by Marlon Bernardino
THE tandem of Dennis "Robocop" Orcullo and Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza made the country proud anew after winning the 888.com World Cup of Pool 2013 yesterday at the York Hall, in Bethnal Green in London, United Kingdom.
The Filipino duo edged the pair of Niels Feijen and Nick Van Den Berg of the Netherlands, 10-8, in the finals to enroute the coveted title plus the top prize of $60,000.
On the road to the finals, the two Pinoy tumbok king needed to beat Croatia, Singapore, Hungary and Chinese Taipei.
Thus, Orcullo and Corteza became the second Filipino pairing to win this prestigious title. Filipino legandary pool masters Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante won the inaugural event in 2006 when they crushed Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris of the United States in the final in Newport, Wales. Three years later, Reyes and Bustamante lifted the trophy again in SM North EDSA in Quezon City when they beat Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet of Germany in the final match.
“The fans here were why we won. There was a lot of pressure and things became very difficult but the Filipino community in London who supported us throughout really helped us through." said Orcullo to the organizing committee Matchroom Sport.
“I reached the final of the World Cup in Manila in 2010 but we came up short so it is fantastic to win here in London. I would love it for me and Lee Vann to defend the World Cup in the Philippines next year as it would be a dream come true to win it again in our home country,” he added.
Corteza added “You have to thank those Philippines supporters who helped us through. Representing my country is such a big honour for me and I’m very thankful and proud to have won the World Cup of Pool for the Philippines.”
The Filipino took a 2-0 commanding lead in the race to ten racks, winner' break format but was tied at 6th racks with 3-all count. The Philippines moved 7-3 until the Dutch level the count at 7-all.
The Dutch took the next and looked set to move to the hill but Van den Berg made it tougher than it needed to be, going from the 7 to 8 and Feijen missed a pressure pot that probably should have gone in.
Instead of 9-7 it was 8-8 and the tension was palpable. A great break eased the nerves for the Filipinos and they ran out to reach the hill against the odds.
Orcollo was breaking for the match but nothing went down. Feijen shot the 1 ball home and with an open layout, it looked as though it was going to a decider. Van den Berg though twitched on the pink 4 to seemingly gift the rack and the match but some poor positional play from both Filipinos made every shot a heart-stopper. The big one was the long 8 ball and somehow Corteza managed to make it and when his partner downed the final 9 it sealed a superb win.
Van den Berg was willing to take the positives from the week; “We have never reached further than a quarter-final at the World Cup. There are some very difficult opponents in the tournament and we played really good pool all week. It is too bad we didn’t snap it up but if I can sign for second place every time we play I will do it”
Feijen added, “We showed a lot of heart as we were down 7-3 and missed some difficult shots. At 8-7 I missed the 8 ball and unfortunately in the last game it was the 4 ball but you win together and lose together. It was pretty close but they’re great players and play great as a team.”
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