Lee Van Corteza placed second yesterday in the 2007 Guinness 9-Ball Tour held at the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. Taiwanese Chang Jung-Ling, who barely survived his last two matches produced a scintillating 11-5 win over Corteza to pocket the $15,000 grand prize. Corteza settled for $6,000.

The unheralded Chang surged to an early 5-1 lead early on. Corteza, trying to pull closer to Chang, was called for a foul on the 11th rack when his shirt touched the ball. Chang cleared the table for a 7-4 lead and won 4 of the next 5 racks for the win.

On his way to the finals, Corteza eliminated compatriot Dennis Orcollo 13-11 in the semi-finals match. The race to 11 match was extended to 13 due to the 2-game lead rule if the match reaches hill-hill. Dennis was first to 11 and thought he had won the match, Corteza eventually won the final 3 racks for a 13-11 win.

Chang slipped past fellow Taiwanese Wu Chia-Ching for an 11-9 victory in the semifinals and also nosed of Indonesian Jimmy Busman 9-8 in the quarterfinals.

The Guinness tour remains only the ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the 2007 World Pool Championship. The top 10 finishers for the whole of the tour will automatically qualify. Total prize money for the Guiness tour amounts to $320,000. $15,000 goes to each tour stop’s winner and $36,000 to the overall champion. The next stop is on May 18-20 and will be held on Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.