Two-time champ Alcano to lead RP team in World Championship

After falling short of producing a world title holder, the Philippines is now seeking to become the first team to win the inaugural World Team Pool Championship slated from Jan. 30 to Feb. 7 in Hannover, Germany. Ronnie Alcano, a two-time world champion and Laos SEA Games gold medalist, will lead the six-member Philippine team in this first-of-its-kind team tournament.

Other members of the country’s top-rated all-male team are Lee Van Corteza, Dennis Orcullo, Marlon Manalo, Warren Kiamco and Antonio Lining. Officials of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP), led by president Sebastian Chua and chairman Yen Makabenta, selected the team They were selected by officials of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines under the leadership of president Sebastian Chua and chairman Yen Makabenta, due to their previous performances in major tournaments. Corteza was runner-up to Mika Immonen of Germany in this year’s 2nd World Ten Ball Championship at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. His strong performance in the WTBC catapulted him in the world rankings where he is now ranked No. 4. Alcano is the country’s only double world champion winning 9-ball and 8-ball crowns. Orcullo, a former world no.1 player, beat erstwhile world’s top player Ralf Souquet of Germany in the finals of the Predator 10-Ball Challenge in the United States this year. Kiamco and Lining made an auspicious comeback in the only world pool championship for men this year. Lining made it all the way to the semifinal round, while Kiamco made it to the Top 8. – GMANews.TV