World No. 1 Orcollo aces Qatar billiards crown

World No. 1 Orcollo aces Qatar billiards crown

Also in this year, he won the BCA Open Nine-ball Championship, a tournament where three fellow Filipinos were defeated in the final in past editions of that event. He competed for the second time at the World Straight Pool Championship. Unlike the previous event, where he was the only Philippine player in contention, Warren Kiamco joined him. He had a much better performance in the tournament and achieved a high run of 117 (the fourth highest in the tournament). However, he was defeated by Oliver Ortmann, the eventual winner of the event, in the quarter-finals by a lopsided 200-7 score, the largest margin in the history of the tournament.

2009 Dennis Orcollo trounced veteran Niels Feijen of the Netherlands, 13-5, to win the inaugural 2008 Qatar International Open 9-Ball Championship at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha.

It was the World Number 1’s third title this year after the Quezon City 9-Ball Championship and the All-Japan Open last March, fortifying his tag as the best and most fearsome cue artist today.

“Masayang-masaya ako sa pagkapanalo kong ito, at ang tagumpay kong ito ay iniaalay ko sa lahat ng ating mga kababayang Pilipino (I’m very happy for this win which I dedicate to my countrymen),” said Orcollo, one of the 12 Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) members who competed in the $150,000 (P6.75-million) event.

The 29-year-old Surigao del Sur native pocketed the $40,000 (P1.8-million) top purse at stake in the week-long event participated by over a hundred world-class players from around the world.

Orcollo was among the 18 Filipinos who were seeded in the 96-man main draw. He swept his group stage matches against Subah Habib of Bharain (9-1) and Darren Appleton of England (9-6) to easily barge into the knockout stage.

There, he blasted former world champion Oliver Ortmann of Germany (11-6) in the Last 32 and countrymen Warren Kiamco (11-6) in the Last 16 and Ramil Gallego (11-9) in the quarterfinals and reigning world 8-ball champion Ralf Souquet of Germany (11-8) in the semis.

Against Feijen, Orcollo romped off to a blazing start, quickly building an 8-3 lead to set the tone for the unexpected rout.

The other Filipinos who competed in the tournament were BMPAP’s former world titlists Efren “Bata” Reyes, Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, former world No. 1 Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Gomez, Gandy Valle, Joven Bustamante Lee Van Corteza and Benjie Guevarra, as well as Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Jeff De Luna and Middle East-based Alan Cuartero, Joyme Vicente and Ruben Cuna.