Lee Van Corteza made history by becoming the first Filipino and Asian to win the Bottledeck.net 77th World 14.1.

Corteza crowned himself as the new “King of Straight Pool” by defeating Thorsten Hohmann of Germany in New York City.

"I just tried to stay focused. Straight pool takes a lot of concentration. I'm happy to be the first Asian to win the World 14.1," Corteza said.

The two played a total of 13 matches, but it was Corteza who pocketed almost 2,000 balls. Hohmann, on the other hand, pocketed over 1,700 shots, yielding the crown to the Filipino ace.

Corteza had to beat Max Eberle of Las Vegas, and Scotsman Jonni Fulcher to set the title clash with Hohmann, who beat Mika Immonen of Finland and English pool player Darren Appleton.

The finals was a race to 300 points with a 30-minute intermission at 150 points. Hohmann was the dominant player in the first half of the match and held a sizable lead, 146-78, after his 83-ball run.

But in the second half of the match, Corteza came back with his own 60 ball runs. Helped by uncharacteristic misses by Hohmann on routine shots, Corteza kept extending his lead.

Hohmann returned to the table two more times but could not put together any significant runs, and at 217-183, he relinquished the table the final time with Corteza running 83 and out for the championship.

"Of course, I would have loved to win another World 14.1, but Lee Van played great. He deserves the win," said Hohmann.

Filipino aces Francisco Bustamante and Efren Reyes both came short against their western opponents for the World 14.1 title in previous years.

Corteza changed that by claiming the straight pool crown.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)