Billiards Philippines

'DJANGO' BUSTAMANTE WINS 2012 DERBY CITY CLASSIC FATBOY CHALLENGE; POCKETS $12,000

2012-01-29T20:28:00.001-08:00

Philippine billiard icon Francisco "Django" Bustamante is once again at the top of the world as he emerged as the winner of the 2012 Derby City Classic Fatboy 10-Ball Challenge held at the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel in Elizabeth, Indiana, USA late Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Bustamante, one of the top player of Puyat Sports, defeated American Steve Moore with a lopsided, 15-5, victory.

Sportsman/Businessman Aristeo “Putch” Puyat hailed the victory of Bustamante.

“Once again our ﬂag has been raised in this foreign land after knowing that our Filipino kababayan (Francisco) Bustamante successfully won the 2012 Derby City Classic Fat Boy 10-Ball Challenge in Indiana, USA,” he said.

Bustamante held an early 2-0 lead and only a scratch on the 10-ball in rack three kept him from a 3-0 lead. Moore came back to tie the score at 2-2 and was close at 3-4 down before Bustamante found the zone and rolled off nine straight games for an insurmountable 13-3 lead.

Moore took a break at 13-3 down when Bustamante broke dry, which seemed to take Bustamante out of the zone more than it helped Moore get into the zone. The players swapped racks until the score was 14-5 Bustamante, and Moore threw in the towel after a scratch on the break in the 20th rack.

Bustamante bested 2012 Derby City Classic Bank Division champion John Morra of Canada, 15-5, in the semi-final round to arrange a titular showdown with Moore who brought downed Alex Pagulayan of the Philippines, 15-12.

He went home with the top prize of US$ 12,000, Moore settled for a runner-up prize of US$ 7,000 while Pagulayan and Morra made good with US$ 3,500 each for reaching the final four. Marlon Bernardino

CORTEZA STRIKES AGAIN BEATS YANG IN PBB FACE OFF SERIES

2011-12-04T21:39:00.000-08:00

FILIPINO Lee Vann Corteza weathered Taiwan's Yang Ching-shun's fiery comeback to escape with a 9-6 win in the Philippine Bigtime Billiards (PBB) Face-Off series Saturday night at the Airport Pagcor Casino in Paranaque City.

The top player of Negros Billiards Stable (NBS) Corteza took home the top prize worth $5,000. Yang, on the other hand, received $2,500.

After forcing a tie at 4, Yang, known in Chinese-Taipei as the “Son of Pool" made a scratch enabling Corteza to win the 9th rack. The Davao City native Corteza saw his big lead, 7-4, by winning another two straight rack and never looked back in the race-to-9, winner's break match jointly organized by the Mega Sports World and BRKHRD Corp and was aired live over Solar Sports, Sky Channel 70 and Destiny Channel 34 and also aired worldwide through the Internet, live streaming at www.starbilliards.com.ph,www.megasportsworld.com and www.philippinebigtimebilliards.com.

The PBB Face-Off is a joint undertaking of Mega Sports World and BRKHRD Corp., and organized in cooperation with Airport Casino Filipino, Crown Sound System Sakura Amplifiers and Home Theater Systems, Malungai Life Oil, Diamond Billiard table, Hermes Sports Bar, I-Bar, Golden Leaf Restaurant, Bugsy Promotions, Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) with The Philippine Star as official media partner.

“Luck played a part in my victory. Yang is a very tough opponent and I really had a hard time beating him,” said the two-time National Open champion Corteza, playing under the banner of Jonathan Sy's Negros Billiards Stable.

“I hope to play with him again as it’s really exciting going up against one of the world’s best cue artists.” added the former World Ten-Ball Finalist Corteza, whose stint in local and international competitions is supported by Kopiko and Energen.

Negros Billiards Stable head coach Christopher Palses commented after the match "Buti nag scratch si Yang sa 9th rack, yun ang turning point ni Van-Van (Lee Vann) sa pagkapanalo niya sa mahigpitan nilang laro ng Taiwanese cue master."

It shall be recalled that Corteza topped the 3rd Golden Break 9-Ball Invitational Championship 2011 last August at the Golden Break Snooker & Pool Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He also won 2011 San Miguel Beer Oktoberfest 9-ball Open in the Masters category at the Resorts World Manila in Pasay City last October.

Meanwhile, the PBB Face Off series resumes with a match pitting Yang against Dennis Orcollo on Dec. 10. After that, Chang Jung Lin of Chinese-Taipei battles Roberto Gomez on Dec.17, Chang takes on Alcano on Dec.23 and Wu Chai Ching of China battles Efren "Bata" Reyes on Dec.30. By: MARLON BERNARDINO

CORTEZA WINS SMB OKTOBERFEST 9-BALL OPEN: POCKETS P350,000

2011-10-31T19:15:00.000-07:00

FORMER National Open champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza ruled the 2011 San Miguel Beer Oktoberfest Festival 9-ball Open Masters category at the Resorts World Manila in Pasay City, late Sunday.

The top player of Negros Billiards Stable and JSY Sports, Corteza defeated world no.1 and world 8-ball champion Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, 11-8, in the finals to bag the top prize of P350,000 plus SMB mug trophy. The former two-time SMB 9-ball open champion Orcollo settled P100,000.

Corteza, whose stint here backed up by Energen and Kopiko made the finals by beating ex-world pool champion Francisco "Django" Bustamante, 9-4, in the semifinals while Orcollo advanced by edging hall of famer Efren "Bata" Reyes, 9-8.

“I would like to thank Sir Jonathan Sy and coach Christopher Palses for always helping me in my local and international tournaments alongside Kopiko and Energen,” said the Davao City native Corteza, whose next tournament is the Japan Open on November 16 in Osaka.

Earlier, Corteza, playing under the banner of sportsman/businessman Jonathan "Bacolod" Sy, nipped former WPA 9-ball and 8-ball champion Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, 9-5, in the round-of-16, and 2006 SydneyWorld Junior quarter-finalists Renemar "Revo" David, 9-7, in the round-of-8, while Orcollo ousted Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, 9-1, and Jundel "Jano" Mazon, 9-6, respectively.

In the race-to-11, alternate break finals, the former fisherman from Bislig, Surigao del Sur Orcollo jumped to a big 3-1 lead before Corteza tied the score at 3-all in the 6th racks after winning two straight racks. The two Filipino hottest player today tied the match at 4-all count after exchanging racks. Corteza won two consecutive racks for a 6-4 lead. Actually, Orcollo had a chance to tied the match at 5-all count in the 10th racks but failed to sank no.8 ball. From there, Corteza never looked back. He won five of the next nine racks for the runaway victory.

"Turning point ko yung pagsablay ni Dennis sa medyo delikadong shot sa 8-ball sa 10th racks kaya nakalamang ako ng dalawang racks." said Corteza, a many-time Southeast Asian Games gold medallist.

NBS president Jonathan Sy lauded Corteza’s latest feat. " I’m really happy for him. Hope next year mag world champion na si Lee Vann" he added.

Meanwhile, Jomel "Porkchop" Sultan defeated fellow NBS stalwart Ruben Cuna, 9-8, in the grand finals of winner take all Open regional category to enroute P50,000 plus SMB mug trophy.

The San Miguel Beer Oktoberfest Festival 9-ball Open Masters category also participated by country's women top player Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit, Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat, Ricky" Bai" Zerna, Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, Gandy Valle among others in the Puyat Sports organized event backed up by San Miguel Beer, Negros Billiards Stable, Bugsy Promotions and Resorts World Manila.The matches aired live streaming onwww.sanmiguelbeer.com.ph. Tournament director is Ish Caparras of Puyat Sports.-MARLON BERNARDINO-

FILIPINO MAZON FINISHES 2ND IN CHINA 9-BALL MEET; POCKETS $8,000

2011-10-09T16:01:00.001-07:00

FILIPINO Jundel "Janno" Mazon made some of his trademark shots but settled only for a runner-up finish behind former World Pool Champion Chao Fong Pao at the conclusion of the 2011 China 9-Ball Invitational Championships at the Best Bet Maccaline Plaza in Hefei City, Anhui Province in Eastern China, over the weekend.

Mazon whose stint here is backed up by Energen and Kopiko found Chao too hot to handle as the hometown bet came through with tough shots of his own after winning the lag on the way to posting a 11-8 win that earned him the $16,000 winner’s prize.

"Ang hirap ng naghahabol kasi naka una agad siya (Chao Fong Pao)," said Mazon, one of the top player of Jonathan Sy's Negros Billiards Stable to his coach Christopher "Toper" Palses.

"Bawi na lamang next time," added Mazon, who settled runner-up prize of $8,000.

According to NBS head coach Christopher "Toper" Palses, Chao immediately took a 4-1, 9-4 to 10-8 lead against Mazon."Naka dikit pa sa 10-8 si Janno (Jundel Mazon) kaso naubos ni Chao (Fong Pao) ang lahat ng bola sa pagsargo sa 19th racks," said Palses.

However, Mazon, a former Guinness World Series of Pool Champion bounced back winning four of the five racks to cut the lead at 10-8 count before Chao finished the game in the 19th racks.

Despite the loss, Mazon remained the best Filipino finisher in the said event. Among his victim were Chan Du Long of China, 9-3, in the Last 32, Gou Hua of China, 9-5, in the Last 16, Yang Chin-shun of Chinese-Taipei, 11-9, in the Last 8 and countryman Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, 11-10, in the Last 4.

Aside from Mazon and Corteza, other Filipino cue masters seeing in action were hall of famer Efren "Bata" Reyes, Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, Antonio "Nickoy" Lining and Panfilo "Lintok" Damuag.MARLON BERNARDINO

FILIPINO MAZON ENTERS FINALS OF CHINA 9-BALL INVITATIONAL; 'BATA' FALTERS

2011-10-07T22:54:00.001-07:00

FORMER Guinness World Series of Pool Champion Jundel "Janno" Mazon of the Philippines gained a spot in the finals Saturday of the 2011 China 9-Ball Invitational Championships with a heart-stopping 11-10 victory over compatriot Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza.

The Davao City bet Corteza was so confident at the start of the match that he immediately took a 6-4 lead against fellow Negros Billiards Stable (NBS) bet Mazon
in the match being held at the Best Bet Maccaline Plaza in Hefei City, Anhui Province in Eastern China.

But the table turned against Corteza as Mazon won 11th and 12th racks for posted a 2-0 rally to tied the match at 6-all count. Corteza, however, made a comeback winning two of the three racks to seized a 8-7 lead in the race-to-eleven, alternate break format.Mazon won the 16th racks to level 8-all count.

After trading racks, Corteza and Mazon, both stint here are backed up by Energen and Kopiko, tied the match again at 10-all count in the 20th racks.

