Jeff de Luna, aka Jeff Bata, Wins the Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball Open!

Filipino pool player Jeff de Luna, aka Jeff Bata, won against billiards ace Dennis Orcollo, aka Robocop, 11-9, to bag the Php2 million Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball Open Championship. Jeff Bata, a silver medalist at the 2006 Asian Games and a proud member of Bugsy Promotion, was unbeaten at the billiards tournament, which was sponsored by Filipino boxing sensation and billiards enthusiast Manny Pacquiao aka Pacman. De Luna He received the Php1 million top prize while Orcollo settled for the Php500,000 runner-up prize. The billiards player’s championship win couldn’t have come at a better time. According to Jeff, his two kids, Alexander and Alexandra, are sick and need to be hospitalized.

Jeff Bata initially took a commanding 6-0 lead against Robocop before the latter had the chance to narrow the gap at 6-4. However, a miss by Dennis Orcollo in the 20^th rack saw Jeff de Luna again on the table. De Luna never looked back and sealed Orcollo’s fate at 11-9. De Luna gained one of the finals slots by ousting my good friend Rodolfo Luat, aka Boy Samson, in the semi-finals. Boy Samson is a former US Open 9-Ball runner-up and SMB Asian 9-ball tour winner. Dennis Orcollo grabbed the other finals slot by beating Michael Feliciano, aka Fighter, 10-2, in the losers bracket. Both Luat and Feliciano took home Php150,000 each.

Jeff De Luna is one of the Philippines’ representatives in the Kabayan World 9-Ball Challenge: Philippines vs. Rest of the World billiards tournament, which will be held on November 12-13, 2007, in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines.

Congratulations on the championship win Jeff! Mabuhay!

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