Alcano, Orcollo arrange all-Pinoy title showdown

World 9-ball champion Ronnie Alcano and World Pool League titlist Dennis Orcollo thumped their respective rivals in similar fashions Wednesday night to set up an all-Filipino showdown for the World 8-ball Championship crown at the Fujairan Bustan Centre in Fujairah, UAE.

Alcano, raring to add the world 8-ball title to his 9-ball crown, pounced on Dutch Niels Feijen’s shaky form in the semifinal round and fashioned out a relatively easy 10-4 rout to reach the final.

Feijen, who dominated compatriot Nick Van Den Berg in the quarterfinal round, 10-2, could never get a good roll going in the semis and succumbed to Alcano’s near-flawless game.

Orcollo, on the other hand, turned what had appeared to be a close encounter between two Filipinos into a rout, leaning on his experience to outclass Joven Bustamante, a relatively unknown Dubai-based Filipino on the world pool scene.

Orcollo, a player noted more for winning money-games than winning standard pool tournaments, stamped his class in the middle game and went on to cruise to a 10-5 victory for a crack at the world crown.

Alcano and Orcollo dispute the title starting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday (9:30 p.m. in Manila).

The all-Pinoy finale further underscored the Filipinos’ domination of the sport after Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante ruled the inaugural World Cup last year, Orcollo reigned in the World Pool League, and Alcano triumphed over German ace Ralf Souquet in the World 9-Ball Championship in Manila.

Ten RP bets actually made it to the knockout phase of the event which drew 64 of the world’s finest cue masters. But Reyes, Bustamante and Lee Van Corteza fell by the wayside with Alcano, Orcollo and Joven Bustamante pulling off hard-earned victories to reach the semifinal round along with Feijen.

While Alcano and Orcollo were fancied to go all the way, Joven Bustamante outdid himself to upend veteran Thomas Engert of Germany in the quarterfinals where he took advantage of the break to break out of a 5-5 tie en route to an emphatic 10-6 victory.