ORCOLLO AND ALCANO BATTLE THEIR WAY INTO WORLD CUP OF POOL QUARTER FINALS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 10 Sep 2011
The Philippines "A" team of World No.1 Dennis Orcollo and No. 4 Ronnie Alcano battled their way into the quarter finals of the prestigious World Cup of Pool after the fight of their lives against Canada at the SM Mall North in Metro Manila.
The top Philippine tandem had to overcome stern resistance from Canada to progress to the quarter-finals of the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool where they will meet Taiwan.
Matchroom Sport executive Luke Riches reported that the Canadian duo of Jason Klatt and John Morra pushed the Filipinos to the limit and forced them to play their best in the closing stages. Never in front until the closing games, Orcollo and Alcano evened the score at 6-6 and then closed it out with some excellent shot-making.
Orcollo in a post match interview said "That was a tough game and we?re just relieved to get into the next round. They pushed us all the way and there were times when I thought we might not do it. But we dug in a showed what we can do. There are now two Filipino teams in the last eight so that?s something for everyone to be proud of.?
Team "B" made up of pool legends Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante earlier entered the last eight with a win over India as they continued their quest for a coveted third World Cup of Pool title.
Canada always led as neither side got to grips with the break. They went toe to toe with their opponents and kept regaining a one rack lead until they found themselves 6-4 up in the race to eight match.
That?s when the Philippines came out of their fog and stepped up to the plate. A 4/6 combo from Orcollo in the next set up a run out and a 5/9 levelled the match. The momentum was with the home side and they polished off the final two racks for the win before a joyous hometown crowd.
The PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool features 32 two-player teams representing 31 nations ? hosts Philippines have two sides. The total prize-fund is $250,000 with $60,000 going to the winning pair.
The first match of the evening session was a candidate for game of the tournament so far as Taiwan withstood a rampant Italian comeback to shade it in the deciding rack.
Represented by the Ko brothers ? Pin-yi, the elder and Ping-chun, the younger - the Taiwanese had an incredible combined age of just 37! Their opponents, Fabio Petroni and Bruno Muratore were a little longer in the tooth, but they contributed hugely to an entertaining match.
Riches reported that the Italians were too loose in the early stages as their mistakes helped contribute to an early 4-1 Taiwanese lead. The Ko brothers came with all the shots as they soon reached the hill at 7-3 which is when it all got interesting.
A blunder from the elder Ko allowed the Italians the chance to take the rack and a break and run in the next made it 7-5. The younger Ko left a sighter on the 1 ball in the next and Petroni took it to set up another run out and get within one of the Chinese Taipei boys.
Ping the younger nearly fluked the 9 ball in the next but left it hanging over the pocket invitingly and Petroni banged it home to make it a hill hill affair.
A dry break from Muratore left the 1 ball on and the relieved Ko brothers ran the rack for victory.
The 2011 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world?s leading online poker school. Cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc, tables by Star Xing Pai and the Official Cue is Predator.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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