Corteza forges title clash with Manalo

Marlon Manalo came away with back-to-back victories over former world pool champion and defending titlist Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan and Antonio Lining to clinch the first finals berth in the second BSCP National Pool Championships at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium last night.

Manalo, 28, dethroned Pagulayan, 9-7, in the featured afternoon match then kept his form and bundled out Lining, a former Asian and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, 11-5, to advance to the race-to-13 finale.

Lee Van Corteza cashed in on a crucial miss by Dennis Orcollo in a hill-hill finish, snatching an 11-10 decision late in the night to arrange a showdown with Manalo for the top P500,000 purse.

With three balls remaining on the table, Orcollo, who earlier banked in a difficult shot, uncharacteristically missed the green 6 on the left side pocket, enabling Corteza to snatch the win.

"I just took it one game at a time and it helped me get here," said Manalo, whose last tournament victory came in the Swiss Open in Bassel in January, in Filipino.

By reaching the final, Manalo assured himself of P250,000 and boosted his bid for a berth in the national team competing in the 24th Southeast Asian Games on Dec. 6-16 in Bangkok, Thailand.

"I missed the last SEA Games because I had commitments somewhere," said Manalo, a gold medal winner in the biennial meet in 1999 in Brunei, 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and 2003 in Vietnam.

"I hope to play for the country again," he added.

But Manalo secured one of the four spots in the world 9-ball pool event the country is hosting for the second straight year this November where he hopes to finally go all the way after finishing third in the 2005 edition held in Chinese Taipei.

Corteza also made it to the Final Four after rallying from 4-6 down and sweeping the last five racks to trounce Bacolod City native Ramil Gallego, 9-6, and set up a clash with Orcollo for the other championship berth.

Orcollo humbled Pagulayan, 9-6, Thursday night to reach the semis.

Gallego, who finished tied with Pagulayan for fifth, likewise earned a berth in the prestigious event since Pagulayan has already been assured of a spot, being a former champion and Orcollo gaining a wild card entry from Matchroom Sports, which owns the license for the biggest 9-ball event in the world.

On the distaff side, Mary Ann Basas surprised 2005 Manila SEAG triple gold medalist Rubilen Amit, 7-4, while Iris Ranola demolished Jingles David, 7-1, to arrange a title showdown for the top prize worth P250,000.