MANILA, Philippines—German ace Ralf Souquet used a strong start to hold off Filipino rival Dennis Orcollo in the Philippine Bigtime Billiards (PBB) Face Off Series Saturday night at the Pagcor Airport Casino in Parañaque City.
The former World 9-Ball and 8-Ball champion zoomed to a 5-0 lead that proved enough cushion to stave off the rally by Orcollo, the World No. 1.
Orcollo was seeking payback for the loss he suffered to Souquet in the finals of the World Pool Masters last September.
But Souquet capitalized on the winners’-break format of the 10-ball match to collect the winner’s prize of $5,000. Orcollo settled for $2,500.
Orcollo managed to trim the deficit to 5-7, before Souquet broke and ran out the next two racks to complete the convincing win.
“Luck was on my side until the end,” said Souquet, who faces the fast-rising Carlo Biado on Saturday.
Satisfied with the attention generated by the match, the organizing MegaSportsWorld and BRKHRD Corp. hinted of another Orcollo-Souquet duel next year.
“I look forward to playing against Ralf in the future,” said Orcollo, who hails from Bislig, Surigao del Sur.
Other matches lined up pit Ronnie Alcano and Daryl Peach in a duel of former world champions on Nov. 19 and Peach against Francisco “Django” Bustamante on Nov. 26.
The matches are streamed live at www.megasportsworld.com, www.starbilliards.com and www.starbilliards.com.ph.
Also backing the event are Pagcor, PCSO, Accel, Diamond Table, Predator cues, Simonis cloth, Malungai Life Oil, I-Bar, Human Plus Probiotics, Golden Leaf Restaurant, Hermes Sports.