|
 Lee
Van Corteza trounced American Louie Ulrich,
13-7, to win the ninth Turning Stone Classic 9-Ball
Championship yesterday at the Turning Stone and Casino
in Verona, New York.
The
victory awarded the 28-year-old reigning Philippine
national champion the top purse of $8,000 (P370,000) in
the four-day $25,000 tournament that featured some of
the world’s best cue artists, including double world
champion Ronnie Alcano.
Corteza
won his first five matches against Redgie Cutler (9-6),
Holden Chin (9-1), Mike Dechaine (9-6), Tony Chohan
(9-3) and Tony Robles (9-2) before finding himself in
the losers’ bracket after a 9-6 loss to compatriot
Dennis Orcollo.
The
former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist then beat
current top moneymaker Niels Feijen, 9-3, and former
world champion Ralf Souquet, 9-5, to arrange a return
bout with Orcollo, who lost to Ulrich in the hot-seat
match.
After
blasting Orcollo, 9-2, to clinch the second finals
berth, Corteza immediately romped off to pocket 12 of
the finals’ first 14 racks, and after Ulrich won five
consecutive frames, he ran out the next to seal the
triumph.
Ulrich
settled for the runner-up prize of $5,300, while Orcollo
took $3,800 for his third-place finish.
Alcano
won his first two matches before losing two of the next
three to bow out of contention and fall into a tie for
No. 26.
Another
Filipino Jose “Amang” Parica finished at No. 17, winning
his first three assignments, including the 9-5 victory
over Alcano, before suffering back-to-back setbacks.
Other
notable players who competed in the tournament were
former world titlists Johnny Archer, Mika Immonen and
Thorsten Hohmann, reigning World 10-ball ruler Shane van
Boening, veteran internationalists Stevie Moore, Mike
Davis, Tony Crosby and Ronnie Wiseman, and top lady
players Karen Corr and Jasmin Ouschan. |
