Ronato (Ronnie) Alcano (pronounced al-kah-no) (born 27 July 1972 in

Calamba City Calamba, officially the City of Calamba ( fil, Lungsod ng Calamba), is a 1st class component city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 539,671 people. Calamba is the regional center of th ...

, Laguna,

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

), is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

professional

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

player, nicknamed "Ronnie ''Calamba''" and "the Volcano". He won both the 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the 2007 WPA World Eight-ball Championship.

Career history

After graduating in elementary school, Alcano didn't proceed to high school due to financial problems. He then opted to play pool for a living. Alcano's recognitions in the Philippines began with his performances at the 2000 Rising Stars Tournament. By the final, he was highly favored to win the title, yet in the final match (a to 13), Alcano lost to Edgar Acaba by just a rack short, 13–12. Despite having a 12–7 advantage, Alcano missed while only three balls away. Acaba then returned to the table and won the needed 6 racks in a row to win the match and the title. In 2002, Alcano began to make a name for himself, and began competing in major events in the US. He won five tournaments in the Joss Tour and was awarded Rookie of the Year for 2002 by azbilliards.com. Alcano returned to the East, for the 2005

WPA Asian Nine-ball Tour The WPA Asian Nine-ball Tour (also known as the Guinness Asian 9-Ball Tour or San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour for sponsorship reasons) was an annual series of nine-ball pool tournaments around East and Southeast Asia. The tour began in 2003, and is ...

, winning the

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

tournament (11-6 versus

Yang Ching-shun Yang Ching-shun (Chinese: 楊清順; born 3 April 1978) is a Taiwanese professional pool player, nicknamed "the Son of Pool". Yang won the nine-ball event of the 1998 Asian Games against then World Pool champion Kunihiko Takahashi. He defe ...

), and qualifying for the world championship.Asian Nine-ball Tour official site
, Retrieved on 7 February 2007 Coming in as an underdog, Alcano upset

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Ralf Souquet Ralf Souquet ( ; born 29 November 1968) is a German professional pool player. His nickname is "The Kaiser". Since 1988, he has won more than 200 tournament titles, including 23 Euro Tour titles, 20 European Pool Championship and 12 German Pool C ...

in the finals, 17 to 11 at the 2006 WPA Men's World Nine-ball Championship.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

commentator

Gerry Forsyth Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pres ...

said, "the only way to stop Alcano is to put a rattlesnake in his pocket, then ask him for a match" about Alcano's performance. He thus became the second Filipino (excluding 2004 winner

Alex Pagulayan Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

, as he represented

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at that time) to become World Champion in this event after Efren Reyes won the title in 1999. In the November 2006 tournament, Alcano had been on the brink of elimination in group play before taking advantage of a soft break. He won just 1 of 3 group matches and scraped through as the 64th and final seed. Alcano then defeated local favorite Reyes and defending champion Wu Chia-ching in the knockout stages, proceeding to the final. For winning the tournament, Alcano won

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

100,000 which is the largest first prize ever won in the world nine-ball championship. In 2007, Alcano won the

WPA World Eight-ball Championship The WPA World Eight-ball Championship is a professional eight-ball pool tournament sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), initially contested from 2004 to 2012 in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. After not being held for several ...

by defeating his compatriot

Dennis Orcollo Dennis Orcollo (born January 28, 1979), is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed " RoboCop" and has been called "The Money-Game King" throughout the Philippines and the United States. Early life Orcollo is the second of four brothers. ...

in the final match 11–8. On 16 September 2007, Alcano finished second to Antonio Gabica in the

Philippine Nine-ball Open The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. In an attempt to defend his title at the 2007 World Nine-ball Championship, Alcano was bested in the last 64 by

Daryl Peach Daryl Peach (born 8 March 1972) is an English professional pool player, from Lancashire, who resides in Blackpool, England. He won the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, where he defeated the Philippines' Roberto Gomez 17–15 in the fina ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

who ultimately won the title. On 11 December 2007, Ronato Alcano won the

' 31st gold medal in the 24th

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...

Men's 8-Ball Pool Singles at the Sima Thani Hotel Grand Ballroom. On 25 April 2008, Ronnie Alcano lost his title at the World 8-Ball Championships in

Fujairah Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...

City,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Germany's

won the $60,000 championship prize, 13–9 final score. On 26 October 2008, Alcano lost to

Mika Immonen Mika Immonen (born 17 December 1972) is a Finnish professional Hall of Fame pool player, nicknamed "The Iceman." Career Immonen won the 2001 WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deue ...

in the $250,000 33rd

US Open Nine-ball Championship The U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship is an annual professional men's nine-ball pool tournament that began in its current form in 1976. The U.S. Open is one of the most sought-after titles in nine-ball and in pool generally. Traditionally, winners of ...

, where 237 billiards players competed in

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

. Mika claimed the 13–7 victory against Alcano, who settled for $20,000.

Nicknames and monikers

During his early days of competing in the Philippines, Alcano was nicknamed "Calamba" which is a reference to his hometown in the country (see above). But when he started participating in US-based tournaments, some commentators mispronounced his last name as al-kay-no. Thus, the nickname "Volcano" was addressed.

Title and achievements

* 2012 Championship Cloth Pro Classic 9-Ball * 2012 Chuck Markulis Memorial 9-Ball-Division * 2010 Star Billiards Ten-ball Championships * 2010 Pattaya 9 Ball Invitational * 2009 Galveston World Classic Eight-ball * 2009 Southeast Asian Games Eight-ball Singles * 2007 Southeast Asian Games Eight-ball Singles * 2007 San Miguel Beer World 9-Ball Challenge * 2007

* 2006 Philippine Sportsman of the Year * 2006

WPA World Nine-ball Championship The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual professional nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1990. The championship is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Sport, ...

* 2005 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Manila leg) * 2005 Southeast Asian Games Rotation Doubles * 2005 Southeast Asian Games Rotation Singles

References

External links

Article on his 2006 World Nine-ball Championship victory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcano, Ronato 1972 births Filipino pool players Living people People from Calamba, Laguna Sportspeople from Laguna (province) World champions in pool Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games medalists in cue sports WPA World Eight-ball Champions WPA World Nine-ball Champions Competitors at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games