Chinese outlast Pinoys, regain World Cup title

MANILA, Philippines - Dennis Orcollo and Roberto Gomez succumbed to pressure in a battle of nerves and let the World Cup of Pool 2010 slip off their hands in a heart-breaking meltdown before thousands of fans yesterday at Robinson’s Place in Manila.

Playing in the grandest stage of their pool careers, Orcollo and Gomez just couldn’t calm their nerves as they suffered a humbling 5-10 defeat to the cool Chinese pair of Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen in the finals of the pool classic animatedly followed by Filipino pool fans.

Fu and Li simply cashed in on the Filipinos’ errors to cap a triumphant ride that saw them roll past Germany, 9-7, in the semifinals earlier in the day.

Orcollo and Gomez barely made the finals, getting the biggest of all breaks in the six-day tourney versus Taiwanese Ko Pin-yi and Chang Jung-lin in their own semis showdown.

Taiwan bungled a won match, and the Filipinos seized the hill-hill duel, 9-8, to set up an all-Asian finale against the Chinese.

But the Filipinos’ luck ended there.

For the 32-year-old Gomez, it was reminiscent of his fumbling performance in his 2007 World 9-Ball final duel with Daryl Peach of England.

Orcollo, the more veteran player and older at 38, had his own comedy of errors.

After almost two hours of battle, the Philippines bungled a crack at two straight WCP championships, and China regained the crown it won over Finland in 2007.

With their terrible miscues, Orcollo and Gomez made it easy for the Chinese to break away at 9-1.

And it was only a matter of time before Fu and Li finished off the Filipinos to claim the championship worth $60,000. Orcollo and Gomez settled for the second place worth $30,000.

Fu and Li grabbed the first seat in the championship match on a pulsating two-rack win over the German tandem of Ralf Souquet and Oliver Ortmann.

The Chinese got to a roaring start, building a 6-1 lead before the Germans picked up their game and raced ahead at 7-6.

Suddenly, the Germans were alive when half an hour earlier they’re facing the prospect of a humiliating exit.

But no sooner, the Germans were back in trouble as the Chinese took the next two racks to get to the hill at 8-7.

In the ensuing rack, a loose safety by Ortmann on the pink 4 doomed the Germans.

Fu knocked in a tough pot on the 8-ball then Li cleaned up the table on a straightforward shot for the match, sending China to a second WCP final in four years.

The Philippine-Taiwan showdown proved to be more thrilling and exciting.

“I’ve never been that nervous in my life and my whole body was shaking,” said Orcollo.

In the hill-hill match, the Filipinos rose from the grave as Chang Jung-lin, in a poor connection, left the 2-ball hanging out to the deafening roar of the Filipino pool fans. Gomez and Orcollo polished the table, and the home crowd went to a prolonged frenzy.

At the end of the day, they went home terribly disappointed.