Reigning World Number One Dennis Orcollo overcame a spirited challenge from Indonesia's top cueist Ricky Yang, 9-7, in their group stage opener to remain one of the top contenders for the Guinness 9ball Tour Penang leg crown. Unfortunately, fellow Filipino campaigner, 2004 WPA World Pool Champion Alex Pagulayan could not duplicate the feat as he was upset by Vietnam's doe-eyed sharpshooter Luong Chi Dung who tamed the mighty "Lion", 9-7.
Coming from recent back-to-back tournament wins at the Japan9ball Open and the Philippines Quezon City 9-ball Championship, it was clear that Orcollo was on a roll and expectations for his performance in the Penangleg were high. However, judging from the preliminary results at the group stage, it became apparent that he will need to raise his game a notch higher as the competition field has shown that the level of skill amongst the region's pool masters keep increasing by the minute.
In fact, his first opponent Yang almost managed to steal the thunder away from Orcollo as he gave the Filipino a very tough time during their encounter at the morning sessions. Leading the contest 4-2, Orcollo looked poised to pull away from the Indonesian but a dry break at the 8th rack allowed the Indonesian to stop the bleeding and halt the two-rack streak of the Filipino. But facing a determined and focused opponent, he was only able to notch two racks to his name before Orcollo went back to offensive mode to arrive first on the hill 8-4. However, two poorly executed pot attempts in the 13th and 15th racks from the Filipino gave Yang the opportunity to orchestrate a three rack streak of his own and close the gap once more.
Luckily for Orcollo, a well-placed defensive shot on the yellow one left Yang with an awkward attempt at the corner pocket. The ensuing miss was enough for the Filipino veteran to clean up and claim his first win of the 2008 tour season.
With the group stage win tucked safely under his belt a relieved Orcollo commented "This takes a lot of the pressure away since I only need to win one more match in order to advance to the quarterfinals. It certainly gives a lot of boost to my confidence which I will need when I face Yang Ching-Shun later today. I think he is a very skilled and very dangerous player. But I also believe that I am ready. I want to win this tournament for our country."
Meanwhile, Pagulayan was unable to come back from a sluggish start to lose in the Group C opener. Numerous miscues and uncharacteristic unforced errors spelled doom for the Filipino hotshot. Although he was able to spark a mini-comeback late in the game, the early 6-2 advantage by Dung proved to be too much of a challenge even for the former world pool champion. With the loss, Pagulayan needs to win his next match versus Korea's Ryu Seung Woo in the afternoon session in order to have a chance of advancing towards the next round.
Other match results:
Wu Chia-Ching (TPE) bt. Muhammad Zulfikri (INA), 9-6
Telecast of Asia's premier pool competition will be carried LIVE on STAR Sports with fifteen hours of exhilarating competition from 4 April to 6 April 2008. Broadcast times are as follows:
Fri, 04 April, 20085.00pm (HKT) Joven Bustamante (PHI) vs Naoyuki Oi (JAP)
6.30pm (HKT) Ibrahim Amir (MAS) vs Antonio Gabica (PHI)
8.00pm (HKT) Chang Jung-Lin (TPE) vs Fu Jian-Bo (CHN)
Sat, 05 April, 2008 from 12.00pm (HKT) Quarterfinals (4 Matches)
Sun, 06 April, 2008 rom 12.00pm (HKT) Semifinals & Finals (3 Matches)
(Competition on Friday will start at 11am; TV Schedules subject to change without prior notice)
The Guinness 9 Ball Tour is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) and organized by ESPN STAR Sports' Event Management Group (EMG). Guinness is the title sponsor for the Tour. The local sanctioning body is the Malaysian Snooker and Billiards Federation. Mansion 88 is the gold sponsor. Iwan Simonis and Aramith supply the official tablecloth and official balls respectively. Brunswick Metro provides the official pool table while Predator is the official cue. BCLN is the official apparel. The Sun is the Media Partner. The Official Hotel and Venue is the G Hotel. STAR Sports is the official broadcaster while Astro is the official Broadcast Partner.
