...the Philippine Sports Champions

Philippines Rising: 3 World Champion in 1 month!

New Worlds| George Siy
Manila Times
10 November 2019

“For everything there is a season”, and it seems to be a winning season for the Philippines — three world championships within a month! And more exceptionally, they are in areas of excellence the Philippines has not achieved in the world arena before.

“Kuya Caloy” Yulo winner of the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship, got his start from, perhaps, a doting grandfather who saw him playing at tumbling and brought him to the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines. In an unusual story in Philippine sports, and much to her credit, head of gymnastics Cynthia Carreon perceived Carlos’s exceptional talent and discipline, and worked to obtain special support for him, who started training five hours a day, 6 days a week, staying in Japan under Coach Kugimiya for three years before winning this championship. President Rodrigo Duterte, Manny Pangilinan, Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso have given cash rewards and recognition to the young star who, at 19 and still below his peak, is already seeded No. 1 in gymnastics in the coming Olympics.

Wesley So was not so lucky… taught chess by his father, playing in localities, he became our national chess champion at 14, and ninth youngest grandmaster in history. Going through personal and family issues, he had to live through very lean times, and had to consider giving up chess. Eventually he was adopted by Filipina actress in the US, Lotis Key and her partner Kabigting, who supported Wesley in his career. Winning competition after competition, he won the US Championship in 2017, skyrocketed to No. 2 in the world, and began gunning for No. 1. Just this past October, he faced the world chess champ Magnus Carlsen “mano y mano,” in the Fischer Random World Chess Championship.

Random Chess, a variant that allows for the shuffling of the pieces in the onset, was promoted by Bobby Fischer whose goal was to eliminate what he considered the complete dominance of openings preparation (it is standard for the top players to have memorized the first 15 to 20 moves) in classical chess, replacing it with creativity and talent.

Raw talent. Wesley crushed Carlsen by four wins, 2 draws, no losses, for a total 13.5 to 2.5 score. Stunning was not only the turnaround of positions, it was a breathtaking display of talent, creativity, resilience — a true story of winning above tremendous starting odds.

It is sad that he had to play for another country, his talent was not sufficiently recognized and supported here. There are many others unrecognized in different fields of sports, sciences, arts, academe, etc.. It is an established and accepted practice to have a “sports nationality,” which athletes can choose, without giving up your original nationality, and this is accepted by the US and the International Olympic Committee and most countries. While we are proud of their wins, it also brings a sigh, and to some perhaps some tears that we have to let top athletes, scholars, and so many of our countrymen go elsewhere to have a better or even a decent life, or treatment.

Wesley has indicated the care he still has for the Philippines and the chess players here, although we rightfully should hear of the areas where improvements are needed in both amount and organization of support. We have to work to better the circumstances in our own country.

The problems are beyond money alone, as sports associations positions are often seen as rewards to give out, or posts to put friends or people owed to, out of major harm’s way politically, with some budget and power to play with. Appointees are often not knowledgeable about the sports or crafts, and cannot identify who are the true talents, and who are just early or late bloomers. Even when recognized, sports is replete with stories of athletes selected by the officials because of personal preferences, and politics rather than ability. Budgets often go to perks rather than training or competition. Private enterprises are now getting more active in support of sports, scholarships, etc… and partnerships are sorely needed. Both organizations and athletes may need to know better how to raise support and glamorize a sport to the public, but still retain the essence of excellence in sports.

Another world champion for the Philippines this month: Dr Calixto Chikiamco and Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) won the Atlas Network Templeton Award, one of the world’s top prizes in — in a field you would not normally think the Philippines to be a power in — think tanks’ advocacies. FEF is made up of the top economists in the country, the past, present, and perhaps future ones, and some friends. Romeo Bernardo, Virata, Climaco, Medalla, Karl Chua, Calixto, Olivar, etc… thinkers of different stripes, from different administrations, but all nationalists studying, pushing, hoping for the country.

This year’s winning project was for the successful liberalization, with the help of government, of restrictions on land patents, which will allow millions of farmers, owners around the country, to monetize, capitalize, utilize in different ways their lands, releasing billions of dollars worth of value for redeployment, increased investment, output, opportunities.

“What the Foundation for Economic Freedom has achieved in truly epic,” according to Dr. Tom G. Palmer, executive vice president of Atlas Network.

