Souquet Sent West at U.S. Billiards Championship

In the 7 p.m. round, Ralf Souquet survived a 48-hour stretch without sleeping to only arrive in Chesapeake and get 7 hours of sleep before his match against Northeastern regional player Manny Chau. Souquet was flying in from Switzerland, where he just won back-to-back EuroTour events, something that has not been accomplished in years. Though he suffered from a headache and general malaise Monday evening, he experienced few troubles sending Chau west 11-3.

However, his next match against Chris Szuter did not go so well for “The Surgeon.” Leading 5-3, Souquet faltered and allowed Szuter to catch up. The Canton, OH, room owner not only caught up, he put the screws to Souquet, taking over and reaching the hill 10-6. He missed the 3 ball badly, but Souquet failed to get shape on the 5 with ball in hand and gave control back to Szuter, who won the match 11-6.

Steve Moore matched up with John Kutcher, who owns the poolroom Sharks in Las Vegas. With his break in full gear, Moore dominated the match from the beginning, going from a 5-2 lead up to a 9-4 lead before closing things out at 11-4.

Action Heats Up at U.S. Open

Putting the term "open" in the title of a major sporting event implies that anybody has a chance of lining up next to the world's finest. On Day 2 of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, three former champs were knocked out of the winners bracket by a trio of unheralded opponents.

2002 Open winner Ralf Souquet was bounced leftward by Chris Szuter. Souquet, who won the EuroTour's stop in Switzerland on Saturday, was never a serious threat to Szuter, whose best finish of '08 was 13th at August's Turning Stone event. The unheralded American easily finished off his upset over Souquet, 11-6.

Jeremy Jones and John Schmidt were also victims of the annual round of early upsets at the Open. Jones dropped a second-round hill-hill match to Mike Badsteubner after leading by as many as four games. Schmidt fell by an 11-6 score to Beau Runningen.

While former U.S. Open winners struggled, some reigning champions advanced without incident into the third round. Last year's winner Shane Van Boening topped Troy Miller, 11-7. Reigning 9-ball world champ Daryl Peach and recently crowned World 10-Ball titlist Darren Appleton also won their second-round matches.

Alcano Leads RP Campaign in US Open

Former double world champion Ronnie Alcano leaves for the United States today to compete in the 33rd Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship that starts Sunday at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Alcano, a stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano, will lead a lean Filipino squad in vying in one of the toughest pool tournament in world.

He will be joined by former world no.1 Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Ramil Gallego, Lee Van Corteza, Warren Kiamco, Rodolfo Luat, Jose “Amang” Parica and Joven Alba in mixing up with the field of close to 300 players from all over the world for the guaranteed total prize of $250,000, including the champion purse of $40,000.

The other top Filipino cue artists did not join in the event for various reasons. Efren “Bata”Reyes is undergoing medical checkup, while current world no.1 Dennis Orcollo and former world champion Alex Pagulayan are set to compete in the Grand Finals of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour in Jakarta, Indonesia, which is slated on October 24.

Alcano, who was a runner-up to American Shane Van Boening last year, is hoping to become the third Filipino to win the prestigious event after Reyes (1994) and Pagulayan (2005).

“I’ll do my best to go all the way this time."  said Alcano, who is searching for his first major title since winning the 2007 World 8-Ball Championship.

Meanwhile, the Quezon City Council has passed a resolution commending Orcollo for his recent string of triumph in the international and local arena.

Led by Majority Floor Leader Ariel Inton, the councilors, with the concurrence of Mayor Sonny Belmonte and Vice-Mayor Herbert Bautista, cited the 29-year-old Orcollo for his title conquest in the 2008 Quezon City 9-Ball Champion, the All-Japan Open, the Qatar International 9-Ball Open, the Guinness 9-Ball Tour leg in Guangzhou, China, and just recently, his and Bustamante’s third-place finish in the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool.

“Orcollo’s string of triumphs only proved that the Philippines is still considered as the powerhouse when it comes to billiards because of the achievement of the Filipinos in different prestigious billiards competitions here and abroad,” the resolution states.

“Whereas, he is one of the Outstanding Citizens of Quezon City and a true Quezon City pride, is worthy of emulation and an inspiration for the Quezon City aspiring athletes who will join in all international competition.”

The resolution will be presented to Orcollo today during the SCOOP Forum at Kamayan Restaurant in Ermita, Manila.

Alcano Leads RP Campaign in US Open

Former double world champion Ronnie Alcano leaves for the United States today to compete in the 33rd Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship that starts Sunday at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Alcano, a stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano, will lead a lean Filipino squad in vying in one of the toughest pool tournament in world.

He will be joined by former world no.1 Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Ramil Gallego, Lee Van Corteza, Warren Kiamco, Rodolfo Luat, Jose “Amang” Parica and Joven Alba in mixing up with the field of close to 300 players from all over the world for the guaranteed total prize of $250,000, including the champion purse of $40,000.

The other top Filipino cue artists did not join in the event for various reasons. Efren “Bata”Reyes is undergoing medical checkup, while current world no.1 Dennis Orcollo and former world champion Alex Pagulayan are set to compete in the Grand Finals of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour in Jakarta, Indonesia, which is slated on October 24.

Alcano, who was a runner-up to American Shane Van Boening last year, is hoping to become the third Filipino to win the prestigious event after Reyes (1994) and Pagulayan (2005).

“I’ll do my best to go all the way this time."  said Alcano, who is searching for his first major title since winning the 2007 World 8-Ball Championship.

Meanwhile, the Quezon City Council has passed a resolution commending Orcollo for his recent string of triumph in the international and local arena.