In the 21st racks, Corteza, a former World Ten Ball finalist and BSCP National Pool Champion played safety in the blue 2 ball but Mazon managed to sink the blue 2 ball and clean up the table to escaped a narrow 11-10 victory over his NBS team mate.

"It was just all luck. I hope that this luck will still follow me in my finals match against Chao Fong Pao." said Mazon to his manager, sportsman/businessman Jonathan "Bacolod" Sy of the star-studded Negros Billiards Stable (NBS).

"We hope that Janno (Jundel Mazon) can maintain his momentum against Chao Fong Pao in the finals," said sportsman/businessman Jonathan "Bacolod" Sy of the star-studded Negros Billiards Stable (NBS).

Mazon will face Chao Fong Pao, a former World 9-ball champion from Chinese-Taipei but migrated in China for the championship crown and the top prize of $16,000. Chao prevent a possible an all-Filiipino finals when he outclassed his nemesis Filipino pool legend Efren "Bata" Reyes, 11-16, in another semi-final match-up.

Mazon and Chao, both assured at least $8,000 for reaching the finals. Losing Semi-Finalists Corteza and Reyes, on the other hand didn't go empty-handed, as both will be receiving $4,000 each. MARLON BERNARDINO

ORCOLLO BEATS CUARTERO; GAIN SEMIS BERTHS IN BSCP NATIONAL OPEN 9-BALL

2011-10-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

CURRENT World no.1 and World 8-ball champion Dennis Orcollo got the better of Allan Cuartero to storm into the semifinals with a 9-5 victory on Friday in the 9-ball competition of the BSCP National Pool Championship at the Star Billiards Center in Grace Village, Quezon City.

The win gave the man known as “The Robocop” one of the two outright seats in the Final Four of the event, that serves as a qualifying event for the AKTV World Pool Summit in November.

“Slowly but surely, I’m beginning to get my game going,” said Orcollo, top player of sportsman/businessman Ceferino "Perry" Mariano of Bugsy Promotions.

"Sana mahawakan ni Dennis y'ung momentum. Ito na lamang kasi ang kulang kay Dennis na manalo ng National Open," said Bugsy Promotions honcho Ceferino "Perry" Mariano.

Orcollo started to break the game wide open beginning the 10th rack when he won three consecutive racks en route to posting an 8-4 lead.

Although Cuartero managed to salvage a game in the 13th, there was no denying the hottest player in the international circuit as he went back to the table in the 14th and disposed off the remaining balls one by one to complete the win – and hand Cuartero his first loss in nine matches stretching back to the 8-Ball event that started Monday.

Cuartero, who is already assured of a finals berth in the 8-Ball event, fell into the loser’s bracket and will await the winner of the Leonardo "Dodong" Andam-Carlo "Cool" Biado match.

While Orcollo was beginning to make his presence felt in the 9-Ball event, Jerico Banares was sizzling on all fronts, winning his first five games capped by a near perfect performance against Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez.

Banares, the former Philippine junior champion, nearly swept Gomez, the former world pool runner-up, 9-1.

The youthful cue artists from Antipolo City also had a near flawless performance on Thursday night when he subdued Jeff de Luna, 9-1. In beating Gomez, Banares joined Orcollo as the only players to advance to the Final Four so far.

Renemar "Revo" David, another rising pool star, and Rodrigo "Edgie" Geronimo pulled off contrasting victories in the loser’s bracket to keep their flickering hopes alive for the other two semis berths.

David whipped veteran Rene Cruz, 9-6, while Geronimo edged Arvi Tanega in a hill-hill encounter, 9-8. MARLON BERNARDINO

Toughest Pool Nationals Set in October 2011

2011-09-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

THE Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP), the governing body of pool sports in the country, will unwrap the toughest national pool championship ever staged in the country with the 2011 BSCP National Championships scheduled on October 3-11 at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City.

To highlight this year’s championship, the BSCP will adopt a three-game format for the tournament.

In the battle for the men’s championship, the players will compete in three disciplines – eight ball, nine-ball and ten-ball -- each a tournament in its own right.

The 2011 men’s national champion will be determined based on total points garnered by each player from all three tournaments. Points will be assigned to players based on their order of finish in each event.

In the women’s championship, women players will only compete in one 10-ball event.

A total prize fund of P800,000 await the winners of the three tournaments and the grand national championship.

Because of the grueling format adopted in the men’s championship, “whoever emerges as the winner will be the truest national champion ever,” says BSCP spokesman Butch Argonza.

He explained that the BSCP adopted the format with a view to accelerating the development of cue sports in the country and defending the country’s image as the leading pool-playing nation in the world. “As the rest of the world have gotten better at pool, it is important that Filipino players excel in all pool games. We have to maintain our edge,” he said.

BSCP, AKTV, Star Billiards and Raya Sports have joined together in mounting this year’s championships.

AKTV on IBC 13 will broadcast the event .

Raya Sports will organize and promote the tournament.

Star Billiards, under BSCP president Sebastian Chua, will host the 9-day pool extravaganza.

Top-ranking Filipino players, as well as young fast-rising players are expected to join the competition. “We are expecting a minimum number of 64 players to join each of the three tournaments,” says tournament coordinator Sol Gueco.

The full schedule of the 2011 National championships is as follows:

Men’s 8-Ball tournament (Oct. 3-4), Men’s 9-Ball tournament (Oct. 5-6-), Men’s 10-Ball tournament (Oct. 7-8). Women’s championship (10-ball only, Oct 6-8).

The finals of all tournaments will be held on three successive days: Oct. 9, Oct 10, and Oct. 11.

Registration in the tournament is now ongoing. To register, call Sol Gueco at (0910)887-5216; or Edgar Acaba, BSCP secretary-general (0916)573-1458.

-- By: Marlon Bernardino

DENNIS ORCOLLO BEATS MIKA IMMONEN, WINS PREDATOR 10-BALL; POCKETS $10,000; ENDS MANILA JINX

2011-09-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

WORLD no.1 Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines put together a big comeback, winning the final three racks to beat Mika Immonen of Finland, 10-8, to capture the 11th Predator International 10-Ball Championship Sunday night at the Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas.

Orcollo, top player of Perry Mariano's Bugsy Promotions claimed the champion’s purse of $10,000 prize plus Predator elegant trophy. More important, the reigning World 8-ball champion won his first international tournament here in Manila.

"It's a great tournament, really hard," said Orcollo. "First day I lost to (Yukio) Akagariyama. I went to the loser's bracket. But I didn't worry."

"I am so happy to win this tournament.This is my first international tournament title here in Manila," added Orcollo, who also won the 9th Predator International 10-Ball Championship two years ago in Las Vegas, Nevada at the expense of Ralf Souquet of Germany, 8-3.

“I’m happy for Dennis (Orcollo). He’s long been looking to win this tournament,” said Ceferino "Perry" Mariano, Orcollo’s chief benefactor at Bugsy’s Promotions.

Immonen settled for the runner-up prize of $5,000.

"I was really close to ending this drought that I've had for the past four or five months," he said. "I thought I'd end it with this event. I was up by two racks, but I made a couple of unforced errors. Maybe I got ahead of myself a little bit." added Immonen.

Earlier, Orcollo defeated Wu Jia Qing (formerly Wu Chia-ching) of China,10-5, in the final four to arranged a titular showdown with Immonen, who brought downed Liu Haitao of China, 10-9, in another semi-final affair.

Losing semi-finalists Wu and Liu received $3,250 for their efforts.

Immonen seize a 5-2 lead winning four racks in a row before allowing Orcollo to finally get his chance at the table by missing a tough shot on the 7 in the eighth rack, which the Filipino parlayed into a two-rack run that cut the lead to 5-4. A poor safety shot by Orcollo in the 10th, however, prevented him from knotting up the score, and Immonen seized the rack to go up 6-4.

Another error by Immonen, this time a miss on the 1, gave Orcollo another opening, and he took full advantage by winning the rack as well as the next to knot it up at 6-6. But Immonen inched ahead again at 7-6 after Orcollo came up dry with his break in the 13th rack. Then things started going south for the Finn.

The Iceman has been in a slump of late, failing to win any title of sort for the last five months or so. Now he was three racks away from victory and breaking to go ahead 8-6. He had a good break in the 14th rack and seemed to have a clear path to the 10 ball and a decisive two-rack advantage in the homestretch. But he shunned the use of a bridge in an attempt to hit a difficultly placed 4 ball, choosing instead to stretch across the table. He missed badly, and Orcollo made him pay by tying it up at 7-7.

Immonen came back to win the 15th rack after Orcollo missed a bank on the 4, but Orcollo tied it up again in the next rack. The 17th rack was messy, with both players committing errors. Immonen nearly stole the rack with a kick-in on the 7 that just rattled out, but Orcollo left the door slightly ajar when he didn't completely cover up the 8. Immonen had a chance at a safety, but he virtually handed over the rack to the world no. 1 when he scratched.

Orcollo sank the 3 on his break in the 18th rack, but he had to sink a couple of tricky shots before he could complete a run-out and clinch the title, his second with Predator after winning this same event in 2009.

For Orcollo, this latest tournament win, which came off a runner-up finish in the World Pool Masters, firmly established him as the top player in the world, even though the Predator event carries no World Pool Association (WPA) ranking points. Orcollo also made it to the semifinals of the World 9 Ball Championships in Doha in June and the quarterfinals of the World 10 Ball Championships in Pasay City in May.

