Philippines' Master Class crowned - 2012 China Open with a Brilliant 11-9 Win over Taipe’s Lu

 

Philippines Master Class crowned - 2012 China Open with a Brilliant 11-9 Win over Taipe's Lu

 

A PROMDI pride, son of a poor fisherman born and raised in Bislig, Surigao del Sur Eastern Mindanao, Philippines;  the Champion - Dennis Orcollo making another Asian wave in the International Pool competition at Shanghai China's 2012 Open.

 

Island of Mindanao in the Southern Philippines is also a home of the World Famous Boxing Champ Manny Pacquiao, International beauty Miss Shamcey Supsup and many other world titles crowned from the land of Promise "The Island Mindanao".

 

With a grand finale performance that spoke of true greatness, the Philippines Dennis Orcollo capped an amazing week in Shanghai, winning the 2012 China Open Sunday afternoon with a brilliant 11-9 win over never-say-day Lu Hui Chan of Chinese-Taipei in front of several hundred people at the Shanghai Pudong Yuanshen Stadium arena.

 

Anyone who witnessed Orcollo's efforts out on the TV table today realized soon enough that they were watching a virtuoso at work.  Brilliant creative shot making, tenacious offense and defense, terrific concentration and the ability to absorb pressure were all on display from the 33 year old Filipino. The match nearly became a runaway but the fact that it wasn't spoke more of the courage of Lu, who did himself proud by battling back when it looked like he was finished.

 

But the beauty of Orcollo's massive victory in China didn't emanate from this one match. Orcollo spent the last four days grinding out some of the most hard core wins of his career. The field that descended on Shanghai was deep and at every turn players were leaving pieces of themselves out on the tables.  Orcollo actually lost his first match in the group stage 9-8 and had to win two tight matches on the losers' side to make it to the round of 32.

 

In the knockout stage which began Saturday, Orcullo put in yeoman's efforts in taking down three top Chinese players, all of whom brought their A-games to the arena. Today in the semi-final, Orcollo whipped Taiwan's red hot Chang Yu Lung.  And when it came time for the final, the Filipino was primed and ready. And so was Lu.

 

The match was high quality from the start as the pair split the first six racks, complete with two break and runs each and with both players potting extremely difficult balls.

 

It was then that Orcollo decided to put his foot to the floor as he went on a seven rack tear, executing creative combinations, kisses, rail first kicks and pots. Up 9-3 he was clearly in the zone and putting on a master class.   

 

Chan could have easily given up hope but he stood his ground and managed to get two back to move the score  to 9-5. He then cleared when Orcollo scratched off the break, and then broke and cleared to get the score to 9-7. Orcollo countered to get to the hill and then so did Lu. Lu applied serious heat when he forced Orcollo into a foul and cleared to make the score 10-9.

 

With the pressure mounting Orcollo sucked it up and waited for his chance, which came in the 20th rack after Lu left the two ball showing.  The run out wasn't easy but since nothing this week had been it seemed only fitting.  When Orcollo sank the final 9 ball, he looked skyward, then bent over with his face down on the cloth for a few seconds as the emotions--exhaustion, elation, disbelief--came pouring out. 

 

Clearly overjoyed, Orcollo afterward knew he had taken his game to another level this week in Shanghai. And he planned on making sure to remind himself and others for a long, long time.

 

"I feel great. This tournament is definitely more difficult to win than others that I've played in. It's really hard. There are so many good players here. You have to play consistently to win. I played really good all week. I was comfortable, I had good concentration, a good plan. I made sure not to show my emotions.

 

"This is the first time I played almost perfect from beginning to the end of a tournament. I lost my first match 9 - 8, then I win my next match 9-7, then qualified by winning 9-8. So when I qualified, I have a lot of confidence after that because I played good against good opponents.

 

"This is the first time I win a pro event in China. This is a big day for me, a wonderful day. This is the most special win of my career. It is amazing and I will never forget this. This trophy is going to go right in middle of my living room."

 

For winning the 2012 China Open, Orcollo pocketed $40,000. Lu took home $20,000.

 

Final Result

Dennis Orcollo(PHL) 11 - 9 Lu Hui Chan(TPE)

 

*The World Pool and Billiard Association(WPA) is the governing body of the sport of pocket billiards. The 2012 China Open is being sponsored by Star Tables, Andy Cloth, Fury, Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong.

 

By Ted Lerner, WPA Press Officer - 2012-09-16

 AZBilliards.com 

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Philippines Smart Gilas wins over Lebanon, hammers Uzbekistan in FIBA ASIA CUP

 

After a heart-breaking loss to China in the opener, Smart-Gilas Pilipinas national team won against Lebanon, 78-68 for its first win in the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan. Naturalized player Marcus Douthit hit 25 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to lead the Philippines' onslaught against powerhouse Lebanese squad. Lebanon was ahead at the end of the first quarter, 20-19. The lead increased to 41-38 at halftime. Gilas Pilipinas outscored Lebanon 21-12 in the pivotal third quarter and grabbed the front seat, 59-53.

