SLUMP OR SIMPLY OUTPLAYED?

GIVE ME A BREAK
Commentary By: Frank Lacambra

Slump or simply outplayed?

The 2007 Guinness 9-Ball Tour, the biggest billiards event in Asia this year, ended with the Filipinos completely shut out from the title races (5 legs). And they fared no better in the Grand Final, although one of our guys in the 10-man contest, Lee Vann Corteza (the other was Ronnie Alcano) was a finalist.

Against a well-rested Chang Jung-li, Corteza made a fight of it. And kept confidently apace till the halfway mark when he tied up the match at 7-7. In fact, at one point—the 15th rack—it looked as if he had found his touch and was set to go for the elusive win. But it was not to be.

Hope suddenly evaporated when Corteza started missing those crucial shots. And worse, when he was making shot selections that you wouldn’t normally expect of a player of his caliber.

Put these all together and the outcome was almost a foregone conclusion. Corteza’s game unraveled shortly after, and with that went his shot at the over-all title. Chang, in contrast, kept his cool and consistently played high-quality pool. He certainly deserved his win.

What went wrong? Some observers say the Filipinos were in a slump. Others see it differently. They think they were simply outplayed by pool warriors who did their homework—and played smarter.

What do you think?