Orcollo became the third Filipino in eight years to rule the World 8-Ball Championship, clobbering the Netherlands’ Neils Feijen, 10-3, for the 2011 crown at the Fujairah Exhibition Center in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates last February. BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

GERMANY WINS WORLD CUP OF POOL

2011-09-12T02:37:00.000-07:00

GERMANY, represented by Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, won their first PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool crown as they dismantled Kobkit Palajin and Nitiwat Kanjanasri of Thailand by a score of 10-4. The tournament was held at the The Block Atrium of SM North EDSA in Quezon City on Sunday."It’s still hard to believe and it hasn’t sunk in yet. We really worked hard for the title and held ourselves together,” said a jubilant Souquet, who als won the World Pool Masters crown. “We had a really hard semi-final that could’ve gone wrong and I played awful against Korea but Thorsten carried me to the final. “I always said you can only lose as a team and we certainly won as a team. Playing here in Manila in the Philippines is the best thing that has happened to pool.”For the Thai side of Palajin and Kanjanasri , it was an anticlimax after their heroic 9-3 defeat of Taiwan spearheaded by Ko Pin-yi and Ko Phung-chung, 9-3, in the semis and maybe they were mentally drained by their efforts.The German duo, meantime ousted the Koreans pair of Hwang Jong and Lee Gun Jae, 9-7, to arranged a titular showdown with the unseeded Thai duo.Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante of PHL-B and the pair of Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo and Ronato "Volcano" Alcano for PHL-A lost their quarter-final round matches last Saturday.The German duo of Souquet and Hohmann defeated the tandem of Reyes and Bustamante, 9-1, while the Ko Pin-yi and Ko Pung-cheng of Chinese-Taipei edged the pair of Orcollo and Alcano, 9-8.It was a sweet revenge for the German cue masters who lost to the Filipino dynamic duo of Reyes and Bustamante in the finals two years ago. In fact the German duo raced a 9-7 commanding lead in the race-to-11 affair before the host nation bounced back winning four consecutive racks for an 11-9 victory.With 32 teams representing 31 countries – home nation Philippines has two teams in the competition – the World Cup of Pool sees the gathering of some of the most decorated stars of pool. With a total purse of $250,000, the winning pair split $60,000 between them while first round losers are guaranteed $1,500 each. All the action will be carried live on Solar Sports in The Philippines and other broadcasters across the region.MARLON BERNARDINO

FILIPINO ALCANO SETTLES FOR SECOND IN WPA WORLD 9-BALL IN DOHA, QATAR; JAPANESE AKAKARIYAMA POCKETS $36,000

2011-07-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

FORMER WPA World 9-ball and 8-ball champion champion Filipino Ronato "Volcano" Alcano rediscovered his fine form but Japanese Yukio Akakariyama scuttled his bid to win another world title.

Akakariyama outsteadied Alcano in a thrilling duel, 13-11, by display of pressure packed 9-ball before a partisan crowd of close to 1500, most of them Filipinos, to add the 2011 World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship to his growing list of titles late Saturday at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

For beating the Calamba hotshot Alcano, Akakariyama join the list of the Japanese World 9-ball champions in the company of Takeshi Okumura (1994, Chicago, USA) and Kunihiko Takahashi (1998, Taipei, Taiwan).

His triumph also collected $36,000 top purse in this $250,000 total pot prize week-long WPA sanctioned tournament. Last May, Akakariyama failed to win his first-ever World Ten Ball crown losing to eventual champion Huidjie See of the Netherlands, 9-6, in the semi-finals was held in Manila.

Ranked No. 2 in the world, Alcano earned his way in the finals by edging countryman Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, 11-9, in an all Filipino-semi final encounter to arranged a titular showdown with Akakariyama, an 11-10 winner over England's Mark Gray.

Alcano, who won the 2007 WPA World 8-ball crown in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, received the runner-up prize of $18,000 while semi-finalists Orcollo and Gray, both went home $10,000 each.

Alcano, who beat German ace Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet for the 2006 WPA World 9-ball crown in Manila, meantime failed to duplicate the feats of Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the USA (1992, Taipei, Taiwan), (1997, Chicao, USA) and Chao Fong-pang of Chinese-Taipei (Konigswinter, Germany, 1993), (Alicante, Spain, 2000), both won twice in WPA World 9-ball competition.

Earl The Pearl" Strickland of the USA (1990 Bergheim, Germany), (1991 Las Vegas, USA) and (2002 Cardiff, Wales, UK) hold the distinction of the most winningest player for the WPA World 9-ball tiara by winning thrice.

Other Filipino WPA World 9-ball champions were Efren "Bata" Reyes (1999, Cardiff, Wales, UK), Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2004, Taipei, Taiwan), and Francisco "Django" Bustamante (2010, Doha, Qatar).MARLON BERNARDINO
DOHA, QATAR; JAPANESE AKAKARIYAMA POCKETS $36,000
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

FORMER WPA World 9-ball and 8-ball champion champion Filipino Ronato "Volcano" Alcano rediscovered his fine form but Japanese Yukio Akakariyama scuttled his bid to win another world title.

Akakariyama outsteadied Alcano in a thrilling duel, 13-11, by display of pressure packed 9-ball before a partisan crowd of close to 1500, most of them Filipinos, to add the 2011 World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship to his growing list of titles late Saturday at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

For beating the Calamba hotshot Alcano, Akakariyama join the list of the Japanese World 9-ball champions in the company of Takeshi Okumura (1994, Chicago, USA) and Kunihiko Takahashi (1998, Taipei, Taiwan).

His triumph also collected $36,000 top purse in this $250,000 total pot prize week-long WPA sanctioned tournament. Last May, Akakariyama failed to win his first-ever World Ten Ball crown losing to eventual champion Huidjie See of the Netherlands, 9-6, in the semi-finals was held in Manila.

Ranked No. 2 in the world, Alcano earned his way in the finals by edging countryman Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, 11-9, in an all Filipino-semi final encounter to arranged a titular showdown with Akakariyama, an 11-10 winner over England's Mark Gray.

Alcano, who won the 2007 WPA World 8-ball crown in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, received the runner-up prize of $18,000 while semi-finalists Orcollo and Gray, both went home $10,000 each.

Alcano, who beat German ace Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet for the 2006 WPA World 9-ball crown in Manila, meantime failed to duplicate the feats of Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the USA (1992, Taipei, Taiwan), (1997, Chicao, USA) and Chao Fong-pang of Chinese-Taipei (Konigswinter, Germany, 1993), (Alicante, Spain, 2000), both won twice in WPA World 9-ball competition.

Earl The Pearl" Strickland of the USA (1990 Bergheim, Germany), (1991 Las Vegas, USA) and (2002 Cardiff, Wales, UK) hold the distinction of the most winningest player for the WPA World 9-ball tiara by winning thrice.

Other Filipino WPA World 9-ball champions were Efren "Bata" Reyes (1999, Cardiff, Wales, UK), Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2004, Taipei, Taiwan), and Francisco "Django" Bustamante (2010, Doha, Qatar).MARLON BERNARDINO
United Arab Emirates, received the runner-up prize of $18,000 while semi-finalists Orcollo and Gray, both went home $10,000 each.

Alcano, who beat German ace Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet for the 2006 WPA World 9-ball crown in Manila, meantime failed to duplicate the feats of Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the USA (1992, Taipei, Taiwan), (1997, Chicao, USA) and Chao Fong-pang of Chinese-Taipei (Konigswinter, Germany, 1993), (Alicante, Spain, 2000), both won twice in WPA World 9-ball competition.

Earl The Pearl" Strickland of the USA (1990 Bergheim, Germany), (1991 Las Vegas, USA) and (2002 Cardiff, Wales, UK) hold the distinction of the most winningest player for the WPA World 9-ball tiara by winning thrice.

Other Filipino WPA World 9-ball champions were Efren "Bata" Reyes (1999, Cardiff, Wales, UK), Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2004, Taipei, Taiwan), and Francisco "Django" Bustamante (2010, Doha, Qatar).

By: MARLON BERNARDINO

WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP IN DOHA: 16 PHL POOL BETS ADVANCE TO LAST 64

2011-06-28T18:13:00.001-07:00

REIGNING National Open Champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza defeated
Marcus Chamat of Sweden, 9-6, in Group L in their do-or-die match to
lead 15 others Filipino cue artists through to the Last 64 of the
2011 World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship
at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar , Tuesday night.

With the win, the top player of Negros Billiards Stable (NBS) Corteza,
whose stint here is supported by JSY Sports, Kopiko and Energen will
face countryman Oliver Medenilla into the round-of-64, single
knock-out format, in this $250,000 week-long tournament that offers a
$ 36,000 top purse. Medenilla, on the other hand beat Nguyen Phuong
Thao of Vietnam, 9-6, in Group G to finish undefeated two wins in
group play.

"Sana magtuloy-tuloy ang panalo ni Vanvan (Lee Vann Corteza), eto na
lamang ang kulang sa kanya na mag world champion sa WPA event."said
businessman-sportsman Jonathan Sy, co-founder of the Billiards
Managers and Players Association of the Philippines(BMPAP) and
chairman of the National Collegiate Billiards League (NCBL).

Beside the former World Ten Ball Finalist Corteza who hails from Davao
City, the other Filipinos who made it to the Last 64 through the
loser's brackets were Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, Caneda Villamor, Roberto
"Pinoy Superman" Gomez, Vicenancio Tanio, Joven Alba, Israel Rota,
Raymond Faraon and former WPA 9-ball and 8-ball champion Ronato
Alcano.

Gabica advanced by beating Fu Jian Bo of China, 9-8, in Group B, while
Villamor won over Lee Gun Kae of Korea, 9-7, in Group D, Gomez routed
Christian Tuvi of Uruguay, 9-4, in Group E, Tanio toppled Lee Chen Man
of Hongkong, 9-4, in Group I, Alba downed Sundeep Gulat of India, 9-4,
in Group J, Rota edged Bader Al Awadi of Kuwait, 9-8, in Group K,
Faron demolished Mohammad Al Hazmi of Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, 9-3,
in Group M and Alcano smashed Nguyen Phuo Long of Vietnam, 9-1, in
Group M. Not as lucky was Francisco Felicilda, who suffered a
heart-breaking lost to Soheil Vahedi of Iran, 9-8, in Group I.

Defending champion Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Efren "Bata" Reyes,
Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, Carlo "Cool' Biado, Jeffrey "The Bull" de
Luna, Allan Cuartero and Antonio "Nikoy" Lining, earlier made it to
the Last 64 after posting two wins in their group stage play.

Bustamante nipped Alazmi Majed of Kuwait, 9-4, in Group D, Reyes beat
Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, 9-3, in Group A, Orcollo dismantled
Jalal Yousef of Venezuela, 9-3, In Group A, Biado hammered Lee Gun Jae
of Korea, 9-2, in Group D, de Luna outplayed Riyan Setiawan of
Indonesia, 9-4, in Group H, Cuartero waylaid Mohamad Al Sofi of Syria,
9-5 in Group L, and Lining crushedCheng Chieh Liu of Chinese-Taipei,
9-4, in Group P. MARLON BERNARDINO

Pairing Last 64, Single Knock-Out Format:

Lee Vann Corteza versus Oliver Medenilla

Vicenancio Tanio versus Nick van den Berg of the Netherlands

Carlo Biado versus Takhti Zarekani of Iran

Antonio Gabica versus Mika Immonen of Finland

Allan Cuartero versus Ahmad Taufiq Murni of Brunei

Joven Alba versus Chang Jun-lin of Chinese-Taipei

Ronato Alcano versus Chris Orme of the USA

Israel Rota versus Chang Yu-lun of Chinese-Taipei

Antonio Lining versus Oliver Ortmann of Germany

Dennis Orcollo versus Muhammad Zulfikri of India

Efren "Bata" Reyes versus Carlos Cabello of Spain

Francisco "Django" Bustamante versus Sascha-Andrej Tege of Germany

Jeffrey de Luna versus Fu Che wei of Chinese-Taipei

Roberto Gomez versus Daryl Peach of Great Britain

Raymund Faraon versus Stephan Cohen of France

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

"BATA" REYES WILL TRY TO BECOME THE FIRST FILIPINO TO WIN A TRIPLE CROWN IN BILLIARDS

2011-06-26T15:50:00.001-07:00

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

FILIPINO pool wizards Efren "Bata" Reyes will try to become the first
Filipino to win a triple crown in billiards when he competes in the
2011 World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World 9-Ball Championship
at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar on Friday.

