Orcollo off to hot start in World Pool Masters

Games Today:

Ralf Souquet (Germany) vs. Mika Immonen (Finland)

Darren Appleton (England) vs. Efren Reyes (Philippines)

DEFENDING champion Dennis “Robocop” Orcollo got his title defense to a rousing start by crushing Malta’s Tony “Tornado” Drago, 8-2 yesterday in the opening of the 19th Party Poker World Pool Masters at the Block of SM North Edsa in Quezon City.

It was the kind of start that Orcollo — who won the World Pool Masters tiara last year by beating Japanese Toru Kuribayashi, 8-3 — had hoped for.

“In this race-to-8, winner’s break format, its important that you start the match well. Any mistake can easily lead to a loss because its such a short game and the players competing are so talented. So far, I’m pleased with how I am playing and I look forward to bringing this momentum to the next round and hopefully all the way to the championship,” said the world No. 1 Orcollo.

Orcollo jumped to a commanding 6-1 lead and was never really threatened the rest of the way.

The three-day event, organized by Matchroom Sports in cooperation with Solar Sports, offers $20,000 to the champion.

“It’s still too early to tell if Dennis (Orcollo) will retain his title but it’s a good start,” said Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) co-founder Ceferino “Perry” Mariano whose Bugsy promotions promotes Orcollo.

The win put Orcollo in the quarter-final round where he will meet at 3 p.m. today the winner of the match between Chang Jung-Lin of Chinese-Taipei and Shane Van Boening of the United States which was still being played as of press time. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino