RP pool masters rule World 9-Ball Challenge

Team Philippines, bannered by Ronato Alcano and Marlon Manalo, claimed the Kabayan San Miguel Beer (SMB) World 9-Ball Challenge: RP versus Rest of the World title at the Filipiniana Hotel on Tuesday in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.

Alcano, the 2006 World Pool Champion titlist, and Manalo got strong support from teammates Gandy Valle, Jeffrey de Luna, and Antonio Gabica to score a 31-19 against the Rest of The World.

The victory was worth $20,000, according to a statement issued by organizers on Tuesday. The World Team – composed of Rodney Morris of the United States, Marcus Chamat of Sweden, Karl Boyes, Darren Appleton, and Scott Higgins of England – received $10,000.

The World Team started slow on Monday and was down, 1-5, in the morning sessions but gained a 19-17 advantage after the evening games.

On Tuesday, the RP team played strongly, with Valle, the 1998 Asian Games gold medalist, and Manalo, the 2005 World Pool Championships third placer, posting victories against Chamat and Higgins, respectively.

Valle, who hails from Davao City, trounced Chamat, 7-3, while Manalo crushed Higgins, 8-2.

"Sinigurado kong maganda ang start ko kasi pressured na ang mga kalaban," Valle said after his match.

Alcano made sure that the Philippines will win explosively when he dominated Boyes, 9-1, in the last match.

"Buti na lamang nakabawi kami sa Day Two. Krusiyal 'yung panalo nina Gandy (Valle) at Marlon (Manalo) kaya wala ng pressure sa laro ko," Alcano said.

Filipino billiards masters

Filipino billiars masters participating in the 32nd US Open in Chesapeake, Virginia are shown during lunch October 16 hosted by the Filam community in the Hampton Roads area. From left are Michael Vigilia (co-sponsor), participants Ronato Alcano, Warren Kiamco, Jonathan Sy, (manager), Bienvenido Ruizo, Lee Vance Corteza, Godwin Mendoza, Edwin Montal, Rogelio Velasco, and Dennis Orcollo.

On Oct. 20, Alcano won second place and $25,000 while Shan Van Boening the first placer romped away with $50,000. The two are expected to meet again in the Kabayan World 9-Ball Challenge: Philippines vs. Rest of the World on Nov. 12-13 in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.

Ronato Alcano

Personal Background

• Name: Ronato Alcano
• Known as: "Ronnie Calamba" or "the Volcano"
• Sex: Male
• Age: 35 years old
• Date of Birth: July 27, 1972
• Place of Birth: Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines
• Country: Philippines
• Nationality: Filipino
• Hobbies: Playing pool
• Spouse: na
• Sports: Billiard

Achievements:

• Eight-ball Champion (2007)
• WPA Men's World Nine-ball Champion (2006)
• Rookie of the Year for 2002

Trivia:

• He finished elementary school, but did not enroll in high school and college.

• Alcano was charged on 12 July 2007 with rape of his 14-year-old daughter and with violation of the Anti-Child Abuse Law (Section 5 of Republic Act 7610) before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. The case was filed after Assistant City Prosecutor Corazon Romano who recommended a total bail of P400,000 ($8,743) for both charges. Alcano denied the allegations, saying the girl was only after his money. He filed a perjury case against his daughter and her mother. But judge Fiscal Romano found in favor of his child. Alcano’s daughter alleged three incidents of sexual assault of a minor happened on November 25, 2006 and on the first week of December 2006. She alleged that Alcano touched her private parts, made lewd gestures in front of her, and put his hand on her private parts while they were lying on the bed with Gwendolyn, Alcano's partner. On July 23, 2007, Alcano posted a bail bond of P80,000 – 20 percent of the initial bail recommendation.

U.S. Open down to final four: Van Boening, Mekari, Souquet and Alcano

Red-hot American Shane Van Boening will meet the surprising Tomoko Mekari in the hot-seat match of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship on Saturday afternoon, with Ralf Souquet and Ronnie Alcano hoping to emerge from the losers’ bracket to take the $50,000 top prize.

The final four finally emerged at 4:30 a.m. Saturday as Alcano beat Louie Ulrich, 11-3, to stay alive, and Souquet beat Ramil Gallego, 11-9, to earn another shot at the title.