Reyes, acknowledged one of the greatest player of all time and plays
for the Puyat Sports of sportsman/businessman Aristeo "Putch" Puyat
battles Mark Gray of Great Britain in Group 1.

He has won the World 9-Ball Championship and World 8-Ball title in
1999 and 2004, respectively. Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, the reigning
World 8-Ball titlist will square off with Andrew Kong of Hongkong also
in Group 1.

Francisco "Django" Bustamante, also from Puyat Sports opened his title
retention bid against countryman Caneda Villamor in Group 4.

Bustamante, who was elected to the Billiards Congress of America Hall
of Fame after a convincing 13-7 triumph over Chinese-Taipei’s Kuo Po
Cheng in the
last year' edition.

2011 World Ten Ball semi-finalists Carlo "Cool" Biado from Perry
Mariano's Bugsy Promotions will meet Petri Makkonen of Finland in
Group 4.

Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medal
winner and 8-ball silver medallist, on the other hand will meet 2011
China Open Champion Chris Melling of Great Britain in Group 2.

A total of 128 players coming from 44 countries participate in the
$250,000 total pot prize tournament offering a $36,000 top purse. The
format divided into 16 group, each group compose of eight players with
four players advancing to the knock-out stage.

In other marquee Filipino match-ups, Roberto Gomez versus Manuel Gama
in Group 5, Oliver Medenilla versus Mohammad Al Harthi of Kingdom of
Saudia Arabia in Group 7, Jeffrey de Luna versus Hussain Jamil
Abdulwahed of Qatar in Group 8, Venancio Tanio versus Chang Jung lin
of Chinese-Taipei in Group 9, Francisco Olita versus Karl Boyes of
Great Britain in Group 9, Joven Alba versus Shane Van Boeing of the
United States in Group 10, Israel Rota versus Chang Yu lun of
Chinese-Taipei in Group 11, Allan Cuartero versus Mohamad Al Sofi of
Syria in Group 12, Lee Vann Corteza versus Rajn Hundal of Great
Britain in Group 12, Ronnie Alcano versus Hamzah Al Saeed of UAE in
Group 13, Raymond Faraon versus Radoslaw Babica of Poland in Group 13,
and Antonio Lining versus Liu Cheng Cheih of Chinese-Taipei in Group
16.

See whips Fu, tops World 10-Ball

2011-05-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

MANILA---Huidji See of The Netherlands joined the WPA World 10-Ball Championship Tuesday with little expectations.

By the end of the tournament five days later, he walked away with the championship trophy and the biggest purse of his career.

Flashing nerves of steel, the 29-year-old naturalized Dutchman of Chinese origins overcame Fu Jianbo of China, 11-8, yesterday in a finals match devoid of the usual hometown cheering at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Fu earlier halted Filipino Carlo Biado’s remarkable run with a 9-5 victory to set up the finals duel with See, who eliminated Yukio Akakariyama of Japan, 9-6, in the other semifinal duel.

See, who won $60,000 (about P2.7 million) duplicated the feat of fellow Europeans Darren Appleton of England, who ruled the inaugural edition in 2008, and Mika Immonen of Finland, who topped the event two years ago.

“This is like a dream (winning a world championship),” said the soft-spoken See, the winner of the US Open 10-Ball title four years ago.

“I knew that I could play well but to really execute it is just great. Hopefully this will turn my career around,” added See, who grew up in Arnhem.

See quietly climbed out of the losers’ bracket, eliminating German Ralf Soquet, 9-4, to reach the knockout phase.

“Beating Ralf gave me the confidence that I could beat everyone else,” said See.

After bundling out top Filipino bets like World No. 1 Antonio Lining, world champion Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano in the earlier rounds, Biado looked poised to go all the way.

But admittedly pressured by the enormity of the occasion, the La Union ace made two early errors in the semifinals, allowing Fu to zoom to an 8-1 lead.

“I felt the pressure since I was the only Filipino left,” said Biado, who eliminated Orcollo, 9-4, Saturday night. “I really wanted to win for the country.”

Fu advanced against Biado by ousting Lee Van Corteza, 9-8.

Biado hardly slept on the eve of the semifinal and needed time to settle down.

Written by Cedelf P. Tupas and lifted without permission from the Phil. Daily Inquirer

Immonen Falls, Orcollo, Alcano Sustains Form

2011-05-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

MANILA---Filipino top guns Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano continued their stirring runs with lopsided victories yesterday in a WPA World Ten-Ball Championship that was thrown wide open with the ouster of defending champion Mika Immonen at the World Trade Center.

Orcollo, the reigning World 8-ball titlist, overwhelmed Mario Morra of Canada, 9-4, to reach the last 32, while Alcano, the former double world champion, flashed his old ruthless form to turn back compatriot Demothenes Pulpul, 9-2.

“I feel good about my game, especially my breaks,” said Alcano, whose performance dipped after winning the world titles in 9-ball and 8-ball in the space of less than six months four years ago.

The two Filipinos were joined in the final 32 by upstart Carlo Biado, who toppled countryman Roberto Gomez, 9-6, and former World 10-ball losing finalist Lee Van Corteza, who ousted Lu Hui Chan of Chinese-Taipei, 9-5.

Immonen got the ax from Tomoo Takano of Japan, a survivor of the five-day qualifying event which produced 10 final
slots to the tournament.

Takano prevailed, 9-7, after Immonen missed an easy shot on the orange-five.

Biado, who enjoyed a solid run in the Philippine Open 10-Ball Championship last month, refused to wilt despite falling into an early 0-3 hole, winning the fourth to eighth rack to seize control.

A former caddie, the 27-year-old Biado was rewarded with a last 32 date with Alcano, who raced to a 7-0 lead against Pulpul.

Antonio Gabica, the former Asian Games gold medalist, absorbed a heart-breaking 8-9 loss to unheralded Manuel Pereira of Portugal.

Gabica’s loss stung the most.

Already on the hill in the 15th rack, Gabica lost a safety battle before Pereira broke and ran out the last two frames.

Written by Cedelf P. Tupas and lifted without permission from Philippine Daily Inquirer

Orcollo 2 Other Filipino Cue Masters Reach Sweet 16 of World 10 Ball

2011-05-14T02:20:00.000-07:00

SEVERAL minutes later after Carlo Biado and Lee Vann Corteza triumphed, reigning WPA World 8-ball champion Dennis Orcollo also made it to the Sweet 16 of the WPA World Ten Ball Championships at the World Trade Center in Roxas, Boulevard, Pasay City on Saturday.

Orcollo, top player of sportsman/businessman Ceferino "Perry" Mariano ng Bugsy Promotions beat Karl Boyes of Great Britain, 9-7. Biado earlier beat Ronnie Alcano, the former WPA World 9-ball and 8-ball champion in the round-of-32 yesterday, as Corteza hammered Hao Xiang Han of China, 9-4.

Other players who made it into the round-of-16 are Chris Melling and Daryl Peach of Great Britain, Yukio Akakayarima and Tomoo Takano of Japan, Chang Yu-lun of Chinese-Taipei, Jason Klatt of Canada, Fu Jian Bo and Wu Jiaqing of China and Tony Drago of Malta.

Melling routed Manuel Pereira of Portugal, 9-4, Peach dealt Shane Van Boening of the USA, 9-6, Akakayarima walloped Sascha-Andrej Tege of Germany,9-7, Takano upset former WTBC champ Darren Appleton of Great Britain, 9-5, Chang toppled Johnny Archer of the USA, 9-7, Klatt routed Alok Kumar of India, 9-7, Fu crushed Liu Cheng-chieh of Chinese-Taipei, 9-3,Wu beat Liwen Lo of Japan, 9-8, and Drago defeated Oliver Ortmann of Germany, 9-6. MARLON BERNARDINO

World Ten Ball: Orcollo, Alcano, Biado Advance

2011-05-14T01:57:00.000-07:00

FILIPINO pool masters Dennis Orcullo, Ronato Alcano and Carlo Biado scored contrasting victories at the start of the Knockout Stage to advance into the Last 32 of the 2011 World Ten Ball Championships yesterday at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Orcullo routed Mario Morra of Canada, 9-4, while Alcano and Biado won convincingly against fellow Filipino pool players.

Alcano thrashed Demosthenes Pulpul, 9-2, while Biado defeated Roberto Gomez, 9-6.

Aside from Pulpul and Gomez, the other Pinoy cue artists who failed to advance in the Last 32 were Jeffrey de Luna, Jonas Magpantay, Antonio Gabica and Venancio Tanio.

De Luna bowed to Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 3-9; Magpantay lost Lo Li Wen of China, 6-9; Gabica was edged by Manuel Pereira of Portugal, 8-9; and Tanio was defeated by Shane Van Boening of the United States, 7-9.

Currently playing as of press time yesterday were Lee Vann Corteza, Marvin Tapia, Jericho Banares and Jundel Mazon. — Marlon Bernardino

"DJANGO" BUSTAMANTE IS NO.1 IN THE WORLD OF POOL; RECLAIM HIS TOP POSITION---WPA

2010-12-19T15:05:00.000-08:00

THE power-breaker from Tarlac City, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, has finally achieved his goal, to top again the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) rankings list. Bustamante reclaimed his over-all position after winning this year's WPA World 9-Ball Championships in Doha, Qatar.

"I will do my very best in my future events for flag and country," said Bustamante, one of the top players of sportsman/ businessman Aristeo "Putch" Puyat, considered the Philippines billiards God Father.

Bustamante has a total 1142 points, 170 points ahead over second place Karl Boyes of Great Britan with 972.

Sharing the limelight are No.3 Antonio "Nickoy "Lining (940 points), No. 5 Jeffrey "The Bull" de Luna (841 points), No.7 Ronato "Volcano" Alcano (784 points), No.8 Vinancio "Tukao" Tanio (759 points), No.9 Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo (732 points) and No.10 Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza (704 points).

Rounding up the top 10 are No.4 "The Little Monster" Kuo Po-cheng of Chinese-Taipei (848 points) and No.6 Niels "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands (600 points).MARLON BERNARDINO

Bata, Amit Clinch 1st World Mixed Doubles Classic

2009-12-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

EFREN “Bata” Reyes and Rubilen “Bingkay” Amit of Philippines "A" bagged the 1st World Mixed Doubles Classic title after edging out Korea in an exciting final match late Thursday at the Nuvo City Lifestyle Center in Libis, Quezon City.

