Lee Vann Corteza

Lee Vann Corteza, also spelled Lee Van Corteza, (born 1 March 1979 in Davao City, Philippines) is a Filipino professional pool player.[1] He is nicknamed "Van Van", and started playing pool in 1993.[2]

Lee Vann Corteza
Lee Vann Corteza at the 2013 U.S. Open Ten-ball Championship
Born (1979-03-01) 1 March 1979
Sport country Philippines
Nickname"Van Van"
Tournament wins
Major2017 World Tournament
World Champion2013 World Cup of Pool
Ranking info
Medal record
Representing  Philippines

Men's Nine-Ball
Southeast Asian Games
1999 Bandar Seri Begawan Singles
2001 Kuala Lumpur Singles
2003 Ho Chi Minh City Doubles
2007 Nakhon Ratchasima Singles

Men's Eight-Ball
Southeast Asian Games
2001 Kuala Lumpur Singles
2003 Ho Chi Minh City Singles
2005 Manila Doubles
2005 Manila Singles

Early life

Corteza is the oldest of five brothers. His parents named him after American actor Lee Van Cleef. At 13, Corteza first took up pool after a buddy of his brought him to a pool parlor. Although he got blacklisted from the place after he accidentally did some damage on the table, Corteza continued his passion for pool in another pool parlor.[3]

Career

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 as well, beating fellow countryman Francisco Bustamante 13-11 in the final.[4][5]

On March 31, 2007, Corteza won the Philippine National Championship by defeating Marlon Manalo with a score of 13-11. Corteza was the runner up of the 2009 WPA World Ten-ball Championship.[6]

Lee Vann Corteza is currently managed by Jonathan Sy of the Negros Billiards Stable and JSY Sports.

In 2017, Corteza defeated Thorsten Hohmann 300-183 to win the World Tournament, thus becoming the first Filipino and Asian to do so.[7][8]

Titles and tournament achievements
  • 2013 Southern Classic 9-Ball Division[12]
  • 2011 Manny Pacquiao International 10-Ball Championships[13]
  • 2011 San Miguel Beer Oktoberfest 9-Ball Open[14]
  • 2011 3rd Golden Break 9-Ball Invitational Championship[15]
  • 2010 US Open Ten-Ball Championship[16]
  • 2010 Hard Times 10-Ball Open[17]
  • 2010 Predator International 10-Ball[18]
  • 2007 Turning Stone Classic IX[20]
  • 2007 Philippine National Championship[21]
  • 2006 All Japan Championship[21]

Other achievements

References
  1. "Second time lucky for Van Corteza"[sic] Archived 2006-11-27 at the Wayback Machine, World Pool-Billiard Association
  2. "Player Profile: Lee Van Corteza" Archived 2006-11-11 at the Wayback Machine, ESPNStar.com
  3. Ted Lerner. "Next in Line". Billiards Digest. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2017-10-12. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  4. "San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour Stop" Archived 2006-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, AZBilliards.com
  5. "Villanueva, Corteza advance to the World Pool tourney" Archived 2007-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, Manila Times (online edition), 2006; retrieved November 29, 2006.
  6. "Immonen wins World 10-Ball Championship". azbilliards.com. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  7. Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan (April 16, 2017). "Corteza stuns four-time champ Hohmann for title". SunStar DAVAO. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  8. Roy Luarca (October 13, 2017). "Corteza makes history". Inquirer.net. Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  9. Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan (April 16, 2017). "Corteza wins big in 2017 US Open". SunStar DAVAO. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
  10. "World Cup of Pool 2013". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  11. "China Open Men's Div. 2013". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-13. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  12. "Southern Cl. 2013 9B Div". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-13. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  13. "Manny Pacquiao International 10B C'ship". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
  14. "SMB Oktoberfest". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  15. "Corteza wins 9 Ball Invitational Championship in Malaysia". http://www.cuesports.org.tw. August 21, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2012-02-23. External link in |publisher= (help)
  16. "US Open 10-Ball 2010". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-29. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  17. "Hard Times 10B 2010". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  18. "Predator 10B 2010 Spain". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-26. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  19. "DCC 2009 10B Challenge". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-12. Retrieved January 31, 2009.
  20. "Turning Stone IX". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-28. Retrieved August 19, 2007.
  21. "Lee Van Corteza". Propool.info. Archived from the original on 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  22. "San Miguel Tour 2004 Stop 5". Azbilliards.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved May 30, 2004.
  23. "Lee Van Corteza" Archived 2006-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, Inside Pool magazine (online edition)
  24. "Knock out stages 2006 World Pool Championship" Archived 2006-11-27 at the Wayback Machine, World Pool Billiard Association, 2006
  25. "Bata Leads Billiards 'Dream Team' for RP to SEA Games" Archived 2006-09-03 at the Wayback Machine, Manila Times (online edition), 2003
  26. "Southeast Asian Games Medallists" Archived 2006-12-11 at the Wayback Machine, Philippine Olympic Committee
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