This might sound strange, but as light as the action was the first weekend, there might be more action this year than there has been in the past now that it's rolling. And with ring games almost every night between the top players in the world, it's tough being a sweator.
So, I got to watch Dennis Orcullo for the first time. He played Bartram again with a change in the spot. Chris got the 7-ball, but still had Kirkwood breaking.
Dennis' game is closer to Manalo's. He delivers his cue straight, but almost in a punch like Manalo, rather that that long swoop of Efren and Busty. For the set, I think he was on the stall even though he won the 10-ahead set in about 4 hours. He started out winning the firs three games without missing a ball. This in 10-ball in increasingly more difficult table conditions. But at 5 or 6 ahead, he started missing balls and letting Chris back at the table. But Chris still had a very difficult time getting out. It's almost like Dennis was playing in a style of 8-ball, missing early and not going all the way out. At 7 -ahead, he blew position exactly the same way in successive racks. IMO, he is entirely too good to have done that. But by doing so, I think he bought himself more games.
"He IS human," was murmurred a bunch of times. That sounds like exactly what he wants to hear. He got into a lot of tactical battles, opting to move balls to enticing but heinous positions that Bartram was having problems solving. If he ever wanted to get into one-pocket, he's got a strong game for it. That being said, I didn't see him make too many banks shots. That could have been a stall tactic too.
At 6-ahead (he had had it to 7), he danced a sexy out to get back to 7. This was the biggest mistake that Bartram made. Kirkwood had made a game with someone (Chavez maybe?), so Bartram who had just won a game decided to break himself. He failed to make a ball, and Orcullo ran out what I thought was particular impossible rack (because the balls just didn't spread out).
I whispered out loud to the guy next to me that it looks like he's ready to close this and rush this one out. He switched that gear and looked unmissable. And in 10 minutes it was over. A nice runout, a 10-ball on the break, and not surprisingly, a tactical battle of one ball earlly in the rack where Dennis opted to move a ball rather than to try to kick safe. 3 hours and 45 minutes to get to 7; ten minutes to get the last three games.
Yeah, he's for real.
Fred
So, I got to watch Dennis Orcullo for the first time. He played Bartram again with a change in the spot. Chris got the 7-ball, but still had Kirkwood breaking.
Dennis' game is closer to Manalo's. He delivers his cue straight, but almost in a punch like Manalo, rather that that long swoop of Efren and Busty. For the set, I think he was on the stall even though he won the 10-ahead set in about 4 hours. He started out winning the firs three games without missing a ball. This in 10-ball in increasingly more difficult table conditions. But at 5 or 6 ahead, he started missing balls and letting Chris back at the table. But Chris still had a very difficult time getting out. It's almost like Dennis was playing in a style of 8-ball, missing early and not going all the way out. At 7 -ahead, he blew position exactly the same way in successive racks. IMO, he is entirely too good to have done that. But by doing so, I think he bought himself more games.
"He IS human," was murmurred a bunch of times. That sounds like exactly what he wants to hear. He got into a lot of tactical battles, opting to move balls to enticing but heinous positions that Bartram was having problems solving. If he ever wanted to get into one-pocket, he's got a strong game for it. That being said, I didn't see him make too many banks shots. That could have been a stall tactic too.
At 6-ahead (he had had it to 7), he danced a sexy out to get back to 7. This was the biggest mistake that Bartram made. Kirkwood had made a game with someone (Chavez maybe?), so Bartram who had just won a game decided to break himself. He failed to make a ball, and Orcullo ran out what I thought was particular impossible rack (because the balls just didn't spread out).
I whispered out loud to the guy next to me that it looks like he's ready to close this and rush this one out. He switched that gear and looked unmissable. And in 10 minutes it was over. A nice runout, a 10-ball on the break, and not surprisingly, a tactical battle of one ball earlly in the rack where Dennis opted to move a ball rather than to try to kick safe. 3 hours and 45 minutes to get to 7; ten minutes to get the last three games.
Yeah, he's for real.
Fred
