FORMER WPA World 9-ball and 8-ball champion champion Filipino Ronato "Volcano" Alcano rediscovered his fine form but Japanese Yukio Akakariyama scuttled his bid to win another world title.
Akakariyama outsteadied Alcano in a thrilling duel, 13-11, by display of pressure packed 9-ball before a partisan crowd of close to 1500, most of them Filipinos, to add the 2011 World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship to his growing list of titles late Saturday at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.
For beating the Calamba hotshot Alcano, Akakariyama join the list of the Japanese World 9-ball champions in the company of Takeshi Okumura (1994, Chicago, USA) and Kunihiko Takahashi (1998, Taipei, Taiwan).
His triumph also collected $36,000 top purse in this $250,000 total pot prize week-long WPA sanctioned tournament. Last May, Akakariyama failed to win his first-ever World Ten Ball crown losing to eventual champion Huidjie See of the Netherlands, 9-6, in the semi-finals was held in Manila.
Ranked No. 2 in the world, Alcano earned his way in the finals by edging countryman Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, 11-9, in an all Filipino-semi final encounter to arranged a titular showdown with Akakariyama, an 11-10 winner over England's Mark Gray.
Alcano, who won the 2007 WPA World 8-ball crown in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, received the runner-up prize of $18,000 while semi-finalists Orcollo and Gray, both went home $10,000 each.
Alcano, who beat German ace Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet for the 2006 WPA World 9-ball crown in Manila, meantime failed to duplicate the feats of Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the USA (1992, Taipei, Taiwan), (1997, Chicao, USA) and Chao Fong-pang of Chinese-Taipei (Konigswinter, Germany, 1993), (Alicante, Spain, 2000), both won twice in WPA World 9-ball competition.
Earl The Pearl" Strickland of the USA (1990 Bergheim, Germany), (1991 Las Vegas, USA) and (2002 Cardiff, Wales, UK) hold the distinction of the most winningest player for the WPA World 9-ball tiara by winning thrice.
Other Filipino WPA World 9-ball champions were Efren "Bata" Reyes (1999, Cardiff, Wales, UK), Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2004, Taipei, Taiwan), and Francisco "Django" Bustamante (2010, Doha, Qatar).MARLON BERNARDINO
DOHA, QATAR; JAPANESE AKAKARIYAMA POCKETS $36,000
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
FORMER WPA World 9-ball and 8-ball champion champion Filipino Ronato "Volcano" Alcano rediscovered his fine form but Japanese Yukio Akakariyama scuttled his bid to win another world title.
Akakariyama outsteadied Alcano in a thrilling duel, 13-11, by display of pressure packed 9-ball before a partisan crowd of close to 1500, most of them Filipinos, to add the 2011 World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship to his growing list of titles late Saturday at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.
For beating the Calamba hotshot Alcano, Akakariyama join the list of the Japanese World 9-ball champions in the company of Takeshi Okumura (1994, Chicago, USA) and Kunihiko Takahashi (1998, Taipei, Taiwan).
His triumph also collected $36,000 top purse in this $250,000 total pot prize week-long WPA sanctioned tournament. Last May, Akakariyama failed to win his first-ever World Ten Ball crown losing to eventual champion Huidjie See of the Netherlands, 9-6, in the semi-finals was held in Manila.
Ranked No. 2 in the world, Alcano earned his way in the finals by edging countryman Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, 11-9, in an all Filipino-semi final encounter to arranged a titular showdown with Akakariyama, an 11-10 winner over England's Mark Gray.
Alcano, who won the 2007 WPA World 8-ball crown in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, received the runner-up prize of $18,000 while semi-finalists Orcollo and Gray, both went home $10,000 each.
Alcano, who beat German ace Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet for the 2006 WPA World 9-ball crown in Manila, meantime failed to duplicate the feats of Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the USA (1992, Taipei, Taiwan), (1997, Chicao, USA) and Chao Fong-pang of Chinese-Taipei (Konigswinter, Germany, 1993), (Alicante, Spain, 2000), both won twice in WPA World 9-ball competition.
Earl The Pearl" Strickland of the USA (1990 Bergheim, Germany), (1991 Las Vegas, USA) and (2002 Cardiff, Wales, UK) hold the distinction of the most winningest player for the WPA World 9-ball tiara by winning thrice.
Other Filipino WPA World 9-ball champions were Efren "Bata" Reyes (1999, Cardiff, Wales, UK), Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2004, Taipei, Taiwan), and Francisco "Django" Bustamante (2010, Doha, Qatar).MARLON BERNARDINO
United Arab Emirates, received the runner-up prize of $18,000 while semi-finalists Orcollo and Gray, both went home $10,000 each.
Alcano, who beat German ace Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet for the 2006 WPA World 9-ball crown in Manila, meantime failed to duplicate the feats of Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the USA (1992, Taipei, Taiwan), (1997, Chicao, USA) and Chao Fong-pang of Chinese-Taipei (Konigswinter, Germany, 1993), (Alicante, Spain, 2000), both won twice in WPA World 9-ball competition.
Earl The Pearl" Strickland of the USA (1990 Bergheim, Germany), (1991 Las Vegas, USA) and (2002 Cardiff, Wales, UK) hold the distinction of the most winningest player for the WPA World 9-ball tiara by winning thrice.
Other Filipino WPA World 9-ball champions were Efren "Bata" Reyes (1999, Cardiff, Wales, UK), Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2004, Taipei, Taiwan), and Francisco "Django" Bustamante (2010, Doha, Qatar).
By: MARLON BERNARDINO
