Dennis Orcollo leads PH charge in 10-Ball

MANILA—World no. 1 Dennis Orcollo trounced 2009 10-ball champion Mika Immonen of Finland, 8-5, Saturday to barge into the round of 16 of the 2011 Guinness World Series of Pool 10-Ball Challenge at the Mall Taman Anggrek in Jakarta.

With the win, Orcollo set up a clash against world No. 2. Yukio Akagariyama of Japan. Akagariyama downed Singaporean Goh Chin-teck, 8-4.

Sporting an unblemished record in gaining the round of 32, the favored Orcollo had a shaky start. An unforced error on the 7 ball in the opening rack followed by a scratch off the break in the second saw him trail the Finn, 0-2.

In the fourth rack, a brilliant jump shot over the red 3 to sink the 1 ball came to waste as Orcollo then fouled on his approach to the 9 ball, paving the way for a 3-1 Immonen lead.

It was the Finn’s turn to commit a mistake in the fifth rack. A straight-forward pot of the 1 ball off the break from Immonen led to a routine cleanup by the Filipino, who followed it up with a skillful break and run out of the sixth rack to level the count at 3-3.

The turning point for Orcollo came in the eighth frame where his patience was rewarded with Immonen coming up with an exposed safety on the 4 ball. Wasting no time, Orcollo swept the next three racks to take the lead for good.

Immonen then committed a final blunder in the 13th rack, missing a side pocket shot on the 9 ball to hand Orcollo the victory.
Other Filipinos who advanced to the round of 16 were Roberto Gomez, Jundel Mazon and Jech Limen.

Gomez downed Ari Hartanto, 8-5; Mazon nipped Indonesian Bewi Simanjuntak, 8-7; and Limen edged Stanza Purba, 8-7.

Another Filipino, Warren Kiamco, however, bowed to 2007 US Open 9-ball champion Shane Van Boening, 4-8.

Also advancing to the top 16 were Indonesian Sahroni, who beat compatriot Muhamad Junarto, 8-5; Canadian Adam Smith, who tamed Taiwanese Chang Jung-lin, 8-5; Indonesian Irsal Nasution, who subdued American Johnny Archer, 8-4; Taiwanese Kuo Po-cheng, who tripped Indonesian Heru Gunawan, 8-4; and German Thorsten Hohmann, who thwarted Great Britain’s Raj Hundal.