The new question is: Enablers are valuable, but the people still have to use newfound powers wisely… will they? People will need help. Our country needs so many moves planned and executed at the same time, continually, to catch up for our decades lost.

All three champions this month, and the people, organizations who supported them deserve our congratulations. We need to get down to how we can produce more champions in all fields. They are sources of inspiration for excellence for our people. We need more enhanced selection, support, and training happening, rather than the stories of the discouraging difficulties most have to go through to get even get decent support or treatment, or even just attention.

Is this season of triple triumphs just a moment in time, or are there better times to come? We wont say the “best is yet to come…” because that implies a decline after that peak. Senator Sonny Angara recently filed the bill for Philippine High School for Sports, which is now on the Senate floor. We not only look forward to, we should all work for “ever better years to come!” Better times are not a matter of luck or “weather” as the Filipino saying goes, “pana-panahon.” Let us plan, organize, work together and execute, not just critique!

...the World E-Sports Games SEA champion

PH still overall World Electronic Sports Games SEA champion


Gabriel Pe
Spin.ph
05 November 2019

THE PHILIPPINES  was names overall champion in the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) Southeast Asia for the second year in a row, after getting three podium finishes out of four events.


TNC Predator repeated as regional champ for DOTA 2 after beating Vietnamese team 496 Gaming in a thrilling three-game title series,

The predominantly Filipino squad looked out of form in the opening match, losing key team fights in the late game and ultimately crumbling against their SEA rivals. Backs against the wall, TNC bounced back with a quick sub-30-minute Game 2 to set up a rubber match.

The winner-take-all appeared to be going in 496's favor, as the Viets picked off heroes in the early and mid-game. However, Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte's Naga Siren was left unchecked and the reigning champions were able to turn the game around with crucial team fights.

TNC, which swept the group stage (4-0), pocketed 7,500 USD — about P379,000 — for coming out on top of the regionals and now have the chance to defend their title in the WESG Global Finals, which will happen March next year.

It was a different story for the country's StarCraft II representative in the upcoming SEA Games, though, as Caviar "EnDerr" Acampado failed to secure back-to-back WESG regional championships and fell to last year's runner-up, Tran "MeomaikA" Hong Phuc from Vietnam. Both players qualified for the global finals.

EnDerr, who netted $2,000 or about P100,000, managed to take the opener, but MeomaikA maintained composure to go all the way in the Zerg versus Zerg matchup.

Meanwhile, female CS:GO Team Amplify took home bronze and the same prize money as EnDerr.

The group of Kyung In "Tr1cks" Lee, Tiara "Alluka" Pleno, Pat "c0ffee" Lagua, Aya "Kuchii" Kashikawa, and Daisy "Dzai" Madulin lost to Indonesian squad Celeste in the semifinals, then beat Thailand's Mystery to finish third.

...the PH golden day in sports

Two golds in one day


Inquirer.net  Editorial
16 October 2019

There’s a lot to celebrate about the triumphs of Carlos Yulo and Nesthy Petecio in the world stage very recently.

Yulo scored the more celebrated victory, becoming the first Filipino world champion in gymnastics, after ruling the floor exercise in the sport’s world championships in Germany.

But not to be overlooked is Petecio, who ruled her division in the women’s competition of the boxing world championships in Ulan-Ude, Russia, beating local bet Liudmila Vorontsove in a sport notorious for hometown bias.

Their gold medal feats, achieved barely 24 hours of each other, not only polished the country’s image in the international scene, they also helped shatter sports’ stubborn sex stereotypes.

Yulo, after all, triumphed in a sport generally seen as feminine, whose women champions are more often heralded as iconic than their male counterparts. Meanwhile, it is not a stretch to say that you’d be in the hundreds when counting down the most influential boxers in history before coming up with a woman’s name.

Yulo and Petecio got their just due from the government, with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) shelling out a cool million for each athlete as reward.

There is, however, the need to go beyond the cheering and the toasting when looking at the feats of Yulo and Petecio. Their victories in the world stage usher in new hope for the country as it hosts the Southeast Asian Games later this year and, more importantly, navigates its way to next year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Yulo and Petecio reinforce the change needed in our country’s national sports program, highlighting the need to funnel limited resources to focus sports.

