Orcollo-Alcano in QF; Bata-Django out

MANILA, Philippines - Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano pulled off an escape act against their Canadian rivals in Round 2 and moved on as the lone Phl team in pursuit of the 2011 World Cup of Pool crown as the celebrated Efren Reyes-Francisco Bustamante pair got the boot in the quarterfinals.

Orcollo and Alcano made a decisive charge from 4-6 down and drubbed Canadians Jason Klatt and John Morra, 8-6, to reach the Last Eight to the delight of the cheering home crowd at the Block Atrium of SM North EDSA Mall in Quezon City late Friday.

They remained the last Phl team standing as Reyes and Bustamante – shaky and hardly getting the breaks – suffered a 1-9 beating at the hands of Germans Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann in the quarterfinals yesterday.

Souquet, who is set to be enshrined in the BCA Hall of Fame, and Hohmann, who could well be on his way to the same destination, advanced to the WPC semifinals versus Koreans Lee Gun Jae and Hwang Yong, who repulsed Swedes Marcus Chamat and Thomas Mehtala, 9-5.

“That was tough and we’re just relieved to get into the next round,” said Orcollo of the acid test they went through versus the Canadians.

“They pushed us to the limit and there were times when I thought we might not do it. But we dug deep and showed what we can do,” Orcollo added.

Orcollo, the current world top-ranked player, and Alcano, a former double world (9-Ball and 8-Ball) champ, got going in the crunch and found a spot in the quarterfinals versus Taiwanese Ko Pin-yi and Ko Ping-chun.

Trailing from the beginning, Orcollo and Alcano found the breakthrough in the closing racks, catching up at 6-6 and surging through with excellent potting that drew oohs and aahs from the crowd.

At 6-6, the Filipinos no longer allowed the Canadians to get back on the table, polishing off the final two racks for the stirring victory.

The expected all-Filipino final won’t happen as Reyes and Bustamante failed to make it past the quarters.

Souquet and Hohmann found a surprise easy sailing to the semis as they enjoyed all the breaks versus Reyes and Bustamante.

Reyes struggled the most, missing elementary shots, and couldn’t hide his disappointment on bad setups for Bustamante.

A scratch by Reyes on the 10th had the Germans completing the rout – a sweet revenge against  Filipino pair who beat them in the 2009 WPC finals.

“It was very unusual as we made a ball on the break only two or three times but had to push out, and Thorsten never made a ball on the break. But we play well and Thorsten came up with the greatest shots when I missed position,” said Souquet.

“Efren was not on his game but that’s the way it is,” Souquet also said.

“Two days ago, Efren had a problem with his stomach and he was not 100 percent. But they knew we would come out strong, and we performed,” said Hohmann.

The Germans committed just a few errors, one of them the Filipinos pounced on to get one rack at 1-4.