Pagulayan rips Orcollo for crown

SINGAPORE – Former World Pool champion Alex Pagulayan ended the Chinese Taipei stranglehold of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 as he defeated compatriot and current world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo, 11-6, in an All-Filipino finals of the Singapore leg last night at Velocity@Novena Square.

Pagulayan’s victory earned him the top prize of $15,000 (P675,000) while Orcollo, who entered the tournament as a wild card bet, settled for $6,000 (P270,000).

The Chinese Taipei players previously dominated the Tour as they swept all six legs last year and this year’s first three legs, which were all won by Chang Jung-Lin. Chang was booted out of the competition by Orcollo in the group stage last Friday.

The last time a Filipino won a title on the Tour organized by ESPN STAR Sports was in 2006 when Efren “Bata” Reyes beat Ricky Yang in Jakarta, Indonesia. This also marks the first time since Lee Van Corteza defeated Francisco “Django” Bustamante in Manila in 2004 that two Filipinos battled for the crown.

Not counting an exhibition match in 2006, Pagulayan’s victory gave the Philippines a 13-12 advantage over Chinese Taipei in the number of titles won since the Tour started in 2003. No other country has won on Tour.

Pagulayan actually trailed Orcollo, 2-0, but seized control of the match as he won the next five consecutive racks. Orcollo managed to make the match interesting as he only trailed by two, 8-6, after capitalizing on a scratch by Pagulayan in the 14th rack.