Alex Pagulayan solidified his status as the top Filipino pool artist with a masterful 11-6 victory over compatriot Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo in the finals of Guinness 9 Ball Tour at the Velocity@Novena Square in Singapore.
With the victory, Pagulayan became the first Filipino to be officially proclaimed as Guinness 9-ball pool champion since replacing former title sponsor, San Miguel Beer. The last time a Filipino won a title on the tour was in 2006 when Efren "Bata" Reyes beat Ricky Yang in Jakarta, Indonesia in the SMB tour.
He adds the title to a long list that includes the 2004 World Pool Championship, the 2005 US Open Championship, three gold medals in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, 2006 BSCP National Pool Championship and the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters. He also took home $15,000. Orcollo, who is fresh from winning the first Qatar World 9-Ball this month, settled for runner-up honors worth $6,000.
The Bislig, Surigao del Sur ace nipped Yang Ching Shun of Chinese Taipei, 9-8, in a scintillating semifinal match yesterday to set up an all-Filipino clash in the finals. Pagulayan, on the other hand, won over Wu Chia Ching of Chinese Taipei, 9-6, in the other semifinal pairing. This encounter marks the first time since Lee Van Corteza defeated Francisco "Django" Bustamante in Manila in 2004 that two Filipinos battled for the tour crown.
Up for grabs in the Singapore leg is a total prize purse of $50,000 as well as points to qualify for the tour's Grand Final in Jakarta, which will feature the Top Ten players in the overall Order of Merit. The winners of each leg will get to earn $15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will pocket $36,000.
In addition, the Tour's Top 10 players will also automatically qualify for pool's most prestigious event, the 2008 WPA World Pool Championships, later his year. The tour will have its penultimate leg in Guangzhou on September before heading to Jakarta for the Grand Finals on October.
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