The Philippines will be represented by five cue masters with the inclusion of Jeffrey de Luna, the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball silver medalist, when the fifth and final leg of Guinness 9-ball tour gets going on August 3 to 5 in Shanghai Hotel in Shanghai, China.
This was bared yesterday by Bugsy Promotions stable boss Perry Mariano, "Ayon kay Yen (Makabenta), kasali sa last leg si Jeff (De Luna)."
"Pero hindi ko pa alam ang kumpletong detalye bakit nakasali si Jeff (De Luna)," insisted Mariano, who is being sought as director of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines.
De Luna who decided to skip the 2007 Cebu Open which starts today is now in Thailand for a business trip but will be back next week for the Guinness 9-ball tour.
The 24-years-old De Luna, is in joint 25th place together with two others after accumulating 40 points in the order tour of merit (see list below).
BSCP president Ernie Fajardo refused to comment on the matter and said " Hindi pa ako makapag comment sa pagkalahok ni De Luna sa last leg pero mamyang gabi (Thursday) ay may meeting ang BSCP at pag-uusapan iyan."
According to Dux Carvajal of ESPN, in a recent interview, it will be a big factor for at least four Filipinos to barge into this final leg of the Guiness 9-Ball Circuit specially with the possibility of a Taiwanese boycott due to government conflict with mainland China.
In fact, four slots will be vacated if the Taiwanese boycott the coming tournament in Shanghai thus giving a chance for other players seeking to advance in the Grand Finale on August 31 to September 2 in Bali, Indonesia. The Grand champion takes away US$36,000.
It shall be recalled, China did not send their player in the second leg of the tournament held in Kaohsiung, Chinese-Taipei last May 18-20 that gave reigning three-time world junior champion Wu Yu-lun a slot to play.
" Pag hindi sumali 'yung mga Taiwanese sa last leg ay malaki ang pag-asa ng Pilipinas at least for player na makapasok sa Grand Finale sa Bali, Indonesia sa Aug. 31-Sept. 2" "Dahil maiiwasan na magkakasama sila sa isang group at maghihiwalay."
Like De Luna, reigning national open champion Lee Vann Corteza and 2004 World 9-ball champion Alex Pagulayan are BSCP entries while double world champion Ronato Alcano and Roberto Gomez are organizer's top choice.
After the four city-leg, four Taiwanese remains at top 4 standings were No 1. Yang Ching-shun (175 points/ Chinese-Taipei), No 2. Chang Jung-lin (170 points/ Chinese-Taipei), No. 3. Chao Fong-pang (150 points/ Chinese-Taipei) and No.4. Wu Chia-ching (120 points/ Chinese-Taipei). Ricky Yang of Indonesia shared Wu for 4 to 5th place with identical 120 points apiece. Alcano, the 34-years-old lanky cue from Calamba City at solo 6th with 110 points, 5 points ahead with Filipino-Malaysian Ibrahim Bin Amir with 105 points.
Bernard Tey (Singapore) and Dharminder Singh Lilly (India) occupied at No.7 to 8 with 100 points each while Naoyuki Oi of Japan, Au Chi Wai of Hongkong and Lee Vann Corteza of the Philippines was tied at No. 10 to 12 with 80 points.
Top 20 Individual Standings after four city-leg:
1. Yang Ching-shun (175 points/ Chinese-Taipei)
2. Chang Jung-lin (170 points/ Chinese-Taipei)
3. Chao Fong-pang (150 points/ Chinese-Taipei)
4. Wu Chia-ching (120 points/ Chinese-Taipei)
5. Ricky Yang (120 points/ Chinese-Taipei)
6. Ronato Alcano (110 points/ Philippines)
7. Ibrahim Bin Amir (105 points/ Philippines)
8. Bernard Tey (100 points/ Singapore)
9.Dharminder Singh Lilly (100 points/India)
10.Naoyuki Oi (80 points/Japan)
11.Au Chi Wai (80 points/ Hongkong)
12. Lee Vann Corteza (80 points/ Philippines )
13. Jimmy Jusman (75 points/Indonesia)
14. Chan Ken Kwang (70 points/ Singapore)
15.Patrick Ooi (70 points/Malaysia)
16.Alex Pagulayan (60 points/Philippines)
17.Roberto Gomez (60 points/ Philippines)
18. Nitiwat Kanjanasri (60 points/ Thailand)
19.Ryu Seung Woo (60 points/ Korea)
20. Li He Wen (55 points/ China)...
(A Report from MARLON BERNARDINO)
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