Player Profile Series: Lee Vann Corteza - “The Slayer”

Full Name: Lee Vann Corteza - “The Slayer”

Birthdate: March 1, 1979

Hometown: Davao City, Philippines/Astoria, New York  

Lee Vann Corteza is a Filipino professional pool player. Nicknamed "The Slayer," he began playing pool in 1993. He is the oldest of five brothers, and his parents named him after American actor Lee Van Cleef.

Corteza first took up pool at the age of thirteen, after a friend brought him to a pool parlor. He was subsequently blacklisted from the establishment after accidentally damaging a table.

He 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, defeating fellow countryman Francisco "Django" 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.

In 2009, Corteza finished as runner-up in the WPA World Ten-ball Championship, losing to Mika Immonen of Finland, 11–6, in Quezon City, Philippines.

In 2010, Corteza beat Taiwanese player Lo Li-Wen, 13–12, in the final to win the U.S. Open Ten-ball Championship in Las Vegas. He avenged an earlier loss to Lo, who had sent him to the one-loss side with a 9–6 victory. Corteza then defeated Shane Van Boening, 9–8, to earn another shot at Lo and ultimately captured the title along with $20,000 in prize money.

In 2013, Corteza defeated Fu Che-wei of Taiwan, 11–6, to win the China Open Nine-ball Championship. That same year, he and partner Dennis Orcollo clinched the title at the 2013 World Cup of Pool by 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 doubles tournament in nine-ball, following the success of Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, who won in 2006 and again in 2009.

In 2017, Corteza defeated Thorsten Hohmann, 300–183, to win the Dragon 14.1 Tournament.

In 2020, Corteza dominated Joshua Filler of Germany, 11–4, to win the Derby City Classic Nine-ball event held at Caesars Southern Indiana Casino and Hotel in Elizabeth, Indiana.

That same year, Corteza also reached the final of the Bigfoot Ten-ball event but lost to Jayson Shaw of Great Britain, 11–5.

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.

In January 2025, Corteza kicked off his U.S. campaign in spectacular fashion by winning the 9-ball championship title.

He upset defending champion Moritz Neuhausen of Germany in a thrilling final, securing a hard-fought 13–10 victory to claim the crown.

The Dabawenyo cue master dominated the tournament, remaining unbeaten in all seven matches.

He opened his campaign with a commanding 9–1 win against Dave Powis (USA), followed by decisive victories over Joe Smith (9–4), Mike Donnelly (USA, 9–2), Jeremy Sossei (USA, 9–4), and Jayson Shaw (Scotland, 9–4).