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]
Early life
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]
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 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]