Ronato (Ronnie) Alcano (pronounced al-kah-no) (born 27 July 1972), is a Filipino professional

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * 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 roc ...

player, nicknamed "Ronnie ''Calamba''" and "the Volcano". He won both the

2006 WPA World Nine-ball Championship The 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Championship was the seventeenth edition of the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and took place between 4 and 12 November 2006 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, Philippines. The event was to b ...

and the

2007 WPA World Eight-ball Championship The 2007 WPA World Eight-ball Championship was an eight-ball world championship, organized by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and held 1–8 March 2007 at the Fujairah Exhibition Centre of the Al Diar Siji Hotel in Fujairah, United ...

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 --> , typing = , scope = Lexical , programming language = assembly language , discontinued = Yes , platform = JOHNNIAC, PDP-6 , operating system = , influenced by = , influenced = TELCOMP, CAL, FOCAL, MUMPS , website = JOSS (acron ...

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 sa ...

, winning the

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

tournament (11-6 versus

Yang Ching-shun Yang Ching-shun (; 3 April 1978 – 6 December 2023) was a Taiwanese professional Pocket billiards, pool player, nicknamed "the Son of Pool". Biography Yang won the nine-ball event of the 1998 Asian Games against then World Pool champion Kunihi ...

), and qualifying for the world championship., Retrieved on 7 February 2007 Coming in as an underdog, Alcano upset

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Ralf Souquet Ralf Souquet ( ; born 29 November 1968) is a German professional pool player. His nickname is "The Kaiser". Souquet is considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. Since 1988, he has won over 100 professional tournaments, including 2 ...

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

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

commentator Gerry Forsyth 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 third Filipino to become World Champion, after

Efren Reyes Efren Manalang Reyes (born August 26, 1954) is a Filipino professional pool player. A winner of over 100 international titles, Reyes was the first player to win world championships in two different pool disciplines. Among his numerous title ...

and Alex Pagulayan. 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 (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

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 by defeating his compatriot

Dennis Orcollo Dennis Orcollo (born January 28, 1979), sometimes called Dennis Orcullo, is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed "''Surigao''" (after a province in the Philippines) and "RoboCop". He has been called "The Money-Game King". Orcollo is c ...

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

Antonio Gabica Antonio Gabica (born October 2, 1972) is a Philippine pool player. Gabica was the runner up at the 2013 WPA World Nine-ball Championship. Titles * 2008 Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup * 2007 Philippine 9-Ball Open * 2007 San Miguel Beer World 9-Ball Ch ...

in the Philippine Nine-ball Open. 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 final ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

who ultimately won the title. On 11 December 2007, Ronato Alcano won the Philippines' 31st gold medal in the 24th

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as 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 sup ...

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

City,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. Germany's

won the $60,000 championship prize, 13–9 final score. On 26 October 2008, Alcano lost to Mika Immonen in the $250,000 33rd US Open Nine-ball Championship, where 237 billiards players competed in

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, making it the second-most populous city in Virginia, the tenth largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 92nd-most populous city in the ...

. 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

* 2025 Python Nine-ball Invitational * 2012 Championship Cloth Pro Classic Nine-ball * 2012 Chuck Markulis Memorial Nine-ball * 2010 Star Billiards Ten-ball * 2010

Pattaya Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the second-largest city in Chonburi province and the List of municipalities in Thailand, eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, and h ...

Nine-ball Invitational * 2009 Galveston Classic Eight-ball * 2009 Southeast Asian Games Eight-ball Singles * 2007 Southeast Asian Games Eight-ball Singles * 2007 San Miguel Beer Nine-ball Challenge * 2007 WPA World Eight-ball Championship * 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 Association (WPA) and principally sponsored and organized by Matchroom Sport, who pro ...

* 2005 San Miguel Asian Nine-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 Recipients of the Order of Lakandula SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in cue sports WPA World Eight-ball Champions WPA World Nine-ball Champions Competitors at the 2005 SEA Games Competitors at the 2007 SEA Games Competitors at the 2009 SEA Games