing Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris of the United States in the final. Three years later, Reyes and Bustamante lifted the trophy again in SM North EDSA in Quezon City after beating the German tandem of Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet.

“The fans here were the reason why we won. There was a lot of pressure and things became very difficult but the Filipino community in London who supported us throughout really helped us through,” said Orcullo who shared the US$60,000 champion’s prize with Corteza.

“I reached the final of the World Cup in Manila in 2010 but we came up short so it is fantastic to win here in London. I would love it for me and Lee Vann to defend the World Cup in the Philippines next year as it would be a dream come true to win it again in our home soil,” he added.

HOT START FOR PINOYS

The Filipinos roared to a 2-0 lead in the race-to-10, winners’ break final but the Germans tied the count at 3-all after six racks. The Philippines swept the next four frames to grab a huge 7-3 lead only to see the never-say-die Dutch level the count at 7-all.

The Dutch won the next rack for 8-7 and looked set to move to the hill first but Van den Berg made it tougher than it needed going from the 7 to 8 and Feijen missed a pressure pot that probably should have gone in.

So, instead of 9-7 it was 8-8 and the tension was palpable. A great break eased the nerves for the Filipinos and they cleaned the table to reach the hill.

Orcollo broke in the 18th frame but nothing went in. Feijen shot the 1 ball home and with an open layout, it looked as though it was going to a decider. Van den Berg though, twitched on the pink 4 to seemingly gift the rack and the match but some poor positional play from both Filipinos made every shot a heart-stopper. The big one was the long 8 ball which Corteza managed to pocket and when Orcullo downed the final 9, pandemonium broke loo9se in the Pinoys’ camp.

Van den Berg was willing to take the positives from the week; “We have never reached further than a quarter-final at the World Cup. There are some very difficult opponents in the tournament and we played really good pool all week. It is too bad we didn’t snap it up but if I can sign for second place every time we play I will do it”

“It was pretty close but they’re great players and play great as a team,” Feijen added.