Chinese cue artists dump Pinoys, snare World Cup of Pool title

There was no last-minute miracle from Team Philippines this time. The Chinese connection of Fu Jian-bo and Li He-wen made sure of that. The Chinese pair jumped the gun early on their rivals to silence the Filipinos and their hundreds of supporters Sunday night and clinched the World Cup of Pool title with a smashing 10-5 win at the Midtown Wing of Robinsons Place in Ermita, Manila. The Chinese duo defeated the combo of Dennis Orcullo and Roberto Gomez. The triumphant Chinese duo pocketed the top prize of $60,000, but they will be remembered for breaking the hearts of Filipino fans, who are accustomed to see Pinoy players winning a major pool event. The Filipinos have produced a number of world champions, the most notable among them is Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes, who have won both the World 9-Ball and World 8-Ball titles. Ronnie Alcano was another Filipino player who won double world championships – the 2006 World 9-Ball and 2007 World 8-Ball. Alex Pagulayan, women’s World 10-Ball champion Rubilen Amit and the newest world champion – Francsico ‘Django’ Bustamante – were the other world titlists for the Philippines. But Fu and Li came here with a mission, which is to snare the World Cup of Pool crown even against the Pinoys’ expense. The Chinese pair took the fight out quickly from the Filipinos, racing to a 9-1 lead and inching closer to winning the title as quickly as possible. Orcullo, the former world No.1 player, and Gomez, runner-up to Daryl Peach in the 2007 World 9-Ball Championship in Manila, fought back and came to within 9-5, but after several exchanges, Gomez failed to make ball No.1. That allowed the Chinese duo to get back and clean up the table en route to winning the crown. Earlier, the Chinese pair knocked out a crack duo from Germany – double world champion and former world’s No.1 player Ralf Souquet and Oliver Ortmann – 9 to 7. - GMANews.TV