Pinoy Arpilleda collars Jogjakarta 9-Ball crown

FILIPINO Victor Arpilleda flashed his vintage form by winning the 2011 Jogjakarta 9-ball Open in Indonesia last Sunday.

The Jakarta-based Arpilleda who hails from Quezon City, edged Irsal Nasution of Indonesia, 11-10 in the finals to win the $7,000 top prize and the championship trophy.

Arpilleda, who won the 9-ball gold medal in the 1997 Jakarta SEA Games, outclassed Philippine Open titlist Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 9-4, in the semifinals of the 128-player event.

Last Sunday, Filipino Dennis Orcollo won the 2011 Predator International 10-Ball Open at the Robinson’s Galleria by besting Mika Immonen of Finland, 10-8, in the finals to earn $10,000.

Both Orcollo and Arpilleda are expected to see action in the 2011 BSCP National Championships which gets underway on Oct. 3-11 at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City.

This year’s national championship will adopt a three-game format to determine the overall champion. The men’s championship will feature competitions in eight ball, nine-ball and ten-ball.

The men’s champion will be determined on total points garnered by each player from all three disciplines. Points will be assigned to players based on their order of finish in each event.

The women’s championship will be a 10-ball event.

BSCP, AKTV, Star Billiards and Raya Sports have joined together in mounting this year’s championships with AKTV on IBC 13 broadcasting the event. Raya Sports will organize and promote the tournament while Star Billiards will host the 9-day pool extravaganza.

The full schedule of the 2011 National Championships: Men’s 8-Ball (Oct. 3-4), Men’s 9-Ball (Oct. 5-6-), Men’s 10-Ball (Oct. 7-8) and Women’s 10-ball (Oct. 6-8).  /Correspondent MARLON BERNARDINO