THE VIEW FROM ABOVE

Story by Ted Lerner

Photos by Jerry Forsyth

HOURS AFTER defeating Lee Van Corteza to win the 2009 World 10-Ball Championship in Manila, Mika Immonen was still searching for answers, answers that would get to the crux of the issue that not just fans and media wanted to know, but he himself needed to know. Why does he win nearly every tournament he enters now? What exactly is it that has led him to suddenly play off the charts in the last year and a half, putting together what is the greatest run by any player in recent history?

In the moments after he sank the final 10 ball, still in shock at winning this most difficult of world championships, Immonen told a TV interviewer, “I don’t know what’s going on.” After drinking in the accolades of the Manila fans, he headed for the pressroom where he again tried to search for the reasons for his all time run. This time he got a little closer.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he told the gathered media. “I can’t explain it. I was in a slump four years ago.” He shook his head, thought again and then said, “I just think the hard work is paying off. Now, mentally, I can overcome bad spots. I just brush it off. When I lose, I go to work. After making a few mistakes, I focus on what’s essential to win.”

Closer, but for Immonen, it didn’t quite get to the very heart of the issue. It wasn’t until a few hours later, feeling a little more relaxed at a celebration at a local bar and surrounded by about a dozen friends and well-wishers, where the man who is single handedly taking pool to a new level could finally put his finger on it. Still dressed in the clothes he had worn through the semifinal and final, a cocktail in one hand, his gold medal still dangling from his neck, Immonen zeroed in.

It was in the double-elimination group stages, he said. After easily winning his first match against Qatar’s Bassher Hussain, 9-1, Immonen came back the next day and lost badly to talented young Hayato Hijikata of Japan, 9-6. Notoriously hard on himself, Immonen hated the way he had played, he hated his attitude towards life in general, and he felt downright awful. So instead of rest at his hotel or practice for a few hours, Immonen headed straight to a local Gold’s Gym, where he ran a punishing 10 kilometers on the treadmill. The next day, a rested and refreshed Immonen came back and beat Malaysia’s Ibrahim Bin Amir, 9-4, to move into the final 64 knockout stage.

“I had to work out the stress,” Immonen said. “It was hard, but [after the run] I felt better. If I didn’t run, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep. But my body was tired from playing and running so I could sleep. There’s a reason I lost to Hijikata. If I don’t lose to Hijikata, I don’t win the tournament.”

For the new world champion, however, that was merely the trigger that led to another phenomenal accomplishment. Immonen paused for a moment, as if searching for something deeper, more meaningful. Then his face brightened as if he had finally found the answer.

“It’s like crime and punishment,” he said. “You commit the crime, you have to suffer the punishment. My crime was that I played badly against Hijikata. My punishment was the run.”

That Immonen looks at his career in such stark and perhaps harsh terms provides the perfect window into the hows and whys of one man dominating an entire sport. In the world of Mika Immonen, doubt and failure equal weakness, and weakness can only be overcome not by simply riding out the storm, but by constant self-examination, by punishment and pain, by sheer hard work. Doubt and failure, according to Immonen, can and will be conquered by whatever means necessary, whether it be running, biking, performing yoga, watching endless tapes of pool matches or practicing five or six hours a day. Pain is the price of victory.

TV commentator Jay Helfert perhaps said it best during the broadcast of the final match, when he compared Immonen to one particular local hero known for his punishing workouts and incredible will to win.

“Mika Immonen is the Manny Pacquiao of pool,” Helfert said.

Immonen would gladly take that prestigious moniker, especially as he has played and won many times in the Philippines and understands the magnitude of winning in a country known for its endless supply of hardcore pool talent.

“It’s especially important to win in the Philippines,” Immonen said afterward in the pressroom. “Everyone here brings their ‘A’ game.”

And he can be doubly proud indeed, considering the circumstances surrounding this year’s championship — held Nov. 25-30 at the World Trade Center in Manila, Philippines. With the 8-ball world championship in Fujairah, U.A.E., cancelled for 2009, and 9-ball’s world championship failing to secure a sponsor for the second straight year, the World 10-Ball Championship was the only WPA-sanctioned world title for men in 2009. Although the total prize money dropped some $140,000, down from $400,000 in 2008, it still reflected an amazing rise to legitimacy for the game of 10-ball. Only a few years ago 10-ball was nothing more than a fringe game — 9-ball with an extra ball — played mostly in Manila’s billiard halls, favored over 9-ball because the better players were tired of losing money matches due to the easy break patterns fostered by 9-ball’s diamond rack.

And one could hardly find a better place to contest the world championship of this grueling game than the Philippines, which in recent years has become pool’s Mecca and Valhalla rolled into one.

