JAKARTA – Dennis Orcollo pulled off pulsating victories over countryman Alex Pagulayan and Taiwanese Wang Hung Hsiang to start his campaign in the preliminary round of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour 2008 Grand Final yesterday at the Mal Taman Anggrek here.

Orcollo, the current WPA world number one, scraped past Pagulayan, 9-7, then squeezed out a 9-8 win over Wang for the early lead in Group A plays.

“It was hot, but I just had to play my game and not get affected by the heat of the crowd. There’s so much at stake to let outside factors bother me,” said Orcollo in Filipino.

Against Pagulayan, Orcollo surged ahead, 6-4, after capitalizing on his rival’s miss on the three-ball in the ninth rack and a run-out in the 10th. The two Filipinos played flawless pool in the succeeding racks and merely exchanged run-outs before Orcollo clinched the match in the 16th rack.

Orcollo, who won the last leg in Guangzhou, China, was scheduled to play Ryu Seung Woo of Korea late last night.

Current WPA number six Joven Bustamante and former Asian Games gold medalist Antonio Gabica, the other Filipinos in the field, were playing their respective matches in Group B at press time.