KABAYAN SMB WORLD 9-BALL CHALLENGE

WORLD TEAM AHEAD OVER RP IN DAY 1 OF KABAYAN SMB WORLD 9-BALL CHALLENGE

CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro---Rodney Morris and Karl Boyes hurdled their respective opponents to lift the World Team at the start of Kabayan San Miguel Beer (SMB) World 9-Ball Challenge: RP versus Rest of the World at the Filipiniana Hotel on Monday here.

The 25-year-old Boyes, who hails from Blackpool, England, a semi-finalist in the recent 2007 Philippine World Pool Championships beat Antonio Gabica, 7-3, in their 10 rack matche while the 35-year-old Morris, a native of Hawaii and runner-up in the last year's International Pool Tour (IPT) World 8-Ball Championships trounced 2006 WPC winner Ronato Alcano, 6-4.

"I'm just lucky," said Morris, also the former US Open champion and schedule to play in the Korean Pool Championships tomorrow in Seoul, Korea.

Marlon Manalo, 2005 WPC third placer saved the day for the host country after splitting the point with Marcus Chamat, 5-5, as the Rest of the World taking a 5-1 points victory in the first day.

Up by two racks (5-3), Manalo had a chance to win the game but committed a dry break in the 9th racks that put Chamat in the 5-4 count before he ran out the final to rack to salvage a draw (5-5).

Still playing as of press time are Scott Higgins, up against Gandy Valle and Darren Appleton opposite Jeffrey de Luna.

No less than Oriental Mindoro Governor Arnan C. Panaligan, vice-governor Estee Aceron and 2nd district representative Boy "PA" Umali ushered the opening rites in the event jointly organized by board member Butch Soller and journalist Noli Sangil Cruz of Mansalay in the first international event in Oriental Mindoro that coincides with the province's 57th founding anniversary.

The event made possible by the San Miguel Corporation, PAGCOR and PCSO with the help of the Office of the Vice President and second district of Oriental Mindoro Rep. Alfonso P.A. Umali and Rod "RGV" Valencia, Solar Sports will air the actions on Nov. 27-29.

Also supporting the event are the Sporteum Inc. president (ACCEL) Willy Ortiz, Manila Times, Business Mirror, DZSR Sports Radio, Sebastian Chua and Bugsy Promotion.
Brunswick is the official billiard table fully sanctioned by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP).

Each player will play against all the players of the opposing squad in 10-rack matches. A win is worth two points, a draw is worth one point and a loss is zero.

In case of a tie in the match point event, the team with more racks won will emerge as champion and bring home the $20,000 prize. The losing team will receive $10,000.


WHY DIDN’T GOMEZ USE SOFT-BREAK? - ALCANO

FILIPINIANA HOTEL, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro---LAST YEAR'S World Pool Champion Ronato "Volcano" Alcano is wondering why Roberto Gomez didn't use the soft-break in his race-to-17 WPC finals match against eventual winner Daryl Peach of England.

"Bakit hindi pinagpatuloy ni Gomez 'yung soft-break eh kitang-kita naman na one ball ang wing ball?" said Alcano yesterday, one of five representing the RP team against the “Rest of the World” at the start of the Kabayan World 9-Ball Challenge.

"Sana nag try siya kahit isang beses dahil wala naman mawawala," added Alcano who used the soft-break to beat Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany in the 2006 WPC finals.

In fact, Alcano called up his manager to remind Gomez to try to sue soft-break when the count was 2-all.

"Hindi naman sa pagmamayabang, kung ako ang nasa katayuan ni Gomez ay tiyak hindi mananalo si Peach sa akin at gagamitin ko ang soft-break dahil inuulit ko ay kitang-kita na one ball naman eh," said Alcano, the only player who both won the WPA 9-Ball and WPA 8-Ball title plus a runner-up finish in the US Open in just a year.

The 34-year-old Alcano adopted the soft-break method when he observed Luong Chi-dung of Vietnam using the controversial method in the early round of 2006.

The 29-year-old former ABS-CBN Zamboanga field reporter Gomez beat Alex Lely of the Netherlands (10-1) in the last 64, Chao Fong-pao of Taiwan (11-4) in the last 32, Kuo Po-cheng of Taiwan (11-4) in the last 16, and Neils "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands (11-0) in the last 8 and Karl Boyes of England (11-4) to reach the finals.

His game against, Boyes, the 25-year-old from Blackpool, England, Gomez decided to shift his soft-break method to power-break when the former (Boyes) take a 4-0 commanding lead before Gomez clustered an 11 straight wins for an 11-4 victory.

Alcano added that another problem of Gomez is thinking that the game is championships and must win.

"Last year ng naglaro ako simula last 128 to last 4 ay iniisip ko kailangan kong manalo pero ang hirap pala ng ganon dahil ang lakas ng pressure. Nang kalaban ko si Souquet sa finals hindi ko inisip na finals o manalo basta naglaro lamang ako at pagkatapos nalaman ko na world champion na ako," added Alcano.

Gomez, dubbed as local version of Superman eat the kryptonite of eventual winner Daryl Peach of England, 17-15, as the latter' stake home the top prize $100,000.

"Nasa round-of-64 pa lamang ay sinabihan ko na si Gomez na maglaro lamang dahil pag inisip niyang gusto niyang manalo ay diyan darating si kaibigan, 'yung kabog o kaba lalo na pag nasa isip mo kung ano na ang nakataya," explained Alcano.

If Alcano want Gomez to use the soft-break method, majority of the player include officials from WPA and media group wasn't happy to see the so called soft-break method.

Dux Carvajal, chief bureau of Pro Solution, local media outfit of ESPN here who aired worldwide the prestigious $400,000 World 9-Ball Championships said
"Parang pattern na lamang eh,"

2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist Antonio "Ga-Ga"Gabica, the 4th annual SMB RP 9-Ball Open added."Walang kwenta ang soft-break, naka straight ball na eh, kasado na,"

Even teen-ager Mark "Big Mac" Mendoza of Mandaluyong City also commented, " Power-break ako at hindi ako nagso soft-break walang thrill at hindi naman lahat ng pagkakataon ay may one ball o wing ball," said Mendoza, who is schedule to represent the country in the 2007 WPA World Junior Championships later this month in Germany along with Renemar "Revo" David.

Rey Nillama, a veteran photographer said there’s nothing wrong using the soft-break as the player can win his match, "Para sa akin wala naman masama kung gumamit ng soft-break ang isang manlalaro basta mananalo ba siya, eh y'un ang kanyang diskarte eh,".

World Team members headed by Marcus Chamat of Sweden, Rodney Morris of the United States, Karl Boyes, Darren Appleton and Scott Higgins of England don’t want the soft-break implemented in tournaments.

Thomas Overbeck, vice president and sports director of the World Pool-Billiard Association, which sanctions the WPC, has been interviewing players and other experts about the problem here at the event and asking for potential solutions.

"What we would like to have back is that spectacular power break, and that is completely lost here," Overbeck said. "I think nobody wants to see the slow break."

One problem is that no one is quite sure what is making the soft break so effective. Likely it's a combination of factors. Here are the common elements from match to match and table to table: The tables are Brunswick Metros with 4.5-inch pockets; the cloth is new Simonis 860; the 1 ball is racked on the foot spot; and the 1 and the back three balls are tapped. Players are allowed to break from the wings.

The intense lights of the main TV table could be drying out the cloth and allowing balls to slide more. The intense humidity of the Philippines adds an unpredictable element to the equation.

The problem isn't just confined to the main TV table, although it appears to be the most reliable locale for the soft break. In a Thursday match on a peripheral table between Shane Van Boening and Vilmos Foldes, both players employed the slow- or medium-speed break, and sank at least one ball on the break in all 18 racks of Foldes' 10-8 victory.

"It's too easy," said Van Boening after the match. "It's a big advantage for everybody, and everybody has a chance. I don't think it's very fair."

Nor is the problem confined to this year. Overbeck recalled the use of the slow break beginning early in the decade. Notably, 2006 WPC champion Ronnie Alcano used the soft break almost exclusively in the knockout stages and throughout the final.

It's too late to implement any changes to breaking conditions for this year's tournament, Overbeck said. "I'm doing an investigation and trying to think of solutions. … What we don't want to do is change it to 'A' next year, and then 'B' the next year and 'C' the next year. We want to sort the problem out and find the [right] solution."

Some of the many solutions that have been mentioned include mandating a minimum speed for the break and enforcing it with speed guns; moving the rack so the 9 ball is on the spot; and confining the cue ball to the break box.

(Reports from MARLON BERNARDINO)