For his strong finishes in the first two major pool tournaments this year, current world no.1 Dennis Orcollo earn the honor as the country's top-ranked cue artist in the ranking released yesterday by the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP).
Orcollo, a stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano, garnered a total of 1,950 points for his title conquest of the First San Miguel Beer-Quezon City 9-Ball Championship last March and his quarterfinals finish in the First Senate President Manny Villar Cup earlier this month.
“I'm happy to know that I'm also the number one player here in the Philippines ,” said the 29-year-old pool master from Bislig, Surigao del Sur. “But my goal is to finally become a world champion, and that's what I'm working hard for now.”
According to BMPAP spokesman Edwin Reyes, the ranking, which will be updated every quarter of the year, is based on the performance of a player only in tournaments played in the country.
“This is like the ATP ranking in tennis and this will be one of the bases in determining who the BMPAP will send in international competitions,” Reyes said.
Villar Cup Top Guns Challenge champion Warren Kiamco of Jonathan Sy's Negros Billiards Stable took the second spot with 1,760.
Pool icon Efren “Bata” Reyes and 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez are tied at third with 1,160 points each. Reyes got bulk of his points from his runner-up finish to Kiamco in the finals of the Villar Cup, while Gomez got his from his second-place feat in SMB-QC tilt.
Rising star Russian Petiza is at no.5 with 1,113 points, bunch of which came from his fifth-place finish in the SMB-QC 9-Ball. He also strong finishes in the Search for the New Billiards Idol, which includes a leg victory.
At sixth spot is former Asian Games gold medalist Gandy Valle with 1,050 points, followed by Ramil Gallego (975), Lee Van Corteza (935), Elmer Haya (935) and Benjie Guevarra (915).
Another top young prospects Carlo Biado and Ricky Zerna is at no.11 and no.12 with 895 and 783 points, respectively, while Japan-based veteran campaigner Ruel Esquillo got 728 points to occupy the 13th spot, and Jharome Pena is at no.14 with 725 points.
Former world no.1 Francisco “Django” Bustamante, who was a semifinalist in the SMB-QC 9-Ball and was abroad during the Villar Cup, is tied with fellow Puyat Sports mainstay Rodolfo Luat for 15th place with 675 points each.
Rounding up the top 20 are upstart William Millares of FGR Stable with 668 points, two-time world champion Ronnie Alcano with 635 points, Dondon Razalan with 590 points and Godofredo Ducanes with 578 points.