PSC commissioner Ramon Fernandez is a staunch advocate of focus sports, disciplines where the Filipino athlete isn’t hamstrung by physical limitations like height and heft and can flourish on talent and hard work. Upon his appointment in 2016, Fernandez crafted a blueprint called “Change the Game,” which seeks to resuscitate Philippine sports.

 Among his plans was to focus on less popular sports where he believes the country has potential to succeed, such as open water swimming — for the Olympic event, known as marathon swimming —
given the country’s vast water bodies.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao also supports the idea of shifting focus to “weight-classed sports and other sports that does not give undue advantage to bigger and taller athletes.” Examples of weight-classed sports are boxing, taekwondo, judo, wrestling and weightlifting.

Filipino athletes can also excel in gymnastics, marathon, synchronized swimming, diving, cycling, shooting, archery, chess and other similar sports that require intelligence, balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination and endurance.

...the World Gymnastics Champion

Carlos Edriel Yulo claims Philippines' first-ever gold at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

Filipino gymnast is the youngest competitor in this year's event at 19

Reuters
Gulf News
13 October 2019

Carlos Edriel Yulo became the first ever Filipino gymnast to win a gold medal at the world championships, edging Israel's Artem Dolgopyat in the floor exercise final in Stuttgart on Saturday.

Gold medalist Philippines' Carlos Edriel Yulo during the medals ceremony. Image Credit: Reuter

Yulo, the youngest competitor in this year's event at 19, consistently posted controlled landings to post an impressive score of 15.300 points - 0.1 more than second-placed Dolgopyat.

Raising the degree of difficulty from 6.2 to 6.5 paid dividends for Yulo as he outperformed Dolgopyat, who came into the final as the top qualifier.

Carlos Edriel Yulo performs on the floor during the apparatus finals at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Southern Germany. Image Credit: AFP

"Last year, I was looking at my medal and I was like, 'I will get the gold medal next year,'" Yulo said.

"(Looking at it now) It's ridiculous. I don't really know. I didn't expect to win this medal. I'm very happy right now." China's Xiao Ruoteng followed a disappointing fourth-place finish in Friday's all-around final by claiming the bronze medal.

Tokyo-based Yulo improved on last year's bronze medal, which made him the first Filipino ever to occupy a podium spot at the championships.

Yulo is enjoying a memorable week in Stuttgart, having punched his ticket for next year's Tokyo Olympics with an 18th-place finish in the all-around qualifying.

Little over two hours after Yulo tasted glory, Ibrahim Colak struck gold in the rings final to hand Turkey their first-ever medal at the championships.

Colak earned a 14.933 to hold off a spirited challenge from Italy's Marco Lodadio, who finished just 0.033 of a point behind.

"I'm so happy for this. I don't know what can I say but I did," Colak said. "Also, I have tickets for the Olympic Games now. This is will be the first time for me." France's Samir Ait Said took the bronze medal, three years after he suffered a horrific leg break at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

...the Pinoy world surfing champ

Surfing: PH’s John Mark Tokong tops world competition in hometown Siargao

Kleeseter Macasero

ABS-CBN News

11 October 2019

GENERAL LUNA, Surigao del Norte—Local surfer John Mark Tokong on Wednesday afternoon won the 25th Siargao Cloud 9 International Surfing Cup in this town's world-renowned Cloud 9 surf break with only 45 seconds remaining in the heat.

John Mark Tokong of the Philippines nails a 360 air reverse after a successful barrel over the renowned Cloud 9 break, keying his win during the finals of the 25th Siargao Cloud 9 International Surfing Cup in General Luna town, Surigao del Norte, on Wednesday. Kleester Macasero, ABS-CBN News

The Siargao competition is part of the World Surfing League (WSL) qualifying series.

Tokong's win is his second after the WSL-Asian Surfing Championship QS 1,500 Siargao International Surfing Cup in 2015, and it enabled him to redeem himself of a 2018 loss.

Tokong, 23, locally known as Marama, thrilled fans in a late comeback during the final heat of the competition, edging out a few points 16.80 to 16.75 against island surfer Noah Beschen from Hawaii, and besting 64 competitors from 13 countries to win. 

“I just had to stay calm and cool amid the pressure, I did not push or rushed, but of course I gave it my best,” Tokong said.

The victory came as a sweet redemption for Tokong after a loss to Skip McCullough of the US in the 2018 finals of the WSL Siargao Cloud 9 International Surfing Cup.