Van Boening, 24, dominated his winners’ bracket semifinal against reigning world 9-ball champion Ronnie Alcano, showing no fear in attempting sporty combinations and precise banks. The lanky shooter from Sioux Falls, S.D., took a 8-3 lead on the strength of his smooth stroke and a crafty cut break that reliably sank balls on the otherwise stingy Diamond 9-footer.

The reserved and measured Van Boening showed no sign of the sudden case of nerves that made his 11-8 victory over Corey Deuel in the previous round unnecessarily close. After a cooled-off Alcano botched a 3 ball at 9-4, Van Boening mopped up the table and then broke and ran out to take the match, 11-4. The packed arena gave the young gun a standing ovation for a virtually flawless performance.

“I felt very confident in myself. Very calm, and that is what it’s all about,” Van Boening said.

The performance was in line with Van Boening’s rocket-like ascendancy this year to the top of the American talent pool. After finishing second to Dennis Orcollo at the EnjoyPool.com 9-Ball Championships in May, he won the World 10-Ball Championships later in the month – his first major title.

A U.S. Open title would virtually guarantee Van Boening a spot on America’s Mosconi Cup team in December – and make him a prime candidate for Player of the Year. Although cool in his match against Alcano, Van Boening couldn’t hide his glee afterwards.

“I’m just trying my best; I can’t wait until tomorrow,” he said.

Former world 9-ball champ Ralf Souquet had a tougher time with Mekari, a 38-year-old straight-pool specialist from Tokyo, Japan. After sprinting to a 3-0 lead, Souquet couldn’t keep any distance between him and his similarly deliberate opponent, who eventually knotted their back-and-forth match at 7-7.

At 8-8, Souquet broke dry, ceding control of the table to Mekari for the rest of the match. The current Japanese straight-pool champion and 10th ranked 9-baller showed superlative touch, weaving in and out of clusters and splitting the pockets on the longest of cut shots.

“That was a good game for me,” Mekari said through a translator. “I played the way I was supposed to play.”

Immediately after the match, Mekari fielded cell phone text messages from a half dozen Japanese pro players sending congratulations. His performance so far has surpassed his previous high finish at the U.S. Open, which he guesstimated in the top 32.

“The only thing I’m upset about is that I can’t have a beer right now,” said Mekari, who makes a practice of not drinking during tournaments.

RP Top players including The Volcano will Charge in US Open 9-Ball

The deadly duo of Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante will be joined by Alex Pagulayan, Ronato Alcano, Dennis Orcollo, Warren Kiamco and Lee Vann Corteza to lead the Philippine charge at the start of the longest running and prestigious 32n Annual US Open 9-Ball gets underway tomorrow.

The venue will be the beautiful Chesapeake Conference Center, in Chesapeake Virginia starting tomorrow, Oct. 14 and will ends on Oct.20 with the winner taking away the whopping top prize money of US$50,000 while the second and third placers gets US$25,000, and US$12,500, respectively.

Reyes, Bustamante and Pagulayan, playing under the banner of Puyat Sports stable will show their strut in the event which features some of the world best that includes former world 9-ball champion Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer, Nick Varner of the United States, Ralf Souquet, Thorsten Hohmann and Oliver Ortman of Germany, Mika Immonen of Finland.

Also includes defending champion John Schmidt, ex-US Open titlist Corey Deuel, Gabe Owen and rising
star Shane Van Boening of the host country.

Other Filipinos seeing action in the US Open 9-Ball are last year's runner-up Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat,
Ramil Gallego, Jose "Amang" Parica, Edwin Montal, and Santos Sambajon.

After the US Open 9-Ball, the Filipino pool sharks are schedule to arrive in the country to compete in
the P2 million first ever Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball Open from October 24 to 27 at the Hobbies
of Asia Bldg. in Macapagal Avenue and SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City and the 2007 World Pool Champion-
ships on November 3 to 11 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

Alcano Bows to Chinese Taipei's Chia-Ching Wu; Corteza Still in the Hunt for Semifinals Berth

The 2007 Guinness 9Ball Tour remains to be an unsolved mystery for reigning double world champion Ronato Alcano from the Philippines as he absorbed his second loss in the Bali Grand Finals - a humbling 1 - 9 setback against Chinese Taipei's Chia-Ching Wu at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Desperately needing a win today after opening up the Bali campaign with a one win, one loss record yesterday, with Alcano winning over local bet Ricky Yang 9-7 and a 6-9 defeat to Ching-Shun Yang, the Calamba native seemed prepared and ready to take on Chinese Taipei's teenage pool wonder.