Filpino vet Lining had an impressive run to third place.

The fact that a good portion of the 128-player field included many of the great Filipino players who had boycotted last year’s event further brightened the prospects for an all-time shootout. The seemingly intractable rift that nearly paralyzed the sport in the Philippines, and beyond, finally came to an end several weeks before the tournament — at least for the most part. Managers Perry Mariano and Jonathan Sy, who look after some of the biggest names in the sport, such as Ronnie Alcano, Dennis Orcollo, Warren Kiamco and Corteza, finally made peace with Raya Sports’ Yen Makabenta (who also heads the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines, the country’s governing body for pool). Only Aristeo Puyat, who handles Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante and Alex Pagulayan, has refused to come in from the cold.

The presence of Mariano’s and Sy’s boys was felt immediately, as they dominated the brutally tough qualifiers held the week before the main event, where 64-man, single-elimination events were held twice daily for five straight days. In all, 12 players who had stayed out of last year’s event, including Alcano, Orcollo, Corteza, Kiamco and Roberto Gomez, made it into the tournament.

Things didn’t go according to plan for at least a few of the perennial favorites. America’s Shane Van Boening continued to slump, getting knocked out in the group stages with losses to Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Tuan and Russia’s Konstantin Stepanov. Ronnie Alcano never made it past the round of 64, eliminated by England’s Imran Majid, 9-5. Johnny Archer barely made it out of the group stages, before getting blasted out by Indonesia’s Dodong Alwi, 9-2. Ralf Souquet limped to a 9-8 win over Mexico’s Ignacio Chavez in the round of 64, then got knocked out of the event in the next round by China’s Li He-Wen, 9-6.

The story stayed on script, however, for Filipino veteran Antonio Lining. The 46-year-old lefty had just returned from Japan, where he took second place to Francisco Bustamante in the All Japan Open. Forced to try his luck in the qualifiers, he showed a resilience borne of experience that would serve him well. After placing 8th in the first qualifier, Lining came back the next day and took third, then the next day placed runner-up, before winning the next day’s qualifier for a place in the main draw.

Lining, obviously in 10-ball shape, went undefeated in the group stages. In the knockout phase, he blew out Corey Deuel, 9-4, outlasted Japan’s Naoyuki Oi, and then easily beat 20-year-old Filipino upstart Jomar de Ocampo. It was in the quarterfinals, however, that the soft-spoken Lining made his biggest statement. Down 8-7 against Kiamco, Lining won the last two racks, including a closing break and run, to book a spot in Monday’s semifinals.

For David Alcaide, the term “dark horse” had been quietly mentioned at the beginning of the week by fans and media regarding the talented Spaniard. But anyone in the know realized that Alcaide was already the real deal. Back in March, he won the Italian Open on the EuroTour, and then captured the Predator International 10-ball event in Portugal in September.

Alcaide’s shouts of “Vamos!” (Come on!) every time he pocketed a winning 10 ball would soon become familiar throughout the arena. In the round of 64, Alcaide barely escaped the Philippines’ Antonio Gabica, 9-8. Then, after defeating Taiwan’s legend Chao Fong-Pang, the Spaniard met up with Orcollo. The Filipino quickly found himself down, 6-2. Orcollo clawed back to tie, but Alcaide then slammed the door shut, winning the last three to advance, 9-6.

Next up for Alcaide was defending champion Darren Appleton. Up until the quarterfinal round, Appleton displayed the same mettle that had carried him to the title last year. But Alcaide took the early lead and never looked back. Playing strong, confident pool, the man from Malaga, in the south of Spain, moved into the semis with a 9-6 win, as the whispers of “dark horse” became permanently drowned out with another shout of “Vamos!”

 

With the Filipino fans looking for a hometown hero, Corteza couldn’t oblige.

The 30-year-old Corteza came into the tournament with high hopes and plenty of expectations from Filipino fans. He had recently returned from the U.S., where he placed fourth in the U.S. Open. In Manila, he won a brutally tough all-Filipino qualifier to make it into the main event.

In the group stages, “Van Van” crushed Taiwan’s Yang Ching-Shun, 9-0, in what was easily the most impressive performance to that point of the event. Then, after beating Stepanov, 9-7, in the round of 64, Corteza headed to the TV table for a match with Taiwan’s Chang Yu-Lung. Chang came out hot, and Corteza quickly found himself on verge of elimination. Down 7-2, Corteza went on the kind of run one normally sees in 9-ball, running five of seven racks, and winning a 9-8 thriller. Corteza then moved to the outside tables where he outlasted Germany’s Thomas Engert, 9-7, and China’s Li, 9-7, to gain a spot in the semifinals.

