Dennis Orcollo seeks to reaffirm his status as the world's top cue artist today when he competes in the Panagbenga leg of the Senator Manny Villar Cup slated on February 20 to 22 in Baguio City.
The 29-year-old Orcollo, a stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano, was the winningest Filipino pool master in 2008, having won four major tournaments and finished strong in all the events he competed in.
“I hope I could continue my good run this year,” said Orcollo, who last year ruled the Quezon City 9-Ball Chanmpionship, the All-Japan Open, the Qatar International 9-Ball Open and the Guinness Tour Guangzhou leg..
While waiting for the start of the billiards season, Orcollo engaged himself in a series of challenge matches with other top Filipino players like Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Ronnie Alcano, Alex Pagulayan and Roberto Gomez, and won most of them.
The Villar Cup Panagbenga leg will be held in SM City Baguio. It will be part of the city's month-long flower festival, where over a million visitors are expected to witness.
After that, the series, presented by Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports in cooperation with the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) and sponsored by Camella Communities, will go to Quezon Province ( Lucena City ) in March and Batangas ( Lipa City ) in April.
Villar will also support the National Open slated in May, and a couple of international tournaments to be held in the country in the following months.
Then the Villar Cup will return to Davao City for the Kadayawan leg in August, before it travels to Palawan in September.
Besides Orcollo, Alcano, Pagulayan Bustamante, Gomez and Valle, other notable players vying in the event are pool maestro Efren “Bata” Reyes, Lee Van Corteza, and former leg winners Warren Kiamco (Alabang), Ramil Gallego (Bulacan), Roberto Gomez (Davao) and Rodolfo Luat (Bacolod).