But right off the opening break, it became apparent that Wu was destined to remain unbeaten in the ten-man competition field as he opened up the match strong with a table rout in the 1st rack and a break and run-out in the 2nd. In fact, Wu was so confident with his stroke that even a stunning 5-9 corner pocket combo from Alcano in the next frame did not faze the 2005 World Pool Champion as he easily capitalized on a 9ball blunder by the "Volcano" to pad up his lead to 3-1.

Try as he might, Alcano's form simply refused to materialize as he suffered unlucky rolls off the break, leaving him no choice but to adopt a defensive game which pretty much disrupted the normally offensive rhythm of the Filipino favourite.

At the 8th rack, Wu successfully connected on an incredible 2-9 combo off the break to further humble the Filipino ace who then committed another crucial error with a side pocket scratch during his break at the 9th canto to allow his Chinese Taipei rival another easy run at the table and own an overwhelming 8-1 advantage.

This proved to be the last time Alcano got to approach the table as Wu closed the match in emphatic fashion with a rare golden break.

Although Alcano still has one match to play in his group - against India's Dharminder Lilly, the two losses on his card means that his chances to advance to the semifinal round has been compromised as only the top two players in the group get a final four ticket.

Meanwhile, Lee Vann Corteza, who also has a one win, one loss record from day 1's preliminary stages needs to win both of his matches to stand a chance to acquire a semifinal berth. The current Philippine National Champion is playing against Jakarta and Genting leg winner Jung-Lin Chang as of press time. After which he will face off versus Malaysia's Ibrahim Amir.

For more information on the Tour, please check out www.guinness9balltour.com. For the latest schedules and program information on ESPN STAR Sports, catch us on the net at www.espnstar.com.

The Guinness 9Ball Tour is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) and organized by ESPN STAR Sports' Event Management Group (EMG). Guinness is the title sponsor for the Tour. The local sanctioning body is Persatuan Olahraga Billiar Seluruh Indonesia (POBSI). Iwan Simonis and Aramith supply the official tablecloth and official balls respectively. Brunswick Metro provides the official pool table while Predator is the official cue. The Official Venue is the Grand Hyatt Hotel. STAR Sports is the official broadcaster.

Pinoy Alcano Aware of Taiwanese Wu in World Pool Masters

World Champion Ronato Alcano believes Chia-ching Wu is his biggest threat in the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters. The Paranaque based Alcano reached the pinnacle of the sport in November when he defeated German Ralf Souquet in the final of the 2006 World Pool Championships. That victory elevated 34-year-old Alcano to legend status in his pool-mad home country as he became an overnight celebrity.

One of the other benefits of winning the world title has seen him be selected as one of 16 players in this year's Masters, which begins Friday at the Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee, Holland.

It will be Alcano's debut in the competition and he will be aiming to maintain his good form and collect the $20,000 top prize.

Alcano, bested compatriot Dennis Orcollo in the finals of the World 8-ball in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates last February to follow the foot step of Chia-ching Wu and countryman Efren "Bata" Reyes, the former double world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball).

He faces Italian Fabio Petroni in the opening round on Friday night and, if successful, will then meet either Nick van den Berg (Holland) or female star Jasmin Ouschan (Austria) in the quarter-finals.

However, if he reaches the semi-finals he could meet 2005 World Champion Chia-ching Wu ( Taiwan) in what would be a mouth-watering encounter.

"This is a hard tournament to win because there are a lot of good players," said Alcano.

"It is hard to say if I will be the winner as there are too many top players but I will try my best and maybe I will get lucky. I think Chia-ching Wu is a very good player and will be difficult to beat."

Alcano and Chia-ching Wu will both be getting some match practice ahead of the main tournament as they played in the Challenge the Champions last Thursday.

This knockout tournament features a number of professional players competing against local club players and will be an interesting indication of who is in form and who is not.

In other marquee matches in the first round of World Pool Masters: Naoyuki Oi of Japan vs Oliver Ortmann of Germany; Li He-wen of China vs Pat Holtz of Scotland; Imran Majid of England vs Niels Feijen of the Netherlands; Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei vs Tyler Edey of Canada and Tony Drago of Malta vs Thomas Engert of Germany.

Alcano Wins World 8-Ball Championship

Ronato "Volcano" Alcano won his second World Title in four months! He won the World Pool Championships 9-Ball and now has added the World 8-Ball Championship to his trophy case.

