Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan wins Asian 9-Ball Tour
Written by Ms. Confuse on Friday, August 08, 2008
Alex Pagulayan overcame Dennis Orcollo 11-6 last July 27 in the Singapore leg final here to become the first Filipino years to win on the Asian 9-Ball Tour. The win by Fi-Canadian pool ace at Velocity#Novena Square, his first on the Tour, snapped the Taiwanese streak of nine leg victories. He earned $15,000 (toughly P675,000) and a spot in the Grand Final set October in Jakarta where the winner will receive $36,000. Orcollo, who entered the event as a wild card, settled for $6,000. Efren "Bata" Reyes, world champion in 1999, was last Filipino to win on the Tour, winning the Jakarta event in 2006 when the series was still being sponsored by San Miguel Beer. Chinese Taipei swept the six legs of the Guinness Tour las tyear and all three legs earlier this season were won by Chang Jung-Lin, who was booted out of the competition by Orcollo in the group stage last July 25.
No other country has won on the Tour. Pagulayan actually trailed 0-2 but seized the next five racks to take the upperhand. Orcollo unleashed a mini-streak of his own to make it 6-8 after a scratch by Pagulayan in the 14th rack. But he went dry on the next break, allowing Pagulayan to return to the table, take the next three racks and seal the deal. "Everything went wrong for Dennid and all the rolls went my way. It's about time that we won because the Taiwanese kept on winning all the legs since last year," said Pagulayan. Orcollo said Pagulayan was "really lucky". "I felt that they changed the way they set up the racks on the table. Alex was really lucky and it seemed that he was motivated ever since the quarterfinals. I played my game, but sometimes it's all about the breaks of the game," said Orcollo.
In the semifinal just hours before, Pagulayan survived a few anxious moments in a battle of world champions, hacking out a 9-6 victory over Chinese Taipei's Wu Chia Ching in the event organized by ESPN Star Sports. Pagulayan wen toff to a hot start and built a 7-2 lead following two dry breaks and careless mistakes by Wu. However, the 30-year-old Pagulayan also suffered a dry break in the 11th rack and missed a seemingly easy corner pocket shot in the 13th, allowing Wu to win the next four racks and close in at 6-7. Wu had the break in the 14th rack, but after misses by both players on the two-ball Pagulayan finally got a clear shot and took the rack to stand on the hill. Philippines Today. image by azbilliards.com
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