Phl yields to China 2 in team pool tourney

MANILA, Philippines - The Phl cue artists  bungled their shot at the World Pool Team Championship crown, absorbing a 4-2 setback to China Team 2 in the finals of the $300,000 tournament yesterday at the Tongzhou Luhe High School in Beijing.

Dennis Orcollo, Lee Vann Corteza, Carlo Biado and Rubilen Amit valiantly fought against Liu Haitao, Dang Ching Hu, Wang Can, Fu Xiaofang, and Liu Shasha but just fell short in the race-to-four, six-match duel for the title.

The Chinese seized a 3-0 cushion with Liu nipping Orcollo in the opening 8-ball men’s singles, 6-4; Wang-Dang beating Biado-Corteza in 8-ball men’s doubles, 6-2, and Dang edging Corteza in the 9-ball men’s singles play, 8-5

Phl rallied and made a fight out of it. Amit turned back Fu in the 9-ball women’s singles, 8-4, then Orcollo trounced Wang in the 10-ball men’s singles, 7-5, giving the Pinoys a chance to tie it all up in the 10-ball mixed doubles and force a shootout for the title.

But Biado and Amit fell to Liu Haotao and Liu Sasha, 5-7, and Phl settled for runner-up honors worth $40,000.

Prior to the finals setback, Team Phl hurdled all its opponents in the World Pool-Billiard Association event that featured 25 teams from 24 nations.

The Pinoy cuemasters swept their three matches in Group A to get their expected spot in the knockout stages.

They handily hurdled Indonesia in the Final 16, 4-0, then nosed out holder Chinese-Taipei in the quarterfinals, 4-2, and dominated China 1 in a one-sided semifinal encounter, 4-0.