McCullough returned to Siargao, but he and Koby Oberholzer of South Africa were eliminated in Round 3 of the competition sending Tokong and Australian Thomas Cervi to the quarterfinals. 

In the quarterfinals, Tokong beat Indonesia’s Oney Anwar 18.75 to 9.50 points to give the Filipino surfer a lead toward the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Tokong gave his best run with a 9.50, 9.55, 8.60 and capping off with a 8.75 to top Tomas King of Costa Rica 19.05 to 15.30. 

John Mark Tokong of the Philippines nails a 360 air reverse after a successful barrel over the renowned Cloud 9 break, keying his win during the finals of the 25th Siargao Cloud 9 International Surfing Cup in General Luna town, Surigao del Norte, on Wednesday. Kleester Macasero, ABS-CBN News

Spectacular finals

In the finals, even with a few good barrels, Tokong and Beschen began to look more to the air for scores as the classic Cloud 9 tubes became harder to find. The two went toe to toe, with Tokong holding the upper hand a majority of the 40-minute matchup.

Tokong's first two waves initially gave him the lead, 9.00 and 5.75 respectively, but Beschen made a series of quick rides on the wave giving him 8.15 and 6.25 and several more waves than what Tokong was giving.

With only two minutes left, Beschen took off on a set and lined up for a tube that never eventuated, forcing him to launch a massive straight air slob grab. Beschen landed the air smoothly and posted an 8.60 to take the lead and what looked to be his first qualifying series victory.

Then Tokong swung on a set wave with 45 seconds and pulled into a deep tube as the 20-second countdown started, came out and bashed the lip, posting a 7.80 and taking the final by just 0.05 of a point.

"In the end, I almost gave up because there was no time left and then when that wave came I knew exactly what I had to do,” Tokong said.

"Noah is such a crazy surfer, he does so many airs and is so good in these kinds of waves so it was sick to have a final with him. Being from Hawaii he's so good in the barrel and at hitting big sections so I loved surfing with him at Cloud 9.”

On its 25th year, the Cloud 9 competition is part of the WSL Asia sanctioned men’s qualifying series. This year, the WSL Asia has given the event a QS-1,500 category, giving surfers on the circuit a chance to gain additional QS points with a total $15,000 in prize money up for grabs.

“With the QS ranking, surfers are expecting more WQS points, giving competitors a chance to gain higher overall WQS ranking points. Everyone wants a slice of the points, the prize money is more of an added icing on the cake,” event director Gerry Degan said.

The winning surfer will bring home $5,000, while the second spot $3,000 and third spot $1,500.

In the first round kick-off on October 4, surfers from the Philippines, Australia, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hawaii, Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the US, and Venezuela advanced to Round 2 of the competition. By the third round, only Tokong was left of the 21 Filipino surfers who competed. 

The WSL plans to make the event bigger next year, as the Philippine Sports Commission promised to help organize and raise funds for the event in 2020. 

...the Pacman vindication

Pacquiao wins unanimous decision vs Bradley to reclaim WBO title

By Bong Lozada, Mark Giongco
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, INQUIRER.net

Sunday, April 13th, 2014

Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines acknowledges the crowd just after his unanimous decision victory over Timothy Bradley during their WBO World Welterweight championship boxing match, Saturday, April 12, 2014, at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. AP

LAS VEGAS/MANILA — Revenge was served, and it was cold.

 

Manny Pacquiao won a 12-round unanimous decision over Timothy Bradley on Saturday to avenge his controversial 2012 loss to the previously unbeaten American.

 

The Filipino ring icon improved to 56-5 with two drawn and 38 wins inside the distance as he regained the World Boxing Organization welterweight world title he lost to Bradley on June 9, 2012.

 

Although he couldn’t get his first knockout win since 2009, Pacquiao lived up to his pre-fight promise to come out with more aggression, denying Bradley’s avowed aim of sending him into retirement with another defeat.

“I think I can go another two years,” said Pacquiao, who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions. “I’m so happy to be world champion again. Tim Bradley was not an easy fight.”

 

Bradley, who said he fought from the first round with a right calf injury, fell to 31-1, with 12 knockouts.

 

“Life goes on,” Bradley said of his first pro defeat. “It’s back to the gym. Not a big deal.”

 

“You won the fight, you deserved the win,” Bradley said. “I have no excuses.”

