FILIPINO BILLIARDS STARS ORCULLO, ALCANO LEAD ASIAN INVASION OF FUJAIRAH WORLD 8-BAL

Thursday, April 1, 2010, 1:45
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BUGSY PROMOTION top bets reigning International Predator 10-Ball Champion Dennis “Robocop” Orcullo and former double world champion (WPA 9-ball and 8-ball) Ronato “Volcano” Alcano lead a stud filled crew of Pinoys when the Etisalat World 8-Ball Pool Championship gets under way on April 4 to 10 at the Fujairah Tennis Club in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

“Dennis (Orcullo) is the best player in the Philippines now. Nobody will gamble with him there, he’s beaten everyone so many times already all the stakehorses are scared to send a player against him. He practices daily like a machine”, said Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) head Ceferino “Perry” Mariano, president of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions.

Orcullo, a former fisherman from Bislig, Surigao del Sur lost to fellow Bugsy ace Alcano during the finals of the 2007 edition.

The Calamba lanky cue artists Alcano, on the other hand, failed to defend its title losing to Ralf “Kaiser” Souquet of Germany, 13-9, in the finals of the 2008 edition.

Other elite group of Filipino consists of Efren “Bata” Reyes, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan, Marlon “Marvelous” Manalo and 2009 World Ten Ball Championship Finalist Lee Vann “The Slayer” Corteza.

The tournament features a 64-man field and offers a $100,000 total pot prize with the champion getting $28,000.

Meanwhile, Etisalat announced its title sponsorship of the world tournament that is being held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah.

“This event has grown in status since last year and we are more than happy to have the best pool players from right across the globe enjoy playing in Fujairah,” said tournament director Ahmad Ebrahim in a local newspaper.

“We also believe such an event helps to improve the standard of our local talent who get the opportunity to pit their talent against the world’s very best,” he added.

Also competing are world’s top 10 players led by World No 1 Mika Immonen of Finland, Word No 2 Ralf Souquet of Germany, World No 3 Darren Appleton of England, World No 5 Ricky Yang of Indonesia, World No 6 Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, World No 7 Niels Feijen of the The Netherlands, World No 8 Marcus Chamat of Sweden and World 9 Karl Boyes of United Kingdom.

BY: MARLON BERNARDNO.