INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza blitzed through the round of 64 by scoring their second straight victories Wednesday in the World 10-Ball Championship at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Admittedly far from his best, Orcollo still proved too sharp for Poland?s Thomasz Kaplan, 9-5, while Corteza created shockwaves by blanking highly touted Taiwanese Yang Ching-shun, 9-0.

Despite the win, Orcollo, a 9-6 winner over compatriot Steve Villamil last Wednesday, believes his game needs a lot of improvement.

?I?m still struggling especially with my break,? said Orcollo, who spent most of yesterday sharpening his game at the practice table.

Orcollo took six of the last eight racks to beat Kaplan, who was looking to follow up his upset of German world No. 1 Ralf Soquet.

With the loss, Kaplan found himself on the brink of elimination just like Soquet, who kept his bid alive by ousting Villamil, 9-1.

An out-of-sync Yang, acknowledged as one of the top money-game players in Asia, proved easy picking for the 30-year-old Corteza, who opened his campaign with a 9-4 drubbing of Vegar Kristiansen of Norway Wednesday night.

?I got lucky when he scratched in the opening rack,? said Corteza, who reached the round of 32 in the 2007 World 9-Ball Championship also held here.

Demosthenes Pulpul, a surprise semifinalist last year, became the second Filipino to bow out after losing to double world champion Ronnie Alcano, 5-8, last night.

American Shane Van Boening also got the boot after dropping a 6-9 decision to Russian Konstantin Stepanov.

Defending champion Darren Appleton of England led the foreign charge in the round of 64 by dumping MB Alias of Brunei, 9-2.

Japan had two players in the knockout round with Naoyuki Ooi beating Vincent Facquet of France, 9-8, and Hayato Hijakita besting Finland?s Mika Immonen, 9-6.

Chinese bets Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen also reached the round of 64, along with the Netherlands? Neils Feijen, Kenny Kwok of Hong Kong, Ruslan Chinakhov of Russia, Roman Hybler of the Czech Republic, Mexican Ignacio Chavez and Mario He of Austria.

Fu nipped Sweden?s Marcus Chamat, 9-8, while Li won the last seven racks to rally past Filipino upstart Jomar de Ocampo, 9-6.

Feijen beat Chang Pei-wei of Chinese-Taipei, 9-5; Chinakhov triumphed over Oliver Ortmann of Germany, 9-5, Hybler outplayed Matjaz Erculj of Slovenia, 9-4; He crushed Turkey?s Mehmet Cankurt, 9-3, and Chavez clobbered Vietnam?s Nguyen Anh Tuan, 9-3.

In other matches Wednesday night, Marlon Manalo beat American Steve Moore, 9-4; Roberto Gomez, who rose to prominence when he finished second in the 2007 World 9-Ball Championship, overwhelmed Russia?s Alphonse Hoge, 9-1; Warren Kiamco trounced England?s Phil Burford, 9-4; Michael Feliciano toppled Rafael Guzman of Spain, 9-3; Carlo Biado downed China?s Lu Haitao, 9-4; Antonio Lining defeated Lu Hui Chan of China, and Jericho Banares nipped Jundel Mazon, 9-6.