Orcollo captures Predator crown

WORLD No. 1 Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines won the final three racks to beat Mika Immonen of Finland, 10-8 Sunday night and capture the 11th Predator International 10-Ball Championship at the Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas.

Orcollo bagged $10,000, an elegant Predator trophy and more importantly, the reigning World 8-ball champion finally won his first international tournament in Manila.

“It’s a great tournament, really hard,” said Orcollo who dropped to the losers bracket after losing to Japanese Yukio Akagariyama on opening day.

“I am so happy to win this tournament. This is my first international tournament title in Manila,” added Orcollo, who also won the 9th Predator International 10-Ball Championship two years ago in Las Vegas.

Immonen settled for the runner-up prize of $5,000.

In the semifinals, Orcollo defeated Wu Jia Qing of China, 10-5 while Immonen nipped Liu Haitao of China, 10-9. Both Wu and Liu received $3,250.

Immonen seized a 5-2 lead after winning four straight racks before Orcollo finally got his chance at the table by missing a tough shot on the 7th in the eighth rack, which the Filipino parlayed into a two-rack run that cut the lead to 5-4. A poor safety shot by Orcollo in the 10th, however, prevented him from knotting up the score as Immonen surged to 6-4.

Another error by Immonen, this time on the 1, allowed Orcollo to tie the score at 6-all. But Immonen inched ahead 7-6 after the Filipino came up dry with his break on the 13th rack. Then things started going south for the Finn.

The Iceman has been in a slump of late, failing to win any title for the last five months or so. Now he was three racks away from victory and breaking to go ahead 8-6. He had a good break on the 14th and seemed to have a clear path to the 10-ball and a decisive two-rack advantage. But he shunned the use of a bridge in an attempt to hit the 4-ball, choosing instead to stretch across the table. He missed badly, and Orcollo made him pay by tying it up at 7-7.