Interestingly he is already preparing to take part in the 10-ball championships coming soon. When and if he does take 1st place in that tournament it would be one of the greatest performances for this most improved player.

Alcano Wins 2nd World Championship

Two Filipino’s, sharing the same hotel room in Fujairah, began the evening sharing the stage and in quest of a single trophy. Current World 9-Ball Champion Ronnie Alcano and his roommate Dennis Orcollo are the best of friends, and it must be said that this friendship extends even into the playing arena. They cheered one another’s good shots and smiled as their opponent pocketed each eight ball.

Save the breaks, neither put hardly a foot wrong. Alcano came up dry on the first break and Orcollo ran out. Orcollo scratched on the next break and Alcano ran out. Then they traded break and runs for three racks before Orcollo scratched on the break again and again Alcano ran out. When Alcano followed this with yet another break and run he led the race to eleven games 5-2 and neither player had as yet missed a ball after the break shot.

Even without missing a shot things had begun to unravel for Orcollo. His break again deserted him in the next rack and the alternating break format was not helping him stay close as Alcano again ran out from the ball in hand start. Then Alcano again broke and ran and so his lead was stretched to 7-2 as he captured five consecutive racks.

Rack number ten was more kind to Orcollo as he found his break again and broke and ran the game out. At this point Alcano was resting in his chair comfortably, sometimes even closing his eyes, perhaps to dream of holding two World Titles at once. Orcollo, on the other hand, was noticeably tense, needing an error from his seemingly perfect friend to get back in the match.

He got his chance immediately as Alcano scratched on the break. He capitalized on the opportunity and ran the rack to trail 7-4 and with the honor of the next break. He again found a break shot that worked and whittled his way through a very difficult layout to take the rack home and trail 7-5. We were now twelve racks into the match and not a single called ball had been missed by either player!

Again Alcano approached the break and again he was perfect. Yet another break and run to lead the match 8-5. Orcollo made a ball on the next break but again the balls fell into a difficult layout. Alcano’s break was everything. He was not only staying at the table more often, his break shot was also creating easier layouts with which he could work. Still, some masterful cueing allowed Orcollo to break out the two clusters on the table and navigate the rack all the way home to trail again by two racks at 8-6.

Finally, in rack fifteen, the inevitable happened. Alcano cruised through the rack until his next to last ball. He made that shot but over-ran his position on the key ball just ever so slightly. He needed to masse the cue ball around the eight ball and the shot just did not work. He missed the shot and Orcollo came to the table with the chance he needed. If he could get through this rack and win the next as well he would tie the match he had trailed in so badly just minutes earlier. The first part came easily. He easily cleared the table and now need a good break to get through the next rack for the tie.

It would not happen. Orcollo came up dry on his break and a now more somber Alcano came to the table. Alcano cleared the table in less than three minutes to go back up by two racks at 9-7, plus the next break was his. A break and clearance would get him to the hill. And he got it. The balls set up nicely for him and he easily moved through the rack to the hill. Orcollo, trailing 10-7, came to the table for what could be his last break shot.

Orcollo did his part and broke and ran the rack. Now all he could do was to sit and hope to get back to the table. Alcano would allow no more chances. He broke and ran the final rack to take his second World Title in four months!

Payouts:

Ronnie Alcano $25,000
Dennis Orcollo $12,500
Joven Bustamante $6,250
Niels Feijen $6,250
Thomas Engert $4,500
Marcus Chamat $4,500
Nick Van Den Berg $4,500
Elvis Casalang $4,500
Goran Mladenovic $2,000
Hisashi Kusano $2,000
Efren Reyes $2,000
Ralf Souquet $2,000
Naif Al Jewen $2,000
Hui-Kai Hsia $2,000
Alexander Dremsizis $2,000
Erik Hjorliefson $2,000
17-32 $1,250
33-64 $500

World 8-Ball Pool Championships Fujairah, UAE Day Two

German hopes for another world title suffered a major setback today as three of their biggest stars all tasted defeat. Thomas Engert lost to Elvis Calasang of the Phillipines 8-3, Oliver Ortmann fell 8-7 to Farhad Shaverdi of Iran and Thorsten Hohmann came up short 8-4 against Serge Das of Belgium. None of these players is as yet out of the running as it would take another defeat to eliminate any of them, but now they are all on the proverbial tightrope for staying in the field.