Reyes and Amit, the two world champions from Puyat Sports of Aristeo “Putch” Puyat, posted a 9-7 win in their race-to- nine match against Koreans Charlie Williams and Eun Ji Park. They took home the top prize of $6,000 in the event presented by Nuvo Land Philippines, Inc. and Dragon Promotions and supported by Puyat Sports, ABS-CBN Sports, ESPN-Star Sports and the Philippine Star.

The Koreans, on the other hand settled for the second place prize of $3,000.

" We would like to thank the organizer (Dragon Promotions) and the sponsors for staging this event," said Reyes, who became the First Filipino World 9-Ball Champion in 1999 in Cardiff, Wales.

The Philippine B Team of Lee Van Corteza and Shanelle Loraine defeated the pair of Mika Immonen and Borana Andoni of Team Europe, 7-3, in the battle for third place and received the $2,000 prize.

“At least we finish third,” said Corteza, who lost to Immonen in the finals of World Ten Ball Championships.

Earlier, Team Japan of Hayato Hijikata and Kaori Ebe defeated Team USA of Shane Van Boening and Amy Chen, 5-3, to finish fifth in the six teams competitions.

By Marlon Bernardino - 2009-12-03

Amit Women's World 10-Ball Champion

2009-07-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

Give me a break
By Frank Lacambra

The title won recently by Rubelyn Amit of the Philippines in the JBET poker.net Women’s World 10-Ball Championship was a thrilling and a most satisfying news, coming as it did in a year marked by trouble and dissension on the Philippine billiards front.

For Ms. Amit the victory came as some kinds of redemption after a sorry lose in the 2007 Amway Women’s World Championship. She was so close and yet so far away. That was a real heartbreaker for someone so young who had to carry on her shoulders the hopes and expectations of the whole nation.

In the 2007 event, if you remember, Amit started out hot in the early going, But somewhere in the middle of the game, her game suddenly sputtered. She missed too many easy shots that ultimately did her in.

This time around, Rubelyn came to fight. She was more focused. She was relaxed. And learning from her disastrous experience two years earlier, she not only practiced a lot but also prepared herself mentally. In the end her poise and skills—and knowing that the hometown crowd was behind her—made all the difference in her world-class performance.

What made her win all the more memorable and priced was the fact that she topped a star-studded field graced by reigning champion Lien Shin Mei of Chinese Taipei, World No. 1 Kelly Fisher of England, and European 9-ball, 8-ball and straight pool champion Jasmine Ouschan of Austria.

Rubelyn, indeed, deserved to win a tough, high-caliber championship. Something we cannot say of the recent major Philippine men’s tournament (without taking anything away from the eventual champion Ricky Yang who played masterfully) held just a week before the women’s world 10-ball event.

As billiards aficionados ruefully observed, the Philippine Open 10-Ball Championship attracted some of the biggest names in men’s pool (Souquet, Hohmann, van Boening, Deuel, Petroni, Appleton plus strong contingents from Chinese Taipei, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia) but what an embarrassment that the Philippines could not field its cream of the crop.

Internationally known players came all the way from all over looking forward to battling the cream of the crop of Philippine billiards, but they ended up playing against second- tier players, except for a few formidable players like Manalo, Gabica and de Luna.

How can we have a major billiards event without the likes of Bata Reyes, Django, Alcano, Pagulayan and Luat, just to mention a few? Unthinkable! But unfortunately, that’s what happened. And unless the people running the country’s billiards affairs wake up to this sorry situation, we see trouble ahead.

Perhaps it’s about time the POC—if not President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself—took a direct hand and look into what’s bugging our billiards community. The squabbling among our billiards leaders and top players, as we have said in an earlier piece, is not doing the country any good.

The whole world looks at the Philippines as the “new epicenter of international billiards” and we had better take this matter seriously.

This image is a tremendous asset that we should build on and not destroy just because of the narrow selfish interests and greedy motives of a few. The image is good for business, tourism especially. And it’s good for the game, too. Because of it the Philippines has become a powerful magnet, attracting the best and the finest billiards players to our shores.

But if we don’t fix the problem soon, we will fritter away our edge as a billiards mecca in no time.

Philippine Billiards: Commentary

2009-06-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

Give Me A Break
By Frank Lacambra

The Philippine Open 10-Ball Championship came and went with Filipino pool fans wondering: What’s happening to Philippine billiards?

The question dogged the event even long before it got off the ground. Announcements of the tournament mentioned just about all the important details, except the names of the Filipinos who were participating. Big names add star power to an event and it’s good for the gate. But this time the superstars didn’t show up.

Rather unusual, considering that in times past a tournament like this would have seen a virtual parade of the biggest names in Philippine billiards. After all, the 10-ball is supposed to be a Filipino “invention”, or at least the Filipino variation on the game.

It’s supposed to be a game where Filipino players excel in, given their penchant for complications. And the event was something that shouldn’t be missed. But how come the biggies of the game were auspiciously absent?

Judging from the roster of participants, the Open looked more like a world tournament than a local thing, what with a formidable cast of famous and familiar faces that came from all over to play in the Philippines.

We saw and met, informally, on the sidelines, such pool stars as former 9-ball world champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, Corey Deuel and Shane van Boening of the US, Fabio Petroni of Italy and Ricky Yang of Indonesia. We also spotted World No.1 Ralf Souquet (Ger,), Darren Appleton, the reigning 10-ball world champion, women’s world No.1 Jasmin Ouschan, Marcus Chamat of Sweden, Radoslav Babica of Poland, several players from Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia. Well-known women pool players like Kelly Fisher and Melissa Little also showed up to try their luck with the men.

Those folks came all the way to the Philippines, perhaps looking forward to tangling with Filipino big guns. But they never got to see the stars.

What they encountered instead were the would-be stars. Ok, Marlon Manalo, Tony Gabica and Jeffrey de Luna were there, as well as a few guys on the way up. But let’s face it, these new blood are not yet in the league of the Magician, Django, Alex the Lion, or the Alcano the Volcano.

It was Petroni, watching from the sidelines beside me, who asked the question that I’m sure was on every billiards fan’s mind: “How come Efren and the others are not playing?”

The fact that a foreign player noticed something amiss about the tournament should give our billiards leaders food for thought. Again we ask: What gives?

Is Philippine billiards racked with so much disagreements and bad blood that our pool leaders and players cannot even declare a truce for the sake of the game and for the sake of upholding the reputation of the country as the “new epicenter of world billiards?”

This is a sad and unhealthy situation. Because of the squabbling within our billiards establishment, our image as a united, pool-savvy country could take a beating. And it could set back the country’s efforts in drumming up tourism, among other things.

The problem of Philippine billiards recalls an event that happened to chess a few decades back. Almost 40 years ago, the American chess genius Bobby Fischer almost abandoned his world chess championship match with Boris Spassky of the then USSR. Fischer was throwing tantrums in the run-up to the match and making “impossible” demands on organizers.

The US government saw red flags in Fischer’s conduct. In no time, Henry Kissinger, the US Secretary of State, was talking to Fischer. In so many words, Mr. Kissinger told Bobby to “cool it and just take care of business.” Fortunately for the sporting world-at-large, Bobby got the message and simmered down. He agreed to play. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Maybe the Philippine government should step in and get our warring billiards leaders to stop fighting and start playing—for flag and country. But I’m not sure if the chairman of the Philippine Olympic Committee is the right person for the job. He’s got problems himself. But that’s another story.

The thing is, more and more, foreign players are noticing the cracks in our billiards establishment. This is not doing us any good. And certainly, it’s not good for the game.

Note: Readers’ comments are welcome.

AMANG PARICA REGAINS HIS OLD DEADLY FORM BY WINNING COMET BILLIARDS

2008-11-16T05:48:00.000-08:00

FILIPINO legendary Jose "Amang" Parica flashed his old deadly form by winning the 2008 Joss Northeast 9-ball tour stop at the Comet Billiards in Parsippany, New Jersey.

The West Covina-based Parica, acknowledged as the leader of the Filipino invasion in the US Pool circuit in the mid 80's defeated American Adam Kielar, 9-3, in their rematch in the finals enroute to the coveted plum plus $1,500 champion's purse in this 45 player field double elimination format.

Kielar, on the other hand settled runner-up place and cash worth $1,100. Parica, earlier brought down American Mike Zuglan, 9-6, for the hot-seat match and earned ticket to the race-to-9 finals while Kielar needed to beat Zuglan, 9-5, to arrange a titular showdown with Parica.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by Jovie Sison

TAIWAN SUCCESSFULLY DEFEND ITS GUINNESS GRAND FINALE CROWN

2008-11-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

THE Philippines suffered double black eye yesterday when Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan and Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo lost their respective semifinal matches finals in the Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 Grand Final being held at the the Mal Taman Anggrek in Bali, Indonesia.

Pagulayan bowed to former double world champion Wu Chia-ching, 6-9, in the first semifinals encounter while Orcollo yielded to Yang Ching-shun that led an all Taiwanese-finals.

Despite the setbacks, Pagulayan and Orcollo, both receive $5,400 for reaching the semi-finals of the six-city tour organized of ESPN STAR Sports.

In the 2007 edition, Taiwanese Chang Jung-lin took the crown and top prize $36,000 after beating Filipino Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza in the finals.

Other Filipino saw action were Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica and Joven "The Shark" Bustamante who failed to advance in the knock-out stage.

ORCOLLO, PAGULAYAN ENTERS FINAL FOUR IN GUINNESS GRAND FINALE

2008-11-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

FILIPINOS Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan and Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo cruised in the semifinals after they finished in the top two of Group A in the preliminary round of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 Grand Final yesterday at the Mal Taman Anggrek in Bali, Indonesia.

Orcollo, the reigning WPA world number one was still playing defending Grand Final champion Chang Jung Lin of Chinese Taipei as of press time, but his three wins on Friday coupled with Pagulayan's wins over Wang Hung Hsiang of Chinese Taipei and Ryu Seung Woo of Korea yesterday, clinched spots in the last four for the two Filipino aces.

Orcollo, who hails from Bislig, Surigao del Sur who won the previous leg in Guangzhou, China, swept all three of his assignments on Friday. Orcollo native opened his bid with a 9 – 7 triumph of Pagulayan then followed it up with demolishing over Wang, 9 – 8, and Ryu, 9 – 5.

Pagulayan, who ruled the Singapore leg, bounced back from his setback against Orcollo with a relatively easy 9 – 5 victory over Chang late Friday evening. The 2004 World Pool champion barged into the semi-finals after edging Wang, 9 – 8, and routing Ryu, 9 - 2. Chang's two losses to Pagulayan and Orcollo eliminated the defending champion.

