Lee Vann Corteza


Lee Vann Corteza, also spelled Lee Van Corteza, is a Filipino professional pool player. He is nicknamed "Van Van", and started playing pool in 1993.

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.

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.
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.
Lee Vann Corteza is currently managed by Jonathan Sy of the and .
In 2017, Corteza defeated Thorsten Hohmann 300–183 to win the World Tournament, thus becoming the first Filipino and Asian to do so.

Titles and tournament achievements