Dennis Orcollo has added a US Open One Pocket title to his already impressive resume.
Orcollo never allowed an opponent to the hill in an undefeated run through the winner's side. A Friday night win 4-2 win over Chris Bartam left Orcollo facing Derby City One Pocket Champion Corey Deuel for the hot-seat. That match would be fairly anti-climactic with Dennis defeating Deuel 4-0.
After Deuel's five hour 3-2 win over Carlo Biado on Saturday night, the fans knew they would get an Orcollo/Deuel rematch in the finals.
The final race to five on Sunday started out with Orcollo taking a 2-0 lead in a defensive battle. Neither player seemed willing to go for anything risky and Deuel fought off his usual desire to go for the home run shot. Deuel finally won a game in rack three and then tied things up at 2-2 and again at 3-3.. The first six racks had been long tactical battles, but Deuel made a mistake on his break return in rack seven and allowed Orcollo a quick run to get to the hill at 4-3. Rack eight saw Deuel put togeher multiple small runs to take a 7-2 lead in ball count and most fans on the rail were certain we were in store for a hill-hill match. Deuel passed on multiple semi-risky shots that Orcollo baited him with, but it was finally a fairly straight forward safety that spelled the end for Deuel. He left Orcollo a shot with a very tough table and Orcollo ran the final six balls on the table for the 5-3 win and first place.
Orcollo won't be able to enjoy his $7500 check for long, as he is now two rounds behind in the ongoing US Open 10-Ball Championship where he is attempting to defend his title. He will have a 10:00 am match against Kenichi Uchigaki with the winner taking on Shane Van Boening later in the day on Monday.
Deuel settled for $4800 in second place prize money.
