Orcollo escapes upset in opener

LIPA CITY, Philippines – Newly crowned Predator International 10-Ball champion Dennis Orcollo overcame a three-rack deficit to turn back Jherome Peña, 9-7, yesterday and lead the opening day winners in The Manny Villar Cup Calabarzon leg at the SM City Mall here.

Orcollo made a couple dry breaks and trailed Peña at 4-7 but found a way to mount a comeback and avoid what could have been a big upset in the three-day tournament.

“I know Jharome very well and I respect his game. I just kept my composure when I was down and luckily I got some opportunities late in the match and I grabbed them,” said the 30-year-old Orcollo.

He racked up the next four racks to grab an 8-7 lead then clinched the victory when Peña missed on what seemed to be an easy shot on the black-8 in the 16th rack. Orcollo ran it out to move into the Last 16 of the island-hopping series presented by Sen. Manny B. Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports.

Also moving into the next stage are 2009 Japan Open champion and Villards Bulacan leg winner Ramil Gallego, Antonio Lining, Elmer Haya and Rodolfo Luat.

Gallego trounced Dondon Razalan, 9-4, while Lining subdued William Millares, 9-6, and Haya edged Richard Pornelosa, 9-8. Luat defeated Mirando Mariño, a local qualifier from Lopez, Quezon, 9-1.

A total of 32 players are competing in the eighth stop of the series, co-organized by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) sponsored by Camella Communities and sanctioned by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines.

Other top players entered in the event are Efren “Bata” Reyes, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Ronnie Alcano, Gandy Valle, Rodolfo Luat, Warren Kiamco and Warren Kiamco.

Meanwhile, Sen. Villar welcomed pool legend Jose “Amang” Parica as the new member of his Team Villards, who is playing here for the first time in three years.

“I’m happy to be back here, and I’m very thankful to Sen. Villar for reviving billiards here in the Philippines and I’m happy to be part of his tournament,” said the 62-year-old Parica.

Also competing in the tournament are some of the country’s up and coming stars, including six local bets of Calabarzon in Anjo Huelgas, Benson Palce, Johnson Vita, Nelson Dumas, Mariño and Razalan, who made it via a qualifying tournament participated in by dozens of cue artists from the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Quezon.