Phl masters open WPT bid, rip Bulgars

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines hacked out an emphatic 5-1 win over Bulgaria to get its drive in the World Pool Team Championship going Monday night at Tongzhou Luhe High School in Beijing, China.

Dennis Orcollo, Lee Vann Corteza, Carlo Biado and Rubilen Amit played true to form and impose their dominance against Bulgaria’s Stanimir Dimitrov, Radostin Dimov, Lyudmil Georgiev, and Kristina Zlateva en route to winning the six-game set in Group A hostilities with plenty to spare.

Orcollo and company face the USA’s Oscar Dominguez, Hunter Lombardo, Corey Deuel, Jennifer Barretta next in the $300,000 tourney where teams slug it out in  men’s scotch doubles and men’s singles in 8-ball; women’s singles and men’s singles in 9-ball, and mixed doubles and men’s singles in 10-ball.

The Americans bowed to Poland’s Karol Skowerski, Tomasz Kaplan, Mateusz Sniegocki, Katazyna Weslowska, 2-4, in their opening-day assignment.

It was essentially a day of easy romps for the favorites.

Defending champion Chinese-Taipei, bannered by Chang Jun Lin, Ko Pin Yi, Hsu Kai Lun, Fu Che Wei, Chou Cheih Yu, hardly broke a sweat in a 6-0 blanking of New Zealand’s Matthew Edwards, Phillip Nickpera, Johnathan M. Pakieto, Molradee K. Yanan in Group E.

Equally dominating was China 1’s Li He Wen, Wu Jiaqing, Chu Bing Chia, Han Yu, and Chen Siming, who trampled Mongolia’s L. Delgerdalai, D. Damdinjamts, A. Yeruult, , A. Delgerkhuu,  Z. Zoljargal via the same scoreline in Group B and China 2’s Liu Haitao, Dang Ching Hu, Wang Can, Fu Xiaofang, and Liu, who impressed with an easy 5-1 rout of Singapore’s Chan Keng Kwang, Aloyisus Yapp, Koh Seng Ann Aaron, Charlene Chai Zeet Huey, Toh Lian Han, Hoe Shu Wah in Group D.

Great Britain, the 2010 titlist represented by former world 9-ball kingpin Daryl Peach, ex- 8-ball ruler Karl Boyes, Chris Melling and Hall of Famer Allison Fisher, swept South Africa’s Rajandran Nair, Charles R. Kuppusamy, Kumersen Reddy, and Thilomi Govender, 6-0, in Group C.

Japan’s Naoyuki Oi, Sasaaki Tanaka, Hayato Hijikata, and Chichiro Kawahara stamped their class on Malaysia’s I brahim Bin Amir, Tan Kah Thiam, Jason Ng Keat Siang, Suhana Dewi Sabtu, Klaudia Djajalie, 5-1, in Group F as Sweden’s Anreas Gerven, Marcus Chamat, Tomas Larsson, and Caroline Roos turned back Hong Kong’s Kwok Chi Ho, Eric Lee, Lo Ho Sum, Robbie James Capito, and Lee Tricia Gar Yun, 4-2, in Group B.