Taiwan and Philippines II make it to the 16
The 2010 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool brings 32 teams to Robinson’s Place in Manila, the Philippines. Each two-player team represents a country, with the Philippines, as the host, bringing two teams to the competition, for a total of 31 countries. Wednesday’s round two saw the second local team overcoming the Croatian pair of Phil Stojanovic and Karlo Dalmatin at 8-4 and moving on the last 16.
Dennis Orcollo and Roberto Gomez played a difficult match in front of a packed house of over 2,000 spectators, with thousands more watching through the television cameras surrounding the table. The less-experienced Croatian team stuck with the locals, setting the score at 4-4 at the halfway point and leaving spectators quietly hanging from the edge of their seasons.
“When you’re there on the TV table it’s different to the practise table,” said Orcollo. “This format is really hard to play a hard break as you can make one ball but it can still be illegal.”
Dalmatin handed the game to his opponents when he fouled in the second half by letting his s**t touch a ball while cueing. The rest of the game was played confidently by the local team with the knowledge of their advantage, while the Croatian team suffered under the heat and embarrassment of the foul. Orcollo also had the added boost of his crystal trophy, presented to him before the match for his win at the Las Vegas World Pool Masters in May.
“We’re happy to win the first match but it was very important for us. The crowd gives you pressure but we can control our nerves. I think we can play better than this,” said Gomez. “Dennis made three illegal breaks and I made one but we still plan on using the soft break but next time we will put a bit more power in it.”
The final match of the round put Taiwan up against Malaysia. Taiwan has a poor history in the World Cup of Pool, belied by their easy win against Malaysia in Wednesday’s match. Chang Jung-lin and Ko Pin-yi started the competition after a string of major Asian wins and took Ibrahim Bin Amir and Lee Poh Soon out to the cleaners, winning the match at 8-2 and earning the right to take on Japan in the final 16.
16 teams are out in the first round, but they don’t leave empty handed. Each first round loser leaves with $1,500, while the winning pair at the end of the cup will be awarded $60,000 to split between them.
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