Orcullo, Gomez keep RP hopes alive in World Cup

The third-seeded pair of Dennis Orcullo and Roberto Gomez made sure a home team will play in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool. With the legendary tandem of Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante eliminated in the second round, Orcullo and Gomez kept the Philippine flag flying high after an 8-4 win against the 14th-ranked duo of Spain's David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz on Friday at the Midtown Wing of Robinson's Place in Ermita, Manila. Reyes and Bustamante were given the boot by Indonesians Ricky Yang and Mohammad Zulfikri, 8-6, in the second round. The Indonesians will have a quarterfinal match up with eighth seed China after Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo scored an 8-5 decision against Bruno Muratore and Fabio Petroni of No. 9 Italy. Tied at 2-2, Orcullo scratched his shot to give Spain the chance to take the table. The Spaniards, however, failed to capitalize on the opportunity with Sanchez Ruiz failing to pocket the 8-ball that provided the Filipinos another occasion of clinching the fifth rack. Orcullo, the reigning 2010 World Pool Masters champion, made sure there won't be any mistake this time and completed an 8-9 carom to give RP Team B a slim 3-2 lead in the race-to-eight match. Orcullo and Gomez, ranked 106th in the world, won the next four racks to move one win away in wrapping up the contest. But the Spaniards refused to go down without a fight. Taking advantage of the Pinoys' miscalculated shots, Alcaide sank a table-length bank on the 8-ball to keep their hopes alive as the Spaniards will be breaking for the first time since rack four. A good break from the Europeans had them cleaning up the table to cut the deficit to three. But an Alcaide missed shot on the 1-ball spelled Spain's doom as Gomez cleared the table to complete the win for the hometown bets. Orcullo and Gomez will next face Finland's Mika Immonen and Markus Juva in the Last 8 after the 11th-ranked pair stunned No. 6 Holland, 8-1. -Jon Perez, GMANews.TV