[WATHC] PH makes World Cup of Pool quarters on Corteza’s outrageous kick-combo

The Filipinos celebrate their amazing winning shot. Image courtesy JP Parmentier and Matchroom Sport.

A stunning moment of magic propelled the Philippine team of Lee Vann Corteza and Dennis Orcollo into the Betway World Cup of Pool elite eight.

Leading 6-5 in a round-of-16 race to seven against France, Corteza found himself snookered on the four ball. But in a flash of imagination, luck, and immense skill, the Davaoeño shooter fired the cue ball off two rails into the four. The pink ball clattered the nearby nine ball, which made a beeline for the side pocket.

Once it dropped, the mostly Pinoy crowd at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth, England erupted in delight, as the Philippines claimed the match 7-5.

Corteza and Orcollo now burst into Saturday’s quarterfinals, where they face either Finland or Poland.

The game’s epic final nine ball was a breathtaking end to what had been a ragged, see-saw battle that saw uneven play from both the Philippines and the French pairing of Stephan Cohen and Alex Montpellier.

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The Filipinos grabbed the first two racks but surrendered rack three. A break-and-run-out in the fourth by France leveled the contest.

A miss on a thin cut on the eight by Corteza in the next gave the French the lead but after Montpellier jawed the eight in the next rack, Corteza sneaked in a thin cut on the same ball with a neat behind-the-back shot to tie again at 3-3.

The teams traded the next two games then the Filipinos nosed ahead in rack nine thanks to a superb kick-safe by Corteza on the one ball that sprung a run-out.

The French looked to knot the match again in rack ten but with just three balls left on the table Cohen, a former world Straight Pool champ, made a shocking error, rolling up the cue ball behind the nine ball as he played position from six to seven. After Montpellier whiffed on the ensuing kick, the Filipinos reached the hill, 6-4.

But in rack eleven it was the defending champs’ turn to stumble. Just two balls away from certain victory, Orcollo played poor shape from the eight to the nine, leaving Corteza with an awkward cut with the white ball near the nine. Corteza bobbled, and France pulled one game back.

That set up a grandstand finish for the Philippines as Montpellier played a decent safe on the four, only to witness Corteza’s magnificent response.

Neither team covered themselves in glory, with both sides committing six unforced errors apiece. Cohen made four such mistakes while Corteza and Orcollo were guilty of three each.

The Philippines reached the round of 16 thanks to an opening-round triumph against Chile, also by a 7-5 scoreline.

The Filipinos are hoping to become the first repeat winners of the event. Last year they defeated Netherlands 10-8 in the final in London. The Philippines are the only country to win the event with two different squads. Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante won the inaugural running in 2006 and then lifted the trophy once again in 2009 when it was played in Quezon City.

Should Finland’s Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen prevail over the Poles in their round of 16 encounter, the ensuing quarterfinal will be a match up between the last two winning teams of this event. Finland defeated Poland in the title match in 2012 in Manila.

Live streaming of the event is available on this link. You can watch the whole tournament for US$6.99. The quarterfinals begin at 7 pm Philippine time on Saturday.

In other results, Qatar shocked Chinese Taipei 7-5 to reach the round of 16. Germany and England’s two teams are also safely through to the second round. The Philippines-France match was the first of the round-of-16s to be played. In the only other round-of-16 game played yet, the Americans, Shane Van Boening and Earl Strickland, sent Russia packing with the very popular 7-5 scoreline.

The USA meets either England A or Greece in the quarters.

ERRATUM: It was reported in my previous blog post that the Philippines are the only nation to win this event more than once. That is not correct. China’s Fu Jian Bo and Li He Wen are two-time champions, having won in 2007 and 2010.