Alcano falls in World 9-Ball final

**Admin Magic Man13** Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:19 am

MANILA, Philippines — Ronnie Alcano failed in his bid to win another world title when he suffered a heartbreaking 13-11 loss to Japan's Yukio Akakariyama in the finals of the World 9-Ball Championship at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

Alcano, who won the 2006 edition of this tournament in Manila, fought back from a three-rack deficit to eventually tie the match at 11-all.

But the Calamba, Laguna native bungled the two-ball on the side pocket in the next rack to eventually hand the lead back to the Japanese at 12-11.

From there, Akakariyama, who escaped with an 11-10 win over Filipino Vicenancio Tanio in the quarterfinals, easily took control of the clinching 24th rack to win the top purse of $36,000 or roughly 1.6 million pesos.

Ranked No. 2 in the world, Alcano earned his way in the finals by defeating compatriot and current World No. 1 and reigning World 8-Ball king Dennis Orcollo, 11-9, in the semis. Akakariyama downed Great Britain's Mark Gray, 11-10, in the other pairing.

Alcano was attempting to wrest his third world title and the first since defeating Orcollo in the finals of the 2007 World 8-Ball Championship.

Jonas Terrado, Manila Bulletin