American Rodney “The Rocket” Morris who partners “The South Dakota Kid” Shane Van Boening is confident that Team America can successfully defend their World Cup of Pool title which opened Tuesday at the SM North Mall along EDSA in Quezon City..
The American tandem won the title last year and will be reunited in the event sponsored by PartyCasino.net and telecast by Solar Sports.
Despite his confidence about retaining the prestigious title, Morris said the strongest test will come from the two Philippine teams led by inaugural 2006 champions, pool legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante and Team B bannered by 2006 double-world champion Ronnie Alcano and former world No.1 Dennis Orcollo.
Morris said “the home advantage will be massive for both of them. Everytime you make a mistake you have to be prepared that the crowd will be cheering but we’re prepared for that.”
The former US Open champion said Reyes and Bustamante is the toughest of the two Filipino teams because they have already won the competition before (in 2006) and showed they can do it in this format. They could both be 100 years old and would still be the toughest opponents.”
However, he conceded in such a fiercely competitive tournament “ anyone can win it and Germany and Holland also look good. You just have to deal with whoever you play and treat them as the toughest match.”
The US begins its d efense of the trophy even as they chase the top prize of $60,000 with a match against the Maltese pairing of Tony Drago and Alex Borg.
The two nations met in 2007 and USA scraped an 8-7 victory after a thrilling encounter and Morris is expecting another tough clash.
He said “Tony is a very dangerous player so we will have to concentrate fully. It’s only a short race to eight so it’s about a matter of getting yourself prepared mentally.”
Morris noted that he and Van Boening who is regarded as the new American pool sensation were the first US tea, to win the competition adding “ it’s a big deal – a world title. It showed we can still perform at that level and get the job done, especially in the first year I was in the US team that finished second”.
That was when he partnered temperamental Earl “The Pearl” Strickland who were whipped 13-5 in the finals by Reyes and Bustamante. Morris maintained his high hopes saying “If we win it this year, in the Philippines, then it would be unbelievable but we’re really confident and I’m definitely playing better than I was last year. Shane is a fearless machine and has ice in his veins so we don’t have anything to worry about.”
Reyes and Bustamante will also be in action on the opening day against outsiders Qatar, while China, who won the World Cup in 2007, meet Korea. In other matches France play Canada, Australia entertain Spain and Indonesia meet India.
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