Sunday will be the judgement day for the field as half of them will be eliminated by the end of the day’s play. Those that remain will fall into a single-elimination format with sixteen seeded players (seeded according to their performance thus far) and the remaining players drawn into the brackets.

That is when the suspense will kick into high gear as any match loss from then on out will mean elimination from the tournament. The players are now used to the tables and playing conditions and so excuses are at a minimum.

Play will begin at 2 PM on Sunday at the Al Bushtan Hall in Fujairah. Complete results as of the end of play Saturday are listed below. Best Wishes,
Jerry Forsyth

Results From Day Two

14:00
Fabio Petroni (ITA) v Zbyniek Vaic (RSA) 8-2
Michael Felder (AUT) v Lee Vann Corteza (PHI) 2-8
Saleem Al Juneebi (UAE) v Mohammed Asim (IND) 8-5
Rizandro Arrieta (VEN) v Efren Reyes (PHI) 2-8
Chia-Ching Wu (TPE) v Thomas Damm (GER) 8-6
Jason Klatt (CAN) v Elvis Calasang (PHI) 3-8
Carlos Alburez (GUA) v Kareem Al Gendi (EGY) 0-8

16:00
Saeed Al Mutawe (UAE) v Naif Al Jeweni (KSA) 3-8
Thomas Engert (GER) v Goran Mladenovic (SCG) 3 -8
Mario Tolentino (PHI) v Niels Feijen (NED) 4-8
Nasser Al Mujebel (KUW) v Omran Salem (UAE) 8-3
Mohammed Aseel (EGY) v Günter Geisen (GER) 5-8
Thorsten Hohmann (GER) v Serge Das (BEL) 4-8
Farhad Shaverdi (IRA) v Oliver Ortmann (GER) 8-7

18:00
Joven Bustamante (PHI) v Roberto Freitas (ANT) 8-2
Henrik Asperup (DEN) v Muhammed Al Hosani (UAE) 8-2
Hui-Kai Hsia (TPE) v Lee Vann Corteza (PHI) 8-3
Alec Evreniadis (AUS) v Nick v.d. Berg (NED) 0-8
Kevin Becker (GER) v Michael Felder (AUT) 8-5
Omar El Serkal (UAE) v Issa Al Boloshi (UAE) 3-8
Ronnie Alcano (PHI) v Joven Alba (PHI) 8-6

20:00
Table 1: Erik Hjorleifson (CAN) v Satoshi Kawabata (JPN) 8-5
Table 2: Rafath Habib (IND) v Hani Al Howri (UAE) 4-8
Table 3: Ben Nunan (AUS) v Arif Allah (PAK) 8-2
Table 4: Dennis Orcollo (PHI) v Aki Heiskanen (FIN) 8-2
Table 5: James Ortega (PHI) v Francisco Bustamante (PHI) 5-8
Table 6: Karl Boyes (GBR) v Naoyuki Ohi (JPN) 8-5
Table 7: Salah AL Rimawi (UAE) v Alexander Dremsizis (GER) 8-3

Alcano Signs Contract as Guinness Beer Endorser

MANILA, Philippines - Reigning World Pool champion Ronato Alcano left the country yesterday to seal an endorsement deal with ESPN Star Sports and Guinness Beer officials in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“Of course, I’m happy,” said the 34-year-old Alcano in Filipino, referring to the P1-million offer he received from the famous Irish stout beer.

“We’re really thrilled that he (Alcano) was chosen by Guinness to be its endorser over other Filipino players,” said Verna Mariano, Alcano’s manager and Bugsy promotions head. “Maybe they (Guinness) like a new face and they are still enthralled by Ronnie’s victory in the World Pool Championships.

“Hopefully, this will inspire other rising players to do better,” said Mariano, who accompanied Alcano to Kuala Lumpur. “Who knows, they may become product endorsers as well.”

Alcano gained prominence when he beat ex-world titlist Ralf Souquet of Germany in the finals of the WPC last November at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City .

In his first major tournament this year, Alcano made it to the quarterfinals of the 17th Annual All Kansai 9-ball Open last week in Osaka, Japan.

In a separate interview last Monday, lawyer Vic Rodriguez revealed it’s not the money but the international exposure he’s going to get that prompted his client (Alcano) to accept the Guinness offer.

Guinness Beer is the new title sponsor of the six-city Asian 9-ball tour, a qualification tournament for the World Pool Championships.