Eleven players were divided into two groups and players played in a single round robin format. The top two players from each group advanced to the semi-finals with the final two meeting in the final match tomorrow.

The champion will earn the top prize of US$36,000. Orcollo and Pagulayan are already assured of at least $5,400 for reaching the semi-finals of the six-city tour organized by ESPN STAR Sports.

The Top Ten of the Tour's Order of Merit following the first five legs automatically qualified for the Grand Final. An additional wild card spot was awarded to Ricky Yang as he was the host country's top ranked player.

Meanwhile, a third Filipino, Antonio Gabica, also remained in contention for a semi-final spot after staying unbeaten after three matches over in Group B. Gabica outclassed fellow Filipino Joven Bustamante, 9 – 5, on Friday then beat Malaysia's Ibrahim Bin Amir, 9 – 5, and survived Chinese Taipei's Wu Chia Ching, 9 - 7, yesterday.

The former Asian Games gold medalist needed just one more win in his last two assignments yesterday. He was still playing hometown bet Ricky Yang as of press time and was scheduled to meet Yang Ching Shun of Chinese Taipei yesterday evening.

Bustamante, the fourth Filipino in the group, is virtually eliminated from semi-final contention after dropping two of his three matches. The current WPA world number six fell to Gabica, 5 – 9, but nipped Indonesia's Yang, 9 – 8, Friday. Bustamante then bowed down to Yang Ching Shun, 4 – 9.

Up for grabs in the Grand Final is total prize money of US$72,000, with the winner taking home US$36,000. The Guinness 9 Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship. The six-city Tour previously had stops in Chinese-Taipei, Penang, Genting Highlands, Singapore, and Guangzhou.

ALCANO SETTLES FOR SECOND PLACE IN US OPEN 9-BALL

2008-11-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

FORMER double world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball) Ronato "Volcano" Alcano yielded to eventual champion Mika "The Iceman" Immonen of Finland, 13-7, in the finals, but still wound up as the best Filipino finisher in the just concluded 33rd Annual US Open 9-Ball Championship being held at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, over the weekend.

Alcano, who also settled runner-up place in the last year's edition receive 2nd place prize of $20,000 for his effort.

Immonen, meanwhile took the crown and the $40,000 that goes with it after trouncing Alcano in this $250,000 total pot prize tournament which lured by 238 players from around the world.

The 36-year-old Calamba native Alcano, who failed to duplicates Efren "Bata" Reyes (1994) and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2005) title feat, earlier brought downed Immonen, 11-6, during their hot-seat match in the winner's brackets to advance in the championships' round.

With the loss, Immonen relegated to the one-loss side and beat another Filipino entry Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, 11-9, to forge a rematch with Alcano. Before losing to Immonen, the 36-year-old Pasil, Cebu native Kiamco, playing under the banner of Jonathan Sy's Negros Billiard Stable ousted lone American survivor Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer, 11-4.

Kiamco pocketed third place worth of $10,000 while Archer didn't go empty-handed with fourth prize of $8,000.

Other Filipinos who saw action were former world no.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Japan based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, Jose "Amang" Parica, Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat, Leonardo "The Rattle Snake" Andam, Joven Alba, Edwin Montal and Danny Petralba.
The Filipinos' performance was a big letdown as they dominated the 2005 edition, with Pagulayan emerging as champion, Parica and Bustamante settled 2nd to 3rd placers, respectively. The weeklong-event is the longest running 9-ball event in the United States.

KIAMCO, ALCANO GAIN US OPEN SEMIFINALS

2008-11-02T17:20:00.001-08:00

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

VETERAN Internationalists Warren "Warrior" Kiamco and Ronato "Volcano" Alcano came up with yet another scintillating performance to kept Philippine Flag high in the on-going 33rd US Open 9-ball championships yesterday being held at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA.

The pride of Bugsy Promotion Alcano, who is aiming to surpass his last year's runner-up place finish beat American Rodney "Rocket" Morris, 11-7, to post his seventh straight wins and move into the final four against former World 9-ball champion Mika "The Iceman" Immonen of Finland, who brought downed another host bet Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer, 11-7.

Alcano and Immonen, both undefeated in this double-elimination format which offers $40,000 to the champion in this $250,000 total pot prize event.

The Cebuano native Kiamco, playing under the banner of Jonathan Sy's Negros Billiard Stable, on the other hand ousted Morris, 11-10, to extend his winning run in the loser's side with eight straight wins to face Archer in another semifinals pair.

After losing to Immonen in the winner's brackets, Archer eliminated compatriot Corey "The Prince" Deuel, 11-8, to meet Kiamco, the 2008 Villar-Alabang leg champion.

Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) head coach Christopher "Toper" Palses lauded the impressive performance of Alcano and Kiamco."Sana manalo sila sa kani-kanilang final four matches para all Filipino-finals." He added.

On the road's to the final four, Kiamco bested Josh Lewis ,11 – 9, reigning World 9-ball champion Daryl Peach of Great Britain, 11 – 3, fellow NBS stablemate Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, 11 – 10, Morris ,11 – 10, Robb Saez ,11 – 8, Scott Rabon ,11 – 7, Nick Varner ,11 – 10, Imran Majid ,11 – 8, Adam Smith ,11 – 5, Tony Chohan 11 – 3, and Morris, 11-10.

Alcano, meanwhile nipped Mike Brown 11 – 7, Matt Clatterbuck 11 – 4, Mitch Ellerman 11 – 10, Tyler Edey 11 – 8, Corteza 11 – 9, Francisco "Django" Bustamante 11 – 6, and Morris 11 – 7.
The much anticipated final four showdown between Alcano and Immonen and Kiamco opposite with Archer with the top two survival will slug it out for this year's over-all championships' trophy.

Alcano and Kiamco, both member of the star-studded Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) are looking to duplicate's Efren "Bata" Reyes (1994) and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2005) title-feat.

PARICA BEATS DEFENDING CHAMP VAN BOENING; BUSTAMANTE, ALCANO CONTINUE WINNING RUN IN US OPEN 9-BALL

2008-11-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

A day after beating reigning World Ten-Ball Champion Darren "Dynamite" Appleton of Great Britain,11-6, Filipino Francisco "Django" Bustamante continued his winning run after crushing Oscar Dominguez of Mexico, 11-1, to score his fifth straight wins in the on-going 33rd US Open 9-Ball at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, Virginia, yesterday.

However, the sad news is that Bustamante will face last year's runner-up Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, an 11-9 win over compatriot and ex-national champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza.

Sharing the limelight is Jose "Amang" Parica, who edged defending champion Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening of the United States, 11-10.

The West Covina-based Parica, acknowledge leader of the Filipino invasion in the US pool circuit in mid 80's, will square off with former World Pool Champion Mika "The Iceman" Immonen of Finland, who brought downed American Shawn Putnam, 11-1.

Also in the winning column were reigning World 9-ball Champion Daryl Peach of Great Britain, former world 9-ball champions Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the United States and Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann of Germany.

Peach waylaid UK's Raj Hundal, 11-8, Archer stuns Brandon Shuff, 11-5, and Hohmann nipped Finnish Petri Makkonen, 11-2.

American Rodney "Rocket" Morris, who teaming up to Van Boening to win the over-all championships' trophy in the recent World Cup of Pool also remain unbeaten in this $250,000 total pot prize event with the champion getting the lion share of $40,000. He beat Adam Smith, 11-4. In the sixth round, Archer goes up against Peach, Morris opposite Hohmann.

In the loser's side, Cebuano ace Warren "Warrior" Kiamco ousted Indian Imran Majid, 11-8, to remain in contention.

However other Filipino suffered their second loses to kiss goodbye in the longest running 9-ball tournament in the United States.

Japan based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego bowed to American Larry Nevel, 11-8, Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat yielded to American Dan Louie, 11-10, Danny Petralba lost to American Dustin Morris, 11-8, OFW Joven Alba was booted out by American Tim Hall, 11-6 and Fil-Canadian Edwin Montal lost to American Mike Davis, 11-7.

DJANGO, THREE OTHER REMAINS UNBEATEN IN US OPEN 9-BALL

2008-11-02T17:16:00.001-08:00

Francisco "Django" Bustamante turned back reigning world ten-ball champion Darren "Dynamite" Appleton of Great Britain, 11-6, to joined three other Filipino in the winning column in the fourth round of 33rd US Open 9-ball yesterday at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA.

Bustamante, the former world no.1 will face Mexican Oscar Dominguez in the next round. Dominguez beat Josh Lewis, 11-10.

Last year's runner-up Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, ex-national champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza and Jose "Amang" Parica also kept the Philippine flag high after trouncing their respective rivals.

Alcano beat Canadian Tyley Edey, 11-8, while Corteza crushed American Shannon Daulton, 11-9, and Parica nipped Swedish Marcus Chamat, 11-9. However, Alcano and Corteza will clash each other in the fifth round while Parica will go up against defending champion and American Shane "The South Dakota Kid" van boening, winner over compatriot Charlie "The Korean Dragon" Williams, 11-6.

The $250,000 total pot prize event is applying a double elimination format with the champion getting the lion share of $40,000.

MARLON BERNARDINO

LIMEN TO PLAY IN ASIA 10-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

2008-11-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

TWO MONTHS after taking Davao billiards scene by storm, Jech Limen is now lined up for his second international tournament dubbed as 5th Annual Asia 10-Ball Championships to be held on November 10 to 14 at the Hamilton Hotel in Seoul, Korea.

The Pasig City based Limen, who hails from Davao City topped the 2008 Mati 9-Ball Open Tournament in Mati, Davao. Limen made his name big in international competitions after beating former double world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball) Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei during the 2007 Negros Oriental International 9-Ball Championships was held in Dumaguete City enable him to finish in the top 12.

"Hindi ko po sasayangin ang binigay na pagkakataon ni Sir Jo (Jonathan Sy), kaya gagawin ko ang aking best sa Asian 10-Ball Championships na maging maganda ang performance natin," said Limen, also the 2004 Davao 9-Ball Open Champion and 2007 Winner Take-All third placer in Bowling Inn, Taft Avenue, Manila.

Sportsman/ Businessman Jonathan Sy, president of the rising Negros Billiard Stable and co-founder of the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) yesterday said that Limen received an invitation from Dragon Promotions, promoter of 5th Annual Asia 10-Ball Championships and obtain his visa last Thursday.
""While fate and destiny seems to be on our side the Korean Consul approved the visas of Jech (Limen)"said Sy, also the manager of former national champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, Villar Cup Alabang leg champion Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, Japan based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego and 2008 Dubai Champion Ricky "Bai" Zerna.