 

Douthit showed dominance in the offensive by scoring second chance points from teammates' misses in the third period, scoring 8 of his 10 points in the quarter on follow ups. He sank a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining in the third period, gave the Philippines a six-point lead, the biggest in either team at that time.

 

In the fourth quarter, Douthit kept the Philippines' hopes alive connecting inside the paint to pilot Gilas ahead 70-61, with 3:29 remaining in the game. Gary David sank a crucial basket for a comfortable 72-66 margin 2:05 remaining. Another David score with 24 seconds remaining gave the assurance for the Philippines' victory. The triumph was sealed by two free throws by LA Tenorio with 14 seconds to go and a drive by Jared Dillinger 3 seconds into the end game. David and Tenorio contributed 11 points each while Dillinger had 10 for the Gilas Pilipinas win.

 

Fadi Khatib had 24 points and 15 rebounds while Garnett Thompson contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds for Lebanon, the defending champions of the tournament. Lebanon was the only team who defeated the Philippines during the recent 34th Jones Cup title run.

 

Philippines and Lebanon now tied at 1-1, while China and Uzbekistan led Group A with 1-0. Macau is at the tail end with 2-0. Philippines and Uzbekistan will face each other on Sunday.

 

The Smart-Gilas Pilipinas almost made it against the much taller Chinese team, but succumbed to poor shooting and lost, 71-68, in the opening game. The younger China players just averaged 20 years of age, but their height average is 6-foot-8 as against the Filipinos' 6-foot-4.

 

The Smart-Gilas team was formed in just less than a month and had not practiced solidly because of the conflicts of the players' practices with their mother teams in the PBA.

 

The FIBA Asia Cup was played since 2004, then 2008 and 2010. Qatar was champion in 2004 in Taipei, Jordan won the title in 2008 in Kuwait, while Lebanon won the crown in Beirut in 2010. The Philippines placed fourth in 2010 when they were defeated by Qatar for the bronze medal.

 

Smart Gilas hammers Uzbekistan

 

Smart Gilas Pilipinas, inspired by its 78-68 conquest of Lebanon Saturday, tore to shreds the lowly Uzbekistan side, 85-50, and secured a spot in the knockout stage of the fourth FIBA Asia Cup at the Ota Gymnasium here Sunday.

 

With a quarterfinal berth sealed, the Nationals go for a better seeding in the playoffs as they take on another unheralded rival in Macau, their last assignment in group matches, at 11:30 a.m. today.

 

The Filipinos completely dominated the Uzbeks whom they held scoreless for almost 10 minutes in one stretch in the match cheered on by the predominantly Filipino crowd at the spanking modern playing venue.

 

Smart Gilas ripped the game open, 37-16, on a swashbuckling 17-to-nothing run and the Nationals went through the motion of completing the victory that sent them to the next stage probably against Qatar or Chinese Taipei.

 

The easy match allowed coach Chot Reyes the luxury to rest his main players and experiment new combinations and some defensive ploys.

 

"The challenge was for the players not to develop bad habits in this game. What we wanted was to improve our good habits on defense," said Reyes.

 

Having scouted the Uzbeks as a mere five-deep team, Gilas starters Marcus Douthit, LA Tenorio, Ranidel de Ocampo, Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood wore them down early with a pressing defense and an up-tempo attack.

 

The Uzbeks seemed to have been exhausted by the time Reyes fielded his second team on a platoon substitution.

 

Larry Fonacier, Jarred Dillinger, Matt Ganuelas, Sonny Thoss and JayR Reyes kept the pressure, and the Nationals broke away in the second quarter, never to look back again.

 

The Uzbeks hardly had anything to offer in the final half which the Smart Gilas reserves turned into a first hand demonstration of their individual talents.

 

The Filipino crowd and the Gilas bench specifically cheered on Ganuelas as the 22-year-old Fil-Am guard put up highlight plays, including a two-handed jam, an acrobatic layup and an authoritative block of an Uzbek shot.

 

Ganuelas grabbed 11 rebounds, scored eight points, issued four assists and took three steals in 17 minutes of action – his longest exposure in a game from their Jones Cup title run.

 

Reyes, Thoss and Rico Villanueva also played long minutes and they collected good numbers although Chan still emerged the top scorer with 20 points on 8-of-15 field shooting.

 

Struggling with 1-of-9 three-point shooting in the first two games, Chan finally found his touch, converting four of seven attempts.

 

The whole team hit at a 40-percent clip (8-of-20) after shooting just 20 percent (4-of-20) in the first game versus China and 17 percent (6-of-35) in the next game versus Lebanon.

 

"We played the defense that we're practicing but we tried to hide some of our offensive plays," said Reyes who intended to do the same against Macau.

 

"We'll again rest our core players but we'll work hard in practice in the evening. We'll be off Tuesday and return to practice Wednesday in preparation for the quarters," Reyes also said.

 

Douthit played only 14:32 against Uzbekistan, getting nine points, four rebounds, one assist and one block against four turnovers.

 

Philboxing.com & philSTAR

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