Orcollo, Pagulayan enter semis in Guinness

Dennis Orcollo and Alex Pagulayan trounced their respective rivals to advance to the semifinal round of the Singapore leg of the Guinness 9-ball Tour at the Velocity@Novena Square in Singapore yesterday.

Orcollo, the reigning world No. 1, subdued Fu Jian Bo of China, 9-6, while Pagulayan, winner of this year’s World Pool Masters, thumped Nguyen Anh Tuan of Vietnam, 9-4.

The victories thus guaranteed the two RP bets $3,500 (P157,500) each for making it to the semis of the annual event organized by ESPN STAR Sports.

Orcollo, who booted out tournament favorite and three-leg winner Chang Jung-Lin of Chinese Taipei. 9-7, in the group stage Friday, took advantage of Fu’s miscues late in the match as he broke away from 6-all to win three straight racks.

Fu had a scratch on the 13th rack then followed it up with a foul shot in the 14th after Orcollo made a dry break in the same rack.

But while Orcollo and Pagulayan advanced, compatriots Joven Bustamante and Antonio Gabica failed to complete what could’ve been a record semis cast involving players from one country as they dropped their respective quarterfinal round matches.

Bustamante bowed to former world 9-ball champion Wu Chia Ching of Taiwan, 4-9, while Gabica succumbed to another Taiwanese ace Yang Ching Shun, 3-9.

“I knew that it was going to be a tough match since I already faced Fu in several international competitions in the past. I wanted to finish the match as soon as I had a chance since I consumed all my allotted extensions,” said Orcollo.

Pagulayan took control of the match early on as he led 4-1 as Nguyen missed in the second and the fourth racks.