"We (NBS) hope Jech (Limen) will perform well in the Asia 10-Ball Championships," added Sy, also the organizer in the forthcoming Villiards: International Invitational 9-Ball Open on November 12 in Bacolod City.

NBS head coach Christopher "Toper" Palses commented: "Hinog na si Jech (Limen) sa malakihang torneo at naniniwala ako na ipakikita niya ang kanyang husay sa Asian 10-Ball Championships."

According to Cindy Lee, president of Dragon Promotions, the 5th Annual Asia 10-Ball Championships offers $10,000 to the champion. The runner-up pockets $5,000 while 3rd and 4th received $2,500.Fifth to 8th placers received $1,250 each while 9th to 16th placers will bring home $600 each.

Top names in the field so far include Mika "The Iceman" Immonen of Finland, who is fresh from winning the 2008 US Open 9-Ball Championships, Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann of Germany, Raj Hundal of India, Lee Chenman of Hongkong and Young Hwa Jeong of the host country. The event will be broadcasted on XTM and XPORTS, two of the top channels in South Korea.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO.

DJANGO TRIPS APPLETON IN US OPEN 9-BALL

2008-10-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

3 other Filpinos strike

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:19:00 10/24/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Francisco “Django” Bustamante humbled England’s newly crowned World 10-Ball champion Darren Appleton, 11-6, Thursday to lead three other Filipinos in the winners’ bracket of the 33rd Annual US Open 9-Ball Championship at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.

With four straight victories in as many rounds like Bustamante, the 2007 US Pro Tour champion, are two-time world titlist Ronnie Alcano, Lee Vann Corteza and United States-based Jose “Amang” Parica.

The victory shoved the 44-year-old Bustamante into a fifth-round encounter with unheralded Oscar Dominguez, boosting the Filipino’s title chances in the $250,000 event topped by fellow Puyat Sports stalwarts Efren “Bata” Reyes in 1994 and Alex Pagulayan in 2005.

Also boosting their bid for the $40,000 top purse were Alcano, who bested Canadian Tyler Edey, 11-8, and Corteza, who pipped American Shannon Daulton, 11-9.

Either Alcano of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions or Corteza, star of the Negros Billiards Stable, however, is certain to slide to the one-loss side as they are paired in the fifth round.

Parica, still a force to reckon with at 62, downed Marcus Chamat of Sweden, 11-9. The leader of the Filipino players’ invasion of the US Tour in the 1980s forged a showdown with defending champion Shane Van Boening, who beat compatriot Charlie Williams, 11-6.

Other Filipinos still in contention from the losers’ bracket at presstime were Warren Kiamco, Rodolfo Luat and Ramil Gallego. They, however, need to hurdle every rival to stay alive.

Also unscathed entering the fifth round are former world champions Mika Immonen, Thorsten Hohmann and Johnny Archer, Rodney Morris, Adam Smith, Shawn Putnam, Brandon Shuff, Raj Hundal and Petri Makkonen.

Lifted without permission from Phil. Daily Inquirer (www.inquirer.net)

ALCANO, BUSTAMANTE LEAD R.P. SURGE IN U.S. 9-BALL

2008-10-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:34:00 10/22/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Former double world champion Ronnie Alcano and Former world No. 1Francisco “Django” Bustamante hurdled separate rivals Monday and towed five other Filipinos into the third round of the 33rd US Open 9-Ball Championship at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Also keeping the Philippine bid rolling in the prestigious $250,000 event are veteran internationalist Rodolfo Luat, four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Warren Kiamco, Lee Vann Corteza, Ramil Gallego and United States-based Jose “Amang” Parica.

Determined to better his runner-up finish in last year’s edition, Alcano, stalwart of Bugsy Promotions, routed American Matt Clatterbuck, 11-4, while Bustamante of Puyat Sports subdued Keith Brinton, 11-8.

Kiamco trounced Jason Klatt, 11-5, while Luat dumped Don Polo, 11-2, for their second straight victories in the tournament that attracted 238 players from around the world.

Corteza, who drew a first-round bye, opened his campaign with an 11-5 blasting of Abdullah El-Yousef, while fellow Negros Billiards Stable standout Gallego followed up his 11-3 conquest of Sam Monday in the opening round by nipping former champion Gabe Owen, 11-9.

Save for Parica, who also drew a first-round bye before thwarting Aki Heiskanen, 11-9, all Filipino winners are members of the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines.

The tournament, which dangles $40,000 for the champion, was won in 1999 by Efren “Bata” Reyes and in 2005 by Alex Pagulayan.

Not as fortunate were Leonardo Andam and Joven Alba. Andam bowed to Finn Markus Juva, 11-8, while Alba yielded to Englishman Chris Melling, in the first round.

Andam and Alba dropped to the losers’ bracket, where they need to sweep their remaining games to stay in contention.

Other big guns who barged into the third stage of the winners’ side are reigning world 9-ball titlist Darryl Peach of England, former world champion Mika Immonen of Finland, four-time US Open champion Earl Strickland, world No. 2 Niels Feijen of the Netherlands and Charlie Williams of the United States.

Peach downed Nasser Al-Musaible, 11-7; Immonen blanked Greg McAndrew 11-0; Strickland, beat Tariq Al-mulla, 11-5; Feijen drubbed Josh Ulrich, 11-4; and Williams thumped Elias Patrikas of Greece, 11-1.

Lifted without permission from the Philippines Daily Inquirer

ANNOUNCEMENT BY: STAR BILLIARDS CENTER

2008-10-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

STAR BILLIARDS CENTER, located at No.46 Joy Street, Grace Village in Quezon City, Philippines, wishes to promote billiards in our country. As such, Star Billiards Center, equipped with 22 Brunswick tables, with world class facility is now offering to top 1,000 corporations and associations FREE use of their Billiards Center for company tournaments and offers the following services:

1) FREE shuttle service of two 26-seater coaster

2) FREE play of 22 Brunswick tables

3) FREE drinks (water, softdrinks, coffee and tea)

4) FREE "NILI" 10-layer China quality cuetip, same quality Moori Japan and FREE installation of tip

5) FREE use of BROADBAND with top of the line WI-FI connection (equipped with booster for full signal). You can chat, talk and see your friend to any point in the world thru "YAHOO!MESSENGER" and "SKYPE".

6) FREE use of our 4 units HP Laptop

7) FREE ball polishing service for Aramith ball only, using 4 USA highspeed ball polishing machines (cleans 16 balls at a time in 10 minutes)

8) FREE cue stick name engraving for Predator Cues to identify your own cue stick

9) FREE Johnson's baby powder

10) FREE waterproof sandpaper (rough or smooth)

11) FREE MOORI chalk

12) FREE parking lot with guard

13) FREE charging of cellphones. All brands like Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericson and Motorola

14) FREE use of "karaoke" with top of the line system.

15) FREE long distance call to U.S.A. and Canada through "Magic Jack" System

STAR BILLIARDS CENTER (02) 364-6041/ (0917) 888-8888

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

WEEKLY 9-BALL TOURNAMENT SET ON OCTOBER 25

2008-10-19T03:51:00.000-07:00

THE first-ever weekly 9-ball tournament gets first rack on October 25 at the E-Lanes Bowling and Billiards Center in E-Square Building, Ortigas Avenue in Greenhills, San Juan.

According to tournament director Ramon "Maestro Monching" Mistica, the Every Saturday 9-ball tournament is open to all country' cue artists with the champion getting the lion share of P1,000 plus trophy. Second place pockets P500 plus trophy while 3rd and 4th will bring home P250 each.

For inquiries, call or text Mr. Monching Mistica at mobile no. (0919) 558-7634 for complete details.

Meanwhile, all is set the staging of second leg of Billiards Stars Search gets underway on November 5 to 9 at the famous Star Billiards Center in Grace Village, Quezon City.

Defending champion Elvis Calasang lead the cast along with reigning national champion Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Jeffrey de Luna, Mario Tolentino, Victor Arpilleda, Edgar Acaba, Leonardo Didal and reigning RP Junior champion Jerico Banares in Division A.

The four (A, B, C and D) divisional event organized by Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines in close cooperation with Raya Sports, Philippines Billiards Foundation and Star Billiards Center.

The game is a Ten Ball WPA rules using the winner's break format. Entry fee is P400. Prizes cash, trophies and in kind are up for grabs.. Register now at Star Billiards Center, tel.no. 364-6041, 0917-888-8888, Rizal Memorial Center, tel.0928-744-1740, or Raya Sports, tel.895-2021.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

NICE BRACKETS FOR THE FILIPINOS IN US OPEN 9-BALL OPEN

2008-10-19T03:46:00.001-07:00

The eleven (11) Filipino campaigners in the US Open 9-Ball don't have to eliminate each other at the start last night of 33rd Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.

With this, Filipinos have a better chance to bring home the over-all championship trophy.

Jose "Amang" Parica, acknowledged the leader of the Filipino invasion in the US in mid 80's landed in Winner's Side 1 and took a bye to advance in the next round. Compatriot Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat, who is aiming to surpass his runner-up finish two years ago will go up against Louis Ulrich.

Japan based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, Leonardo "The Rattle Snake" Andam, Joven Alba and Danny Petralba were Grouped in Winner's Side 2.

Gallego will face Sam Monday, Andam takes on Marcus Juva, Petralba opposite Raj Hundal and Alba will meet Chris Melling.

Edwin Montal is lone Filipino in Winner's Side 3 and will square off with Petri Makkonen.

Former World No.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Warren "Warrior" Kiamco and Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza took a bye in their opening matches in Winner's Side 4.

Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, who was a runner-up to American Shane "The South Dakota Kid" van Boening last year, is hoping to become the third Filipino to win the prestigious event after Pool Maestro Efren "Bata" Reyes (1994) and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2005), will face versus Mike Brown in the opener.

236 players from all over the world for the guaranteed total prize of $250,000, including the champion purse of $40,000 seeing in action in this longest running 9-ball tournament in the United States.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

BUSTAMANTE, ALCANO, CORTEZA HEADS RP CUE ARTISTS IN US OPEN 9-BALL

2008-10-19T03:42:00.001-07:00

FILIPINOS Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Ronato "Volcano" Alcano and Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza spearheads the Philippine campaign at the start today of the 33rd Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Joining them in the longest running 9-ball event in the United States are countrymen Jose "Amang" Parica, Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo, Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat, Santos "The Saint" Sambajon and Joven Alba in mixing up with the field of close to 300 players from all over the world for the guaranteed total prize of $250,000, including the champion purse of $40,000.

Alcano, who was a runner-up to American Shane "The South Dakota Kid" van Boening last year, is hoping to become the third Filipino to win the prestigious event after Pool Maestro Efren "Bata" Reyes (1994) and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2005).

Luat, on the other hand settled for second place to American John Schmidt in the 2006 edition.

