ORCULLO, ALCANO OFF TO QATAR FOR WORLD POOL TOURNEY; WORLD 9-BALL BEGINS TODAY

“I hope to do well in this event,” said Orcullo, a former fisherman from Bislig, Surigao del Sur in a telephone interview on Saturday.

Orcullo, is coming from a big win in the 2010 Partypoker.net World Pool Masters last May 12 to 16 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

” I prepared my self 100 percent for this event, ito na lamang kasi ang kulang sa akin at lahat naman ng bilyarista sa buong mundo ay pangarap maging WPA World 9-ball Champion,” added Orcullo, who beat Japanese Toru Kuribayashi in the World Pool Masters finals enroute the top prize US$20,000.

Alcano on his part: “Target ko na maibalik sa bansa ang world 9-ball crown,” said the lanky cue artists Alcano, who beat Ralf “Kaiser” Souquet of Germany during the finals of 2006 WPA World 9-ball at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

In 2007, Daryl Peach of Great Britain broke the heart of the Filipino crazy billiard fanatics after beating hometown crowd favorite Roberto “Pinoy Superman” Gomez in the finals at the historic Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

After this staging is no more WPA World 9-ball event being held due to global economic crises but thanks to Qatar who accepting the challenge for hosting the biggest pool event in four consecutive years. The prize fund (World Pool) for this initial appearance and in 2011 in Qatar is $250,000 and will increase to $300,000 for both 2012 and 2013.

Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) founding head Ceferino “Perry” Mariano commented the chances of the Pinoy tumbok king ” We have very good chances winning again the prestigious WPA World 9-Ball crown based in the performance of our players in the past international tournament.”

Other Filipino pool shark in the main draw are Lee Vann Corteza, Jeffrey de Luna, Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica and Antonio Lining through their world ranking status. Also being invited are newly-crowned Spanish Open ruler Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante thorugh wild card entries of the host country.

Three current WPA (World Pool Billiard Association) champion Ralf “Kaiser” Souquet of Germany (World 8-ball), Daryl Peach of Great Britain (World 9-Ball) and Mika Immonen of Finland (World Ten-ball) are leading the charge for the huge European contingent that includes Darren Appleton, Karl Boyes, Imram Majid and Scott Higgins of Great Britain, Niels Feijen, Nick Van den Berg and Huidji See of the Netherlands, Ruslan Chinakhov and Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, Artem Koshovoj of Ukraine, Thorsten Hohmann, Oliver Ortmann, Thomas Engert and Christian Reimering of Germany, Marcus Chamat of Sweden, David Alcaide of Spain, Radoslaw Babica, Karol Skowerski and Mariusz Skoneczny of Poland, Stephan Cohen of France, Fabio Petroni and Bruno Muratore of Italy, Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland, Karlo Dalmatin of Croatia, Sandor Tot of Serbia, Tony Drago of Malta and Martin Kempter of Austria.

The United States are fielding Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Corey Deuel, Charlie Williams and Oscar Dominguez. Mexico at the helm is Ernesto Dominguez while Canada are parading Alain Martel, Jason Klatt, John Morra and Francis Crevier.

Other renowned players are Ko Pin-yi, Yang Ching-shun and Chang Jung-lin of Chinese-Taipei, Ricky Yang of Indonesia, Yukio Akakariyama,Masaaki Tanaka, Hayato Hijikata and Toru Kuribayashi of Japan, Li Haitao, Dang Jinhu of China, Jeong Young Hwa and Ham Won Sik of Korea, Nitiwat Kanjanasri of Thailand, Nguyen Puc Long of Vietnam, Muhammad Zulfikri of India, Kenny Kwok and Bobby Lee Chenman of Hongkong, Ibrahim Bin Amir of Malaysia, Chan Keng Kwang and Toh Lian Han of Singapore.

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO