COMMENTARY

Give me a break
By: Frank Lacambra


With the 2007 World Pool 9-ball Championship about to start, the big question among Filipino billiards fans is: Will a Filipino player repeat as WPC champion?

There certainly is ground for optimism that a Filipino will pull it off again. The defending champion, Ronnie Alcano, has kept busy on the pool circuit. Early this year he also took the world 8-ball crown, which makes him a double world champion.

Filipino fans still remember how Alcano shattered the WPC dreams of Ralf Souquet of Germany. This event could again bring out the best in his game, provided he stays focused and doesn’t take anything for granted.

Efren Reyes will be around and will definitely be a force to reckon with. If he could summon his magic touch one more time, he would be unbeatable. The same can be said of Francisco Bustamante, a one-time WPC finalist and a legend in his own right.

The downside for these two pool icons, however, is that they’ve suffered a couple of major setbacks only last month. They lost their World Cup of Pool title when two unknown Chinese cue masters knocked them out in the early rounds. And they didn’t do too well either in the prestigious US Open.

Those disasters, notwithstanding, the Filipino contingent still abound with talent. There’s Alex Pagulayan, Marlon Manalo, Dennis Orcollo, Lee Vann Corteza, Rodolfo Luat, Antonio Lining, Ramil Gallego, Leonardo Andam, Jeffrey de Luna, Antonio Gabica and Joven Bustamante who, at their fighting best, are formidable competitors.

With such a strong line-up, the Filipinos have naturally struck fear in the hearts of many foreign players. So it’s no surprise that talk of a “conspiracy” against them has started to make the rounds. The subject surfaced recently in the US Open when the Filipinos, for one reason or another, were thrown into the same group and matched up against each other, thus effectively eliminating 50% of the Filipinos in one round!

We don’t know if this had anything to do with the conspiracy, but during the championship match, Alcano had a referee replaced. Nevertheless, he ended up losing to the American wunderkind Shane Van Boening. To discerning observers, the experience left a poor taste in the mouth.

Will a Filipino come out the WPC champion again this year? From where we sit, it’s going to be a tough call—with practically everybody itching to knock out the Filipinos and deny them a shot at WPC glory once more.

What is certain is that the Filipinos will have their hands full fighting off the world’s finest pool players.

What do you think?