The DCC 9-Ball Championships: Orcollo catches the $20,000 bye!
Dennis Orcollo, at 38 years old today had, potentially, his most memorable birthday ever! Undefeated, “Robocop” faced the blistering Shane Van Boening for the umpteenth time, the only difference being that, to lose the elusive DCC 9-Ball title, Dennis had to be beaten twice. How many times had they faced off in the past? That was then, this is now, The burning question? ”Who’s turn was it going to be today?” Either way, Dennis’ birthday was going to be memorable.
A little history: When down to 5 players, Efren was still in the running. At hill-hill, he had to pull off an incredible endgame performance against Damianos Giallourakis, another Greek who verified that these guys came to play. Earlier, Efren had threatened Billy Thorpe’s All Around aspirations eliminating him in another hill-hill nail biter. At 62, where was Reyes getting the heart to stave of these advances? He’d even given Shane his first loss. Now, down to 4 players, Reyes had to contend with Orcollo. The railbirds were ahootin’ and ahollerin.’ Efren held his ground until Dennis turned up the volume. Bye, bye Efren. Will we see you again next year?
Three players left. Sneaking all that way thru the racks was one of the world’s most respected instructors of our sport, the unsuspecting Filipino Ramil Mastica. Now, using the US as base, he travels from Bangladesh to Baltimore, and everywhere in between, teaching, giving clinics, etc., to those aware of his reputation as a master tutor. Now we are as well. Remember, yesterday, he had ended Pagulayan’s hopes. Now, at 9-7, he eliminated the intimidating Donny Mills to join the illustrious company of Orcollo and Van Boening.
So we were down to three players. You know what that means at DCC; there is a re-draw. And some lucky guy gets a bye. If the undefeated Orcollo has to play and loses both matches he’s automatically third in the tournament and 2nd in the All Around as Billy Thorpe, with his 9-Ball points tallied, had an impressive 197.5 up there already on the board. If Dennis gets to the Finals, he’s an undisputed, two-time All Around Champion. Guess what? Dennis draws the $20,000 bye!
Van Boening and Mastica are in the Semi’s. It wasn’t really much of a contest. Shane was breaking well and it was around 6-0 when Ramil got his first look at a ball. At 9-2, it was Van Boening and Orcollo vying for $16,000, The good news? Ramil has a further feather in has cap that will surely improve his reputation, not only as an instructor but as a formidable player, too.
Dennis and Shane: The rivalry continues. But, not much today, Shane’s pulverizing break deserted him as did his penetrating ball pocketing. Dennis, capitalizing on every error, was off and running. Dennis stumbled, too, but Shane just couldn’t step up. At 8-3, Orcollo, looking to close, had an unproductive break and left an open one ball. The exciting thing about Shane is that you never really believe that it’s over. He can come with it. He could get on a roll and run 9, again! The drama in the arena was palpable as he quietly approached the table. The 2 was positioned a little funny. Always aggressive, he rebounded the cue ball off the rail to open it…and hooked himself. Dennis didn’t stumble this time. The rack was his and he knew it. And in 6 elegant strokes he had repeated. Orcollo the 2014 All Around Champion is now Orcollo the 2017 All Around Champion.
Happy Birthday, Dennis. But this was no gift, you earned it!
Dennis finished with 227.5 All Around points; Billy Thorpe, 196.5; Francisco Bustamante, 136.8 and, last but not least, Shane Van Boening, 121.5.
We’ll see you here next year, the 20th Anniversary of DCC. Expect some surprises!
The George Fels Memorial Straight Pool Challenge
Both Appleton and Shaw defaulted to leave Chris Melling and Mika Immonen in the finals on the Accu-Stats TV table. Needing 11 balls, and the pressure of Mika, with 79, Melling babied the break shot to leave a possible cut down the long rail that could probably carom into the pocket. It rattled and hung. Mika, wisely, took a time out. 4 racks, plus a few, that’s all he required; He could make that in his sleep. With the easy starter, the balls opened nicely. Soon, a scratch got him and Melling was back at the table. Goodnight, Mika. Chris Melling takes the title for 2017.
Thank you Greg and Chad at Diamond for another great year! And to their Tournament crew for their contributions to these reports! That’s you, Brett Baker, Bill Strong, Paul Smith, Bonnie and Ric–the real Bad Boys of DCC!
BTW: BadBoys captured alternative matches, featuring the top pros, which will be uploaded next week at badboysbp.com for your viewing pleasure.
AND, let’s not forget Accu-Stats. Their DCC DVD Series featuring ALL the TV Table matches will be available, soon. Meanwhile, you can call NOW (800-828-0397) and save big on the Pre-Sale. Tell ‘em you read about it on AZB!
Accu-Stats thanks its Arena Sponsors: Diamond Billiards, Simonis Cloth, Cyclop Balls, Cue and Case, MEZZ Cues, McDermott Cues, National Billiard Academy, OB Cues, and Samsara Cues.
Photography Courtesy of David Thomson, MediumPool.com
