MANILA, Philippines—Top Filipino contender Dennis Orcollo was kept praying in his seat for the better part of the match.
Standing no chance against the impeccable performance of Germany’s Ralf Souquet, Orcollo dropped his first assigment, 2-9, and was relegated to the win-or-go-home bracket of the 2011 Philippine Open Pool championships.
A blink from Orcollo in the 5th set proved costly after drawing 2-all as Souquet scored the next seven points for the win.
Souquet played almost sans a flaw in the last seven racks, even racking up five straight break and run outs.
“In order to beat Orcollo, you have to bring your A-game,” said Souquet, who barged into the round-of-16.
The only time Orcollo was able to feel the table was a poor kick shot in the 6th rack and after a dry break from Souquet in the 11th rack where he even misfired on a jump shot on the four ball.
Orcollo will have to overcome Kuwait’s Abdullah Al Yousuf in order to stay in contention.
Meanwhile, Lee Van Cortez kept his streak alive as he overcame a nip-and-tuck start to defeat Taiwan’s Chang Jung Lin, 9-5, and move to the last 16.
Allan Cuartero and Ramil Gallego made short work of Qatar’s Bashar Hussain and Japan’s Oi Naoyuki, respectively, with the score of 9-4, while Roland Dela Cruz survived Indonesia’s Siauw Nieto, 9-7.
Jericho Bañares, who earlier upset world champion Mika Immonen, bowed out of the tournament after bowing to Al Yousef, 6-9.