US foils RP, England, rules World Cup

The United States upended the fancied Philippines side, 9-6, in the semifinals then held off England, 11-7, in the finals to capture the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam, Holland Sunday.

Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris pounced on Dennis Orcollo’s miscue in the fourth rack and the Americans overcame a 1-2 deficit by taking the next four racks.

The US padded its lead to 7-3 and Orcollo and Francisco “Django” Bustamante made two more errors to hasten their downfall in the tournament.

It was a sorry loss for the Filipino duo, which powered its way to one-sided wins to get into the semis, only to falter against steady US tandem.

The Americans, seeded sixth in a field of 32, then outwitted the fifth seeded pair of reigning world 9-ball champion Darryl Peach and Mark Gray of England to become the third winner of the event after the Philippines and China.

Van Boening and Morris thus pocketed $60,000 while Peach and Gray, who dethroned the Chinese duo of Fu Jianbo and Li He-wen, 9-5, in the other semis clash, settled for $30,000. The Filipinos and the Chinese pairs took home $16,000 each.

Bustamante and Orcollo, whose campaign was supported by Senate President Manny Villar and the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), came into the match oozing with confidence after demolishing Denmark (8-2), Russia (8-3) and Japan (9-2).

Bustamante and Orcollo actually appeared headed for another win against the US when they ran out the opening rack and split the next two racks for a 2-1 lead.

But just when they seemed to be on their way to a 3-1 lead, Orcollo missed a easy shot on the 9-ball, enabling the Americans to snatch the rack and the momentum.

It was all struggle for the RP bets from there as the Americans flashed their superb form to build leads of 5-2 and 7-3 before coasting to the victory.