AFTER A FRUITFUL YEAR, LEE VANN CORTEZA EYES WORLD POOL CROWN
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 30 Dec 2011
AFTER a fruitful year, Lee Vann Corteza, has set his goal to a highest level, to joined the elite Filipino World Champion in the company of Efren "Bata" Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, Ronato "Volcano" Alcano and Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit.
"Target kong makopo ang WPA World crown (8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball) para makasama ko y'ung mga Filipino World Champion," said Corteza who is supported by Energen and Kopiko.
"Y'ung na lamang talaga ang kulang ni Van-Van, ang World Championships crown," added Christopher "Toper" Palses, head coach of the star-studded Negros Billiards Stable (NBS).
The two-time national open champion, who plays for the Negros Billiards Stable and JSY Sports of businessman Jonathan Sy, hopes to continue his winning run in 2012 when he competes in the Derby City Classic in Kentucky, USA in January, the World 8-Ball championship in Fujairah, UAE in February and the Japan Open in March.
This year, the Davao cue master who goes by the moniker ?The Slayer? has beaten high caliber opponents including compatriot and World no.1 Dennis Orcollo to rack-up four major titles in the last five months.
These include the 2011 Golden Break 9-Ball Asian Invitational Championship in Malaysia in August, the San Miguel Beer Oktoberfest 9-Ball Open Masters in October, the Philippine Bigtime Billiards Face-Off and the Manny Pacquiao International 10-ball Championships, both in December.
Corteza started playing pool in 1993 and has already won four gold medals and a silver medal at the Southeast Asian Games. In 2010, he won the US Open 10-Ball Championship, the greatestachievement of his career.
He considers Orcollo, German Ralf ?The Kaiser? Souquet and Finnish Mika ?The Ice Man? Immonen as his greatest opponents. The New York-based Immonen toppled Corteza for the World Ten Ball crown in 2009.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.
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