CHINA'S CHEN SIMING NAMED 2011 WPA WOMEN'S PLAYER OF THE YEAR

ORCULLO LEADS MEN'S RACE WITH ONE EVENT TO GO

China's Chen Siming wins WPA Player of the Year honors.

(Courtesy World Pool and Billiard Association) -- Chen Siming, the 17-year-old pool prodigy from China, has been named the World Pool and Billiard Association (WPA) women’s player of the year for 2011.

Chen won the WPA’s top individual honor by beating out fellow Chinese Fu Xiaofang, who came in second. England’s Kelly Fisher, who recently won the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship in Manila, came in third.

The WPA Player of the Year honors are based on the total number of ranking points each player accumulates throughout the calendar year. In 2011, the women competed in six different WPA ranking events.  Players receive points based on their order of finish in each event.  The amount of ranking points available in each event varies, depending on the size of the field and prize fund.

Chen had a stellar all-around year and managed to accumulate 2,144 ranking points, far ahead of Fu with 1,627, and Fisher with 1,546.  The teenage sensation won the Philippine Open 10-ball championship in March.  She then took the runner up spot to Fu at the China Open in Shanghai. Her biggest point haul, however, came in September at the Women’s World 9-ball Championship in Shenyang, China where she took second to winner Bi Zhu Qing.   

For winning the WPA Player of the Year award, Chen will receive a trophy and a beautiful Tag Heuer watch.  

Dennis Orcollo leads among the men.

On the men’s side, the WPA Player of the Year winner has yet to be determined as there is still one more ranking event to be played, the All Japan Championship, in mid-November. However, the Philippines’ Dennis Orcullo is the current favorite to capture to top honors as he currently sits in the top spot. Orcullo, who captured the World 8-ball Championship in Fujairah, UAE earlier this year, holds 2,510 ranking points. His nearest rival is Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama with 2,287 points. England’s Darren Appleton, who recently won his second straight U.S. Open title, is currently in third place with 2,126 points.

The men’s Player of the Year award is based on points won in 8 separate ranking events over the course of 2011. 

For the complete rankings for both men and women, please Click Here

Pearl mounts comeback, SVB takes cheese

SVB with his big checks for winning the DCC

Earl Strickland had a great run during this year's Derby City Classic. He placed high in the nine-ball field, and only fell a few balls short of winning the One-Pocket division outright. He beat Shannon "The Cannon" Daulton in the semi-finals (3-2 in a close match), and then narrowly lost to Shane Van Boening in the finals 2-3.  The Pearl expresses a few choice words after his One-Pocket defeat in the video above.

Van Boening went on to place second in the nine-ball division and took the Master of the Table award.  Dennis Orcollo won the nine-ball division (check out the video in the blog post below). Alex Pagulayan won the Nine-Ball Banks division, and placed second in the Straight Pool Challenge.  The Straight Pool Challenge went to Darren Appleton.  Rodney "The Rocket" Morris won the Fatboy 10-ball challenge, beating out Appleton in the final.

If you're trying to keep up, here's the list:

Derby City Classic, 2011

Master of the Table: Shane Van Boening

Nine-Ball: Dennis Orcollo (Second: Shane Van Boening)

One-Pocket: Shane Van Boening (Second: Earl Strickland)

Nine-Ball Banks: Alex Pagulayan

Fatboy 10-Ball Challenge: Rodney Morris (Second: Darren Appleton)

Straight Pool Challenge: Darren Appleton (Second: Niels Feijen)

-- R.A. Dyer

Orcollo's Last 9-ball Run Out at Derby City

Dennis Orcollo, left, and Lee Van Corteza

Dennis Orcollo was nearly unstoppable in nine-ball at Derby City this year. His only defeat during the entire event was to fellow Filipino Warren Kiamco -- and even then Orcollo shined. Kiamco had Orcollo way down and Kiamco was on the hill when Orcollo came roaring back to within one game of victory. Orcollo also ran over Mika Immonen and, as you can see in the video above, the great Shane Van Boening. Orcollo beat SVB in the nine-ball final 7-1. The video above shows Orcollo's last run-out. Fantastically, Orcollo jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the match after Shane left a shot in the first game. Orcollo finished that rack and then broke and ran four more.  I also saw Orcollo in action at Derby City giving Chris Bartram the 8 and the 10, playing 10-ball in a race to 30. I think they were wagering $3,000. Bartram, one of the nation's great road players, got the worst of it. The exchange made a believer out of me about Dennis Orcollo.

-- R.A. Dyer