Orcollo, Corteza to defend title in UK tilt

Reigning world cham­pions Dennis Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza will be gunning for a back-to-back title when they defend their crown in the prestigious 2014 World Cup of Pool on September 23 to 28 at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth, United King­dom. Orcollo and Corteza are also aiming to claim the country’s fourth title in the tournament. They want to follow the foot­steps of two-time titlists Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, who ruled the 2006 edition in New­port, Wales and the 2009 tour­nament held in Manila.

Orcollo and Corteza nipped veteran cue masters Neils Fei­jen and Nick van den Berg of the Netherlands in the finals, 10-8, of the 2013 event. This year, there are 32 teams eyeing to dethrone Orcollo and Corteza in the tournament which offers a total prize fund of $250,000.

There are 17 tandems from Eu­rope including Austrians Albin Ouschan and Mario He, Eng­land A’s Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes, England B’s Daryl Peach and Chris Melling, Fin­land’s Mika Immonen and Pe­tri Makkonen, Germans Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, and Feijen and van den Berg. Joining the Asian team are Chinese Wang Can and Dang Jinhu, Taiwan’s Chang Yu-lung and Hsu Kai Lun, Indians Raj Hundal and Amar Kang, and South Koreans Jeong Yung Hwa and Ha Minuk.

The other notable pairs in the six-day meet are Alex Pagu­layan and John Morra of Can­ada, and Shane Van Boening and Earl Strickland of US. (E. Noguera, MT)