Orcollo off to solid start in World 8-ball defense

DEFENDING champion Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines crushed his little-known rival Nasser Al Mujaibel of Kuwait, 7-4, to lead the march of the favorites at yesterday’s start of the 2012 World 8-ball Championship at the Expo Centre in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

Orcollo reportedly had some shaky moments on the TV table resulting to a 4-all score after eight racks. But the former fisherman from Bislig, Surigao swept the next three racks to pull away and land a spot in the final 64 in the $156,000 tournament which awards $20,000  to the winner.

“I missed some easy shots,” said Orcollo, top player of Bugsy Promotions. “The pockets are very tight and the table is new so I had to make some adjustments. I’m still focused and I’m confident I can win this thing again.”

Meanwhile, Filipinos Lee Vann Corteza and Joven Alba also made it to the Last 64.

Corteza, playing under the banner of Jonathan Sy’s Negros Billiards Stable (NBS) edged Dominic Jentsch of Germany, 7-6, while Alba defeated countryman Elvis Calasang, 7-2.

Other notable cue artists who advanced to the knock-out stage were Karol Skowverski of Poland, who beat Marcus Chamat of Sweden, 7-2; Yukio Akagariyama of Japan who nipped Tomasz Kaplan of Poland, 7-3; Salah Al Rimawi of UAE who upset Nguyen Phuc Long of Vietnam, 7-5; Darren Appleton of Great Britain who beat Vilmos Foldes of Hungrary, 7-5; Imran Majid of Great Britain who upset  Oliver Ortmann of Germany, 7-4; Toru Kuribayashi of Japan who crushed Yousfi Chaouki of MAR, 7-4; Huidji See of the Netherlands who toppled  Mohammed Ali of Iran, 7-5.

Yong Hwang of Korea who shocked Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, 7-5; Chang Jun Lin of Chinese-Tapei who routed Sayeem Hossaien of UAE, 7-3; Chris Melling of Great Britain who nipped Majid Sultan of UAE, 7-1; Serge Das of Belgium who outpointed Takhti Zarekani of Iran, 7-3; Ralf Souquet of Germany who outplayed Radoslaw Babica of Poland, 7-4; Omar Al Shaheen of Kuwait who blasted Turki Al Ali Meshaal of Qatar, 7-0; and Niels Feijen of the Netherlands who beat Lee Chenman of Hongkong, 7-3.