http://sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2005/06/25/sports/corteza.wins.trip.to.hk.html
Corteza wins trip to HK
By Mike T. Limpag
Sun.Star Correspondent
Lee Van Corteza may have lost in the 4th Sun.Star Superbalita 9-Ball Challenge, but he made up for it by topping the 1st Sun.Star Superbalita International 9-Ball Challenge at SM City-Cebu Thursday night.
His efforts earned him a trip for two from Manila to Hong Kong and back, and the P25,000 he earned as third placer in Class A would make for apt pocket money.
Listed fourth in line in the seven-man tournament, which featured a “challenge the winner” format with the first player to score six wins winning all the marbles, the Davao City cue artist scored his first win by ending Sweden’s Marcus Chamat’s two-game winning streak.
Chamat’s practice game with Mika Immonen and the Ronnie Alcano-Dennis Orcullo final in the Sun.Star Superbalita 9-Ball Class A division halved a huge audience.
Chamat defeated Orcullo and Immonen in the race-to-six, round-robin event before Corteza stopped his run. Corteza then tallied two points with a win over Ronnie Alcano, the Sun.Star Superbalita 9-Ball Challenge champion who ousted Corteza in the semifinals, before losing to Antonio Gabica.
In the second round, Corteza defeated Immonen before Alcano took him from the table. In the next round, Corteza scored two more wins to earn his trip to Hong Kong.
The tournament, sponsored by Rocketman Enterprises, Touch Mobile and Café Puro, was the first in the southern Philippines to feature top-caliber foreign players, and organizers target a bigger event next year.
“Next year, we hope that we can attract more foreign players so they can play more games,” said Jayjay Neri, Sun.Star vice president for marketing.