 

After a forgetful 2012, Pacquiao has now picked up two impressive wins in just five months following a dominant victory over Mexican-American Brandon Rios last November at the Venetian in Macau.

 

Scorecard

 

Judge Glen Trowbridge scored the bout 118-110 for Pacquiao, while both Michael Pernick and Canada’s Craig Metcalf saw it 116-112 for the ‘Pacman,’ whose every move was cheered by the star-studded crowd of 15,601 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

 

“Bradley is better from the first fight,” Pacquiao said. “He hurt me on the chin. He made adjustments.

“I knew I had to do more this time than I did the last time,” he added.

 

Pacquiao landed 35 percent of his 563 punches, while Bradley connected with just 22 percent of his 627 blows. Pacquiao’s jab was much more effective, landing 23 percent to Bradley’s measly 11 percent, and the Pacman had a slight edge in landing 148 power punches to Bradley’s 109.

 

Round by round

 

Pacquiao’s performance righted one of the biggest perceived wrongs in recent boxing history. Pacquiao was an eight-division world champion on 15-fight winning streak when Bradley was awarded a split decision in their last bout.

 

Pacquiao was more aggressive and accurate from the opening minutes of the rematch, sticking to trainer Freddie Roach’s pleas to take the action to Bradley. They exchanged big shots in the opening rounds, but Pacquiao appeared to wear out Bradley with the heavy early pace — and the Pacman never slowed down.

 

Pacquiao landed a series of big left hands in the early rounds, knocking back Bradley with gusto.

 

Bradley responded impressively in the fourth round, wobbling Pacquiao twice with a right hand.

The pace slowed in the fifth, with Bradley showing off his defense and movement while Pacquiao attempted to trap him against the ropes.

 

Pacquiao appeared to wobble Bradley late in the seventh round with a vicious combination, but Bradley stood with his back against the ropes and defiantly encouraged it, blocking most of the shots.

 

Bradley appeared to pretend to have wobbly legs at one point after a Pacquiao miss, but his open mouth betrayed his weariness while Pacquiao steadily racked up rounds midway through the fight.

 

Bradley came on strong in the 12th, and the fighters’ heads collided late in the round. Pacquiao avoided any trouble until the final bell, when he did a short dance step to his corner.

 

Pacquiao finished the fight with a cut over his left eye. Roach said Pacquiao needed stitches to close the jagged cut.

 

Old ‘killer instinct’

 

Saturday’s victory showcased more of the old “killer instinct,” with Bradley saying it was clear that Pacquiao was “going for it”.

 

But Roach said Bradley’s unexpected strategy of seeking a big knockout blow of his own caught him and Pacquiao by surprise.

 

“He was swinging for the fences all night,” Roach said of Bradley, who said he thought it was the only way he could win the fight.

 

But as the pace slowed in the later rounds, Pacquiao dominated, putting together multi-punch combinations that kept Bradley off balance.

 

“I tried, I really tried,” said Bradley. “I wanted that knockout. I kept trying to throw something over the top, that’s what the plan was.”

 

But Bradley trainer Joel Diaz said he knew the plan had gone out the window when Bradley came to the corner after the first round saying he thought he had torn his right calf muscle.

 

Diaz tried massaging it, but Bradley told him to stop because it hurt.

 

“From that point on, I knew I didn’t have much to work with, because our plan was to dominate Pacquiao and we couldn’t do it,” Diaz said.

The injury was later diagnosed as a strain, and Bradley said he had “no excuses”.

 

“Manny is a great fighter, one of the best in the world maybe the best ever,” he said.

 

Before the rematch

 

While Bradley remains publicly confident he beat Pacquiao in their first bout despite fighting on two injured feet, that much-derided decision sent both fighters’ careers on wild spirals.

 

The two judges who scored the bout 115-113 for Bradley are no longer in the boxing business, but their decision ended Pacquiao’s 15-fight win streak and forced Bradley to defend himself against widespread criticism of the result.

Bradley endured death threats and depression before returning to the ring in unusually reckless style.

 

He brawled with Ruslan Provodnikov in March 2013 in a sensational unanimous-decision victory that silenced critics of his style and heart. Bradley then outpointed veteran Mexican champion Juan Manuel Marquez last fall, polishing his skills and making himself attractive to Pacquiao for a rematch.

