DENNIS Orcollo completed his domination in Shanghai when he dispatched Chinese Taipei’s Chan Lu-hui, 11-9, on Sunday to rule the China Open 9-ball tournament.
Orcollo defeated Chang Yu-lung of Chinese Taipei, 11-9, in the semifinals while Lu defeated Yukio Akagariyama of Japan, 11-10, in the other Final Four match-up.
The former world 9-ball and 8-ball champion beat hometown bets en route to the semifinals, dispatching Fu Jian Bo, Dang Jin Hu and Han Haoxiang one after the other.
His route to the finals was also a precarious one from the beginning. Orcollo bowed to Gerwen Andreas, 9-8, in the opening game to be relegated to the one-loss side of the bracket in Group F but still advanced to the knockout stage.
Orcollo received the US$40,000 top prize.
The Filipino pool ace came back after a rousing start by Lu, recovering from two racks down to tie the contest at 4-4. Orcollo reached the hill first 10-7, but struggled in the next racks and Lu made a huge rally highlighted by a 1-9 combination that cut the deficit to one rack.
Orcollo said that it was his experience that pulled him through to victory in the 20th rack.
“I have a lot of experience playing on the TV table and I’ve had a lot of tough matches this week so this helps me with the pressure,” said Orcollo.
The win is expected to boost his world rankings after capturing the World Pool Association-sanctioned tournament.
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