MANILA, PHILIPPINES---CURRENT double world champion Ronato "Volcano" Alcano and reigning national champion and All Japan ruler Lee Vann "Slayer" Corteza are definitely ready for war when the 2007 Guinness 9-Ball Tour Grand Final blasts off on Friday at the the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bali, Indonesia featuring the Tour's top 10 players after five legs, including order tour of merit elimination top notcher Yang Ching-Chun and Chang Jung-lin of Taiwan
The 28-year-old Corteza, top player of Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) who hails from Mintal, Davao City, and his wife Gelia planed in to Bali, Indonesia Wednesday night for the three-day championship which ends Sunday according to NBS coach/ manager Christopher Palses. The couple left Manila at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday and had a stopover in Hong Kong before arriving to Indonesia at 10:30pm according to Pro Solution chief bureau Dux Carvajal.
"I hope Van-Van (Corteza) and Ronnie (Alcano) will play very well for the country's glory" said NBS coach/ manaher Christopher Palses.
The 34-year-old lanky cue artist Alcano on the other hand, arrived in Indonesia last week to shoot for a Guinness commercial along with Bugsy stablemate Elmer "Buddy" Kalaquian.
Corteza, arrived in the country last week after winning the Turning Stone Classic in Verona, New York where he bagged the US$8,000 top purse. He also settled runner-up place in the 2007 International Challenge of Champion US$50,000 winner-take all at the Mohegan Sun's Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. Corteza the only Filipino player manage to reach the finals in the inaugural Guinness Jakarta Tour leg.
Alcano, meanwhile is the responsible for Corteza's trip to the Grand Final when the Philippine rotation No.1 player booted out his semifinal opponent in the fifth leg just a couple of weeks ago.
Corteza and the other top nine players, who qualified after earning the most number of points in the past five legs held in Jakarta, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Singapore and Shanghai, China, will be divided into two groups of five.
Yang, Jung-Lin Chang, Chao and former World Pool champion Chia Ching Wu, Indonesia's Ricky Yang, Malaysia's Ibrahim Amir, India's Dharminder Singh Lilly and Singapore's Bernard Tey complete the cast of the Guinness finalists.
They will play a single round robin for the race-to-nine alternate-break group stage where the top two players in each group will advance to the race-to-11 knockout semi-finals. The semis winners will play in the title and the US $36,000 championship prize.
A player must win by two racks up to a maximum of race to 13 in the semis and finals matches of the three-day $70,000 Grand Final.
The Guinness Top 10 also qualified to the 2007 WPA World 9-Ball Championship in Manila on November 3 to 11.
ESPN Star Sports will air live telecast of the tournament starting 5:00 p.m. Friday, Hong Kong time.
The Guinness 9Ball Tour is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) and organized by ESPN Star Sports' Event Management Group (EMG) in close cooperation with Persatuan Olahraga Billiar Seluruh Indonesia (POBSI).