 

Pacquiao was knocked unconscious by Marquez in the sixth round of their fourth fight in late 2012, and he took nearly a year off before returning for an unspectacular victory over Brandon Rios last fall. Pacquiao’s last two performances prompted Bradley to declare Pacquiao had lost his killer instinct, noting he was unable or unwilling to stop any of his opponents since late 2009.

Pacquiao’s next foe

Pacquiao’s next opponent could be the winner of the May 17 bout between Mike Alvarado and Marquez.

 

If Marquez wins, he could meet Pacquiao for the fifth time.

 

“I have no problem with fighting Marquez again, but that’s up to my promoter, Bob Arum,” Pacquiao said.

 

...the 2013 World Cup of Pool Champions

Filipinos Corteza and Orcollo capture World Cup of Pool crown

By Bob Guerrero

• Posts

By Bob Guerrero

The Passionate Fan

23 September 2013

 

Image courtesy JP Parmentier and Matchroom Sport.

It was messy. It was ugly. It was nerve-racking. And for Pinoy fans from all around the world, it was also beautiful.

The Philippine pair of Dennis Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza etched their names in Pool history by emerging 10-8 winners over Holland in a sloppy but thrilling final on Sunday at the 888.com World Cup of Pool in London, England. It's the third title for the Philippines in the eight editions of the team 9 Ball event. Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante lifted the cup in 2006 and 2009.
 
The final rack was a tense affair for both the Pinoys and the Dutch team of Niels Feijen and Nick van den Berg.

Leading 9-8, Dennis Orcollo broke dry, and it seemed that the Dutch could force a final-rack decider. But van den Berg muffed a four ball down the rail, ceding the table to the Philippines.

Orcollo played poor position in sinking the seven ball, leaving a difficult thin cut on the eight for Corteza, whose form had been shaky all throughout the final.

But the Davaoeño displayed no nerves at all in draining the shot and leaving his partner with shape on the nine ball. Orcollo knocked it in, sending the dozens of Filipinos at York Hall into rapture.

The last eight ball was fitting redemption for Corteza, who made some uncharacteristic errors in the roller-coaster title match.

"The fans here are why we won" said Orcollo afterwards."There was a lot of pressure and things became very difficult but the Filipino community in London who supported us throughout really helped us through."

The Philippines sprinted to an early 2-0 lead before Holland steadied the ship to lead 3-2. Then the Philippines reeled off five consecutive racks to gain a stranglehold on the match at 7-3, with Holland always finding awkward situations on the table and making mistakes in crucial moments.

Then Lee Vann missed a two ball in rack eleven to permit the Europeans to peg one rack back. In the next rack Corteza again stumbled, completely whiffing a tough but doable jump shot on the eight ball. That allowed the Dutch to pull to within two, 5-7.

Feijen and van den Berg then broke-and-ran out the next two racks to level at 7-7. A weak safety by Orcollo in rack fifteen gave the Dutch yet another opening which they seized for 8-7.

In rack 16 Feijen rattled an awkward but makeable 8 ball to allow the Pinoys first access to the hill at 9-8. The former 14.1 world champ needed to put follow on the long shot to avoid scratching and to get position on the nine, which probably caused him to miss.

That set up the memorable final rack that propelled Corteza and Orcollo into the pantheon of World Cup of Pool champions.

The Philippines reached the final thanks to a superb 9-7 semifinal win against Chinese Taipei stars Chang Jung Lin and Ko Pin Yi. Like the final, the Philippines put up a big lead, 7-2, before the Formosans found their groove and reeled off five racks in a row, the last four break-and-run-outs, to knot the match at 7-7.

Orcollo and Corteza then took the last two racks to secure a finals berth.

Holland booked their finals ticket with a 9-4 win over defending champs Finland. Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen will be pleased that they won eight straight matches in this event dating from last year.

The Philippine duo will split the US$60,000 top prize while the Dutch settle for US$30,000. The victory should help erase the memory of Orcollo's last final appearance in the WCOP, in 2010, when he and Roberto Gomez were upset by China's Li He Wen and Fu Jian Bo 10-5 in Manila.

This year the Philippines bounced Croatia 7-4 in the first round, then defeated Singapore 7-3 before downing Hungary 9-1 in the quarterfinals.

The win extends a terrific year for both Pinoys. Orcollo recently won the US Open One Pocket championship while Corteza triumphed in the 2013 China Open.