As usual, as the field withered, Immonen remained standing. After first beating Niels Feijen, 9-6, in the round of 64, Immonen met up in a marquee television match against the Philippines’ Marlon Manalo. Immonen started off shakily and looked out of sync. With the score tied, 6-6, though, he made the kind of definitive statement that the greats always do. After a dry break by Manalo, Immonen cleared the table, and then proceeded to break and run the last two racks for a 9-6 win. Immonen then headed to the outside tables where he topped Nick van den Berg, 9-7, and junior world champ Ruslan Chinakhov, 9-6, for a place in the semis.

“Like a good thoroughbred on the last lap, I’ve got that extra gear,” Immonen said afterward. “After beating [Manalo], I finally found the break. I started playing better. My cue ball is smarter, more solid. Chinakhov took some fliers and I made him pay.”

Clearly the favorite, Immonen headed into the Monday’s first semifinal against Lining with a clear sense that pool history was just two matches away.

“If I could win this thing today, that would be like icing on the cake,” Immonen said moments before the match. “It would be one of the most dominating years in pool history.”

He started out purposefully, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Immonen, however, committed several glaring errors that allowed Lining to take the lead, 5-4. As is typical of his play over the last 16 months, however, Immonen gathered himself and hung tight. Down 7-6, the “Iceman” rebuked Lining for several mistakes and took the final three racks for a tense 9-7 win.

The second semifinal between Alcaide and Corteza was equally tight. Alcaide found little success on the break shot, and fell behind, 5-2. But Corteza had his own problems on the break, and Alcaide came back to move ahead, 7-6. Corteza, however, seemed to have the same kind of destiny on his side. After clearing from an Alcaide miss in rack 14, Corteza sent the home fans into a frenzy by running the last two racks from the break to move into the final.

Corteza didn’t have much time to consider the gravity of his circumstances, as the race-to-11 final was set immediately after his match with Alcaide. But with the way he had played during the week, if anyone was capable of taking down Immonen, Corteza was the one to do it, and perhaps it was better that the Filipino didn’t have time to think about what was at stake. Philippine fans in attendance, along with millions of who were watching live on TV, sensed that a new star was about to be born.

Philippine hopes were raised further early in the final as Corteza capitalized on a bad shot and foul by Immonen to move ahead, 2-0. But Immonen wasn’t about to let Corteza write the final chapter of this saga. As he has done to everyone, everywhere over the last year and a half, Immonen took his game to that rarefied level, punishing his opponents for every mistake, playing daring shots under pressure, and exhibiting an extraordinary will to win. After Corteza left a slight opening on the 1 ball, Immonen ran out. When Corteza fouled on the 1 ball in the next rack, Immonen ran out again. Corteza captured the next rack, but in rack 6 he left the 1 ball open and Immonen ran out. After Immonen cleared Corteza’s missed 5 ball in the subsequent rack, he held a 5-3 advantage.

With a win in Manila, Immonen won an incredible five of the world’s six biggest first-place prizes in 2009.

In the next rack, Immonen had an open shot on the 3 ball but was facing a safety shot on the 4, which was tied up with the 9 ball all the way up-table. But instead of playing for the safe, Immonen took the dangerous route by potting the 3, and spinning the cue around some traffic, careening perfectly into the 4-9 cluster to bust it open, leaving a clear path to a 6-3 lead.

Corteza valiantly rallied to pull within a game at 6-5. But then came what had to be Immonen’s knockout punch. Corteza pushed out to a full-table jump shot on the 1 ball. Taking the dare, Immonen speared the shot on the 1 ball, and rolled the cue ball back into perfect position for a 2-10 combination, which he subsequently pocketed for a quick 7-5 lead.

“That jump and then the 2-10 combo was a punch to the solar plexus,” Immonen said after the match, a smile of satisfaction on his face as he spoke. “I think that was pretty much it for him after that.”

Indeed Corteza slumped in his chair, sensing the inevitable. When the Filipino fouled in the next rack, Immonen ran out for an 8-5 lead. Corteza pulled to within 8-6, but then scratched on the next break shot. After running the table for a 9-6 lead, Immonen sunk three on the break and cleared to get on the hill, 10-6. In the final rack, he got one ball down on the break, then ran the table for the championship.

History now his, the new World 10-Ball Champion basked in the satisfaction of capping one of the best years ever seen in professional pool by winning the richest and perhaps toughest tournament of them all, in the spiritual home of the game.

“It’s as if the U.S. Open was just a [stop] on the way to the top,” a visibly relieved Immonen said. “I’ve proved to everyone that I can play any game.”

Email Ted Lerner at ted@tedlerner.com