 Lee Vann Corteza at the 2013 U.S. Open Ten-ball Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 1, 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport country |  Philippines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "The Slayer" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pool games | Nine-ball, ten-ball, eight-ball, straight pool | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major | 2013 World Cup of Pool 2013 China 9-Ball Open | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Lee Vann Corteza, also spelled Lee Van Corteza, (born March 1, 1979, in Davao City, Philippines) is a Filipino professional pool player. [1] He is nicknamed "The Slayer", [2] and started playing pool in 1993. [3]
Corteza is the oldest of five brothers. His parents named him after American actor Lee Van Cleef. Corteza first took up pool at age thirteen, after a friend brought him to a pool parlor. Corteza was subsequently blacklisted from the parlor after accidentally damaging a table, but he continued to pursue his passion for the game at other parlors. [4]
Corteza has won four gold medals and one silver medal at the Southeast Asian Games, and was the winner of the 2004 WPA Asian Nine-ball Tour tournament in the Philippines, beating fellow countryman Francisco "Django" Bustamante 13–11 in the final. [5] [6]
On March 31, 2007, Corteza won the Philippine National Championship by defeating Marlon Manalo with a score of 13–11. Corteza finished runner up in the 2009 WPA World Ten-ball Championship. [7]
In 2010, Corteza beat Chinese Lo Li-Wen 13–12, in the final to rule the U.S. Open Ten-ball Championship in Las Vegas. Corteza got the revenge after Lo Li-Wen sent him to the one loss side with 9–6 score. Corteza proceeded to defeat Shane Van Boening 9–8 in order to face Lo in the championship match, winning the title and $20,000 in price money. [8] [9]
In 2013, Corteza together with his partner Dennis Orcollo clinched the title in the 2013 World Cup of Pool after defeating the Dutch tandem of Niels Feijen and Nick van den Berg, 10–8, at York Hall in London, England. They became the third Filipino duo to win the annual single-elimination tournament for doubles teams in nine-ball competition after Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco Bustamante won the inaugural event in 2006 and then repeated in 2009. [10]
In 2017, Corteza defeated Thorsten Hohmann 300–183 to win the Dragon 14.1 Tournament. [11] [12]
In 2020, Corteza dominated Joshua Filler of Germany, 11–4, to win the Derby City Classic Nine-ball held at Caesars Southern Indiana Casino and Hotel, Elizabeth, Indiana. [13] [14]
Corteza has pocketed $16,000 for his efforts, while Filler settled for $8,000. Corteza was also able to reach the final of the bigfoot ten-ball event that year but would lose to Jayson Shaw of Great Britain 11–5. [15]
In 2024, Corteza clinched the Predator Pro Billiards Series Las Vegas Ten-ball Open in an electrifying all-Filipino final, defeating fellow veteran Carlo Biado in two sets with scores of 4–2 and 4–3 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in the United States. [16]
Corteza took home $30,000 prize money (P1.7 million) for his victory, while Biado received $14,000 (P783,000) for his runner-up finish. [17]
Corteza currently resides Astoria, New York, [37] although he has a house in Davao City and stays there when he returns to the Philippines.[ citation needed ]
Efren Manalang Reyes, popularly known by the nicknames "Bata" and "the Magician", is a Filipino professional pool player, who is widely regarded as the greatest pool player of all time, and especially famed for his skill at the challenging one-pocket discipline. In 2003, he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame.
Francisco Bustamante is a Filipino professional pool player from Tarlac, Central Luzon and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion, nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the 1966 film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States. Bustamante has won over 70 international titles and is considered one of the greatest pool players of all time.
Marlon Manalo, also known by the nickname "Marvelous Captain", is a former Filipino professional pool player. He previously served as barangay chairman of Barangay Malamig, Mandaluyong. He also became the press relation officer of the League of Barangays of the Philippines and ABC president.
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