Led by Majority Floor Leader Ariel Inton, the councilors, with the concurrence of Mayor Sonny Belmonte and Vice-Mayor Herbert Bautista, cited the 29-year-old Orcollo for his title conquest in the 2008 Quezon City 9-Ball Champion, the All-Japan Open, the Qatar International 9-Ball Open, the Guinness 9-Ball Tour leg in Guangzhou, China, and just recently, his and Bustamante’s third-place finish in the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool.

“Orcollo’s string of triumphs only proved that the Philippines is still considered as the powerhouse when it comes to billiards because of the achievement of the Filipinos in different prestigious billiards competitions here and abroad,” the resolution states.

“Whereas, he is one of the Outstanding Citizens of Quezon City and a true Quezon City pride, is worthy of emulation and an inspiration for the Quezon City aspiring athletes who will join in all international competition.”

The resolution will be presented to Orcollo today during the SCOOP Forum at Kamayan Restaurant in Ermita, Manila.

2nd Billiards Stars Search set Nov. 5-9

FILIPINO billiards enthusiasts gather anew to compete for top honors in the second leg of the Billiards Stars Search which gets underway on Nov. 5 to 9 at the famous Star Billiards Center in Grace Village, Quezon City.

Defending champion Elvis Calasang lead the cast along with reigning national champion Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Jeffrey de Luna, Mario Tolentino, Victor Arpilleda, Edgar Acaba, Leonardo Didal and reigning RP Junior champion Jerico Banares in Division A.

The four (A, B, C and D) division event is organized by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines in close cooperation with Raya Sports, Philippines Billiards Foundation and Star Billiards Center.

The game is a Ten Ball WPA rules using the winner's break format. Entry fee is P400. Prizes include cash, trophies and in kind. Cash prizes will depend on the number of entries.

Interested parties may register at Star Billiards Center, tel. No. 364-6041, 0917-888-8888, Rizal Memorial Center, tel. No. 0928-744-1740, or Raya Sports, tel. No. 895-2021.

Orcollo Vows To Bounce Back From Failed World Cup Bid

After failing in his mission to bring the World Cup of Pool back to the Philippines and taking much of the blame for it, world no.1 Dennis Orcollo vowed to bounce back and resume his winning ways to reap more honors for the country.

His next target: the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Finals on October 24 to 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“I’m very disappointed that we weren’t able to fulfill our mission of winning the World Cup, and I blame myself for it,” said Orcollo, who made a couple of unforced errors that doomed his and teammate Francisco “Django” Bustamante’s bid as they succumbed to a 9-6 defeat against the eventual champion American pair of Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris in the semifinals of the event held in Rotterdam, Holland.

“With that, I promise to improve my game even more and I’ll do my best to win more titles for our country,” added the 29-year-old stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano.

Orcollo has so far won four major titles this year – the 2008 Quezon City 9-Ball Championship, the All-Japan Open, the Qatar International 9-Ball Open and the Guinness Tour leg in Guangzhou, China – to more than validate his tag as the world’s best cue artist today.

After the Guinness finale, he will join forces with seven other top Filipinos pool masters in going up against a group of topnotch international players in the Q.C. Invasion: Quezon City-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown slated on December 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall.

There, he and Bustamante will have a chance to exact revenge against their World Cup tormentor, in particular, Morris who is part of the Team World in the event organized by Quezon City Council Majority Leader Ariel Inton and supported by the Quezon City government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte and Senate President Manny Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports.

Besides Orcollo and Bustamante, the other members of the Team Quezon-City Philippines are former world champions Efren “Bata” Reyes, Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, as well as 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, and former Southeast Asian Games multi-gold medalists Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco.

Also bannering the international selection are former world champions Mika Immonen of Finland and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany.

The Q.C. Invasion is also supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), the Quezon City Tourism Council, Puyat Sports, Bugsy Promotions and the Negros Billiards Stable.

Orcollo Vows To Bounce Back From Failed World Cup Bid

After failing in his mission to bring the World Cup of Pool back to the Philippines and taking much of the blame for it, world no.1 Dennis Orcollo vowed to bounce back and resume his winning ways to reap more honors for the country.

His next target: the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Finals on October 24 to 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“I’m very disappointed that we weren’t able to fulfill our mission of winning the World Cup, and I blame myself for it,” said Orcollo, who made a couple of unforced errors that doomed his and teammate Francisco “Django” Bustamante’s bid as they succumbed to a 9-6 defeat against the eventual champion American pair of Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris in the semifinals of the event held in Rotterdam, Holland.

“With that, I promise to improve my game even more and I’ll do my best to win more titles for our country,” added the 29-year-old stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano.

Orcollo has so far won four major titles this year – the 2008 Quezon City 9-Ball Championship, the All-Japan Open, the Qatar International 9-Ball Open and the Guinness Tour leg in Guangzhou, China – to more than validate his tag as the world’s best cue artist today.

After the Guinness finale, he will join forces with seven other top Filipinos pool masters in going up against a group of topnotch international players in the Q.C. Invasion: Quezon City-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown slated on December 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall.

There, he and Bustamante will have a chance to exact revenge against their World Cup tormentor, in particular, Morris who is part of the Team World in the event organized by Quezon City Council Majority Leader Ariel Inton and supported by the Quezon City government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte and Senate President Manny Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports.

Besides Orcollo and Bustamante, the other members of the Team Quezon-City Philippines are former world champions Efren “Bata” Reyes, Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, as well as 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, and former Southeast Asian Games multi-gold medalists Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco.

Also bannering the international selection are former world champions Mika Immonen of Finland and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany.

The Q.C. Invasion is also supported by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), the Quezon City Tourism Council, Puyat Sports, Bugsy Promotions and the Negros Billiards Stable.