Orcullo leads RP quest in Qatar 9-Ball

MANILA, Philippines - Dennis Orcullo and Ronato Alcano resume their quest for international fame in the WPA World Pool Championships (World 9-Ball) which begins today in Doha, Qatar.

“I hope to do well in this event,” said Orcullo, who is coming off a big win in the 2010 Partypoker.net World Pool Masters where he beat Japanese Toru Kuribayashi to take the top purse of $20,000 last May 16 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“My target is to bring the 9-Ball crown back to the country,”said Alcano, who beat Ralf Souquet of Germany in the finals of the 2006 WPA World 9-ball at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay.

Daryl Peach of Great Britain last won the 9-Ball title in 2007 when he defeated Filipino Roberto Gomez in the finals at the Araneta Coliseum.

Qatar revived the tournament this year with a prize fund of $250, 000 until next year with the pot increased to $300,000 for both 2012 and 2013.

Other Filipino pool sharks in the main draw are Lee Vann Corteza, Jeffrey de Luna, Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica and Antonio Lining through their world ranking status. Also invited are newly crowned Spanish Open ruler Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante through wild card entries of the host country.

Three current WPA (World Pool Billiard Association) champions – Souquet (World 8-ball), Peach (World 9-Ball) and Mika Immonen of Finland (World 10-Ball) – lead the European charge which includes Darren Appleton, Karl Boyes, Imram Majid and Scott Higgins of Great Britain, Niels Feijen, Nick Van den Berg and Huidji See of the Netherlands, Ruslan Chinakhov and Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, Artem Koshovoj of Ukraine, Thorsten Hohmann, Oliver Ortmann, Thomas Engert and Christian Reimering of Germany, Marcus Chamat of Sweden, David Alcaide of Spain, Radoslaw Babica, Karol Skowerski and Mariusz Skoneczny of Poland, Stephan Cohen of France, Fabio Petroni and Bruno Muratore of Italy, Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland, Karlo Dalmatin of Croatia, Sandor Tot of Serbia, Tony Drago of Malta and Martin Kempter of Austria.