Aside from defending champion van Boening, four current world champions from Europe are also competing in the US Open 9-ball. They are Daryl Peach (2007 WPA World Nine-Ball Champion) and Darren "Dynamite" Appleton (2008 WPA World Ten-Ball Champion) of Great Britain, Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet (2008 WPA World Eight-Ball Champion) of Germany and Niels "The Terminator" Feijen (2008 WPA World Straight Pool-14.1 Champion) of the Netherlands.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

APPLETON BEATS WU, TOPS WORLD TEN BALL

2008-10-06T02:09:00.000-07:00

DARREN Appleton of Great Britain beat former two-time world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball) Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei, 13-11, in convincing fashion to win the inauguraL WPA World Ten Ball Championship at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, last October 5, 2008.

Appleton led the match most of the way surprising many as Wu was a big favorite in this $400,000 total pot prize event.

Appleton raced from a 3-0 to 6-1 to 10-5 commanding lead. Appleton pocketed the $100,000 top purse, while Wu earned $40,000.

Actually by winning the World Ten Ball event, Appleton established the European domination of major pool events where compatriot Daryl Peach of Great Britain won the 2007 WPA World 9-Ball Championship, Ralf Souquet of Germany ruled the 2008 WPA World 8-Ball, and Niels Feijen of the Netherlands took the WPA World Straight Pool/ 14.1 Championship

"PLONG-PLONG" PULPUL COULDN'T BELIEVE IT

AT the conclusion of the inaugural World Ten Ball Championship, a new billiard sensation has risen. Demosthenes "Plong-Plong" Pulpul couldn't believe what happened in a span of two weeks.

"Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala sa s'werte ko," he said following his fourth place finish in the World Ten Ball Championship. He certainly wished for a better ending, but Pulpul is one contented soul right now.

The 23-year-old from Cagayan De Oro City turned from zero to hero in a span of two weeks.

After topping one of the qualifying rounds, Pulpul proceeded to become the best Filipino finisher in the biggest pool tournament in the world this year. He earned $15,000 (roughly P700,000) for his effort.

Part of his prize would be used for the baptism of his newly-born daughter Kishalyn. "Excited na akong makita ang pamilya ko, lalo na ang bagong baby namin," Pulpul said.

Kishalyn was born on September 24. Two days later, Pulpul earned his place in the main draw of WTBC. "Lucky charm ko 'yung baby namin. Mas naging inspirado ako na maglaro ng mabuti dahil lumalaki na ang pamilya ko."

Pulpul had a chance to get a bigger paycheck, but folded down the stretch against Niels Feijen of the Netherlands. Unlike his semifinal loss to Wu Chia-ching, Pulpul got his game going early against Feijen.

He raced to a 5-3 lead and was at the table going for a three-rack cushion. But an unforced error on the rack let Feijen back on the table and start a four-rack run.
Feijen himself believes Pulpul has a great future ahead of him.
The reigning straight pool champion noted that Pulpul's shotmaking ability "is at-par with the best of them."

"He just needs more exposure in big tournaments," Feijen said. Pulpul won his first six matches in the tournament. He beat Mohd Ali Al Bin of Qatar, 9-2, and Taiwanese ace Yang Ching-shun, 9-8, in group play.

On his way to the semifinals, Pulpul edged top ranked lady player Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, 9-8, toppled Kazuo Furuta of Japan, 9-4, repeated over Yang, 9-8, and rallied past Liu Haitao of China, 11-8.

FEIJEN BEATS PULPUL SETTLES FOR THIRD

NEILS "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands settled for a third place-finish in the just concluded World Ten Ball Championship at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, on Sunday.

Despite playing for a consolation prize, Feijen, the 2008 World Straight Pool winner broke the hearts of local fans by trouncing the last Filipino Demosthenes "Plong-Plong" Pulpul, in the battle for third place to bag the $25,000 third prize money in this $400,000 total pot prize event organize by Raya Sports.

Pulpul, fondly called "Plong-Plong" in the local pool circuit didn't go home empty-handed as he received $15,000 as his prize for fourth place.

"Magaling talaga si Niels (Feijen)," said Pulpul in a post-game interview yesterday. It shall be recalled that Pulpul also bowed to two-time world champions (WPA World 9-ball and WPA World 8-ball) Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan, 8-11, in the first semifinal match. Darren Appleton of Great Britain beat Feijen, 11-9, in the second semifinal match on Saturday. Wu and Appleton will shot it out for the World Ten Ball Championship - which offers a top prize of $100,000. The runner-up will pocket $40,000.

On the road to the final four, Pulpul needed to go through a tough qualification tournament at the famous Star Billiards Center to make it to the main draw of this 128 player's field. In the group play, Pulpul crushed Mohd Ali Al Bin of Qatar (9-2) and Yang Ching-shun of Taiwan (9-8) then bested world no.1 female player Jasmin Ouschan of Austria (9-8) in the round-of-64, then subdued Kazuo Furuta of Japan (9-4) in the round-of-32, and Yang (9-8) in the round-of-16, and Liu Haitao of China,11-8, in the Round-of-8.

Other noted Filipino pool sharks who also saw action were Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Jeffrey de Luna, Elvis Calasang, Mario Tolentino, Victor Arpilleda, Jericho Banares, Leonardo Didal, Edgar Acaba, Arnel Bautista, Florencio Banar and Elmer Kalaquian. Top PNP player Alex Nobleza, meanwhile is a referee in this world championship event.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

MARLON MANALO WINS OPENER IN WTBC

2008-09-29T02:25:00.000-07:00

FILIPINO MARLON MANALO got off to a bright start by beating Tee Chee-soon of Brunei, 9-6, at the start of the World Ten Ball Championship Monday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

The reigning national champion bucked a slow start to beat Tee Chee-soon of Brunei, 9-6, and move within a win of clinching a spot in the knockout round. He will next face Fabio Petroni of Italy, a fomer world trickshot champion, who defeated Huidji See of the Netherlands, 9-7.

After winning the lag, Manalo proceeded to run out the opening frame. But a miss on the blue two allowed Tee to level the count. There were three deadlocks after eight racks, but there was no stopping Manalo when he started to pull away midway in the match. "Nahirapan lang ako mag-adjust sa lamesa. Masyado kasing mabilis ang tapete," said Manalo. Manalo clustered three racks to post a 7-4 lead and never looked back.
The fast surface kept him from running out consecutive racks, but the three-rack cushion proved enough for Manalo to pull through. "Alam ko naman na nahihirapan din sa bilis ng lamesa ang kalaban ko kaya hindi ako nag-worry masyado."

Elmer Kalaquian and Victor Arpilleda joined Manalo in the winner's bracket after posting convincing victories against separate rivals. Kalaquian toppled Matjaz Erculj of Slovenia, 9-3, while Arpilleda downed Wang Ko-pin of Chinese Taipei, 9-6.
Reigning national junior champion Jericho Banares failed to keep the momentum going for the Filipinos, losing to Steve Moore of the United States, 4-9.

Falling by the wayside were Elvis Calasang and Florencio Banar. Calasang fell to Naoyuki Oi of Japan, 8-9, while Banar bowed to Bruno Muratore of Italy, 5-9.

Meanwhile, last year's World Pool Championship winner Darryl Peach of England downed Hong Kong's Sit Shun-ching, 9-4.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

WORLD TEN BALL BEGINS

2008-09-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

A TOTAL of 128 players from 43 countries will vie for the prestigious honor of becoming the first-ever world champion in Ten Ball discipline.

The biggest sports event in the country - the inauguraL World Pool Association (WPA) World Ten Ball Championships (WTBC) fires off today, Monday September 29, 9:30 am where no less than Vice President Noli de Castro will do the ceremonial break at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

Up for grab are a total pot prize of $400,000 where the champion gets the lion's share of $100,000.

Leading the participants are 47 players from Europe. With all three WPA world champions seeing in action in the WTBC, the Europeans loom as the heavy favorite in the Raya Sports organized tournament in close cooperation with the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines, Philippine Billiards Foundation and Star Billards Center.

The three reigning world champions spearheading the European invasion are World 8-ball champion Ralf Souquet of Germany, World 9-ball champion Daryl Peach of Great Britain and World straight pool champion Neils Feijen of the Netherlands.

Souquet won the World 8-Ball Championship in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates last
April after beating Filipino Ronato Alcano in the finals. Regarded as one of the most experienced among the 128 competing players in the main draw, the German ace considers the race as a free-for-all battle.

"Ten Ball is a lot different from nine ball and the luck factor has lessened," said
Souquet. "This makes the game more exciting."

Other notable European players include former World 9-ball titlist Thorsten Hohmann and Oliver Ortmann of Germany and Mika Immonen of Finland.

Not to be outdone the Americans headed by Shane Van Boening and Johnny Archer while Chinese-Taipei led by Wu Chia-ching, Yang Ching-shun, Ko Pin-yi and Chang Jung-lin.

Marlon Manalo, the reigning national open champion will carry the good fight for the Filipino pool sharks along with countryman Antonio Gabica, Jeffrey de Luna, Elvis Calasang, Elmer Kalaquian, Jericho Banares, Edgar Acaba, Arnel Bautista, Demosthenes Pulpul, Victor Arpilleda and Leonardo Didal.

"It's anybodies ball game," said the 31-year-old Barangay Talumpong, Mandaluyong City ace Manalo during the luncheon meeting yesterday at the Sofitel Plaza Hotel in Pasay City. "I will do my very best for flag and country," added Manalo, who beat 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, 11-5, in the finals to rule the 3rd BSCP National Pool Championships this year.

According to Yen Makabenta, head of the organizing Raya Sports group, the 128 players entered in the main draw will be divided into 16 groups of eight. They will compete under a double elimination format. Four players will advance from each group going to the Last 64. From the last 64 to the Finals the competition turns to a single elimination format. The player who wins a match advances to the next round, and the loser is knocked out of the tournament.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

FIVE CHAMPIONS TO VIE IN WORLD TEN BALL

2008-08-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

TWO reigning world champions, two winners in qualifying events, and the European number one women's player are the first to secure guaranteed spots in the inaugural WPA World Ten Ball Championship scheduled on September 29 to October 5 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila.

The five are Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, Ralf Soquet of Germany, Daryl Peach of England, Wu Chai-Ching of Chinese Taipei, and Antonio Gabica of the Philippines.

Ouschan secured her spot by virtue of her ranking as the top women's player in Europe and a direct invitation from the WPA. She is widely regarded as the top women's straight pool player in the world. She placed fifth in the 2006 World Straight Pool Championship featuring both men and women players.

Playing in the inaugural WTBC fulfills a major personal goal. She says: "My goal is to be one of the best players in the world and also to try to challenge the best male players in the world."

She will have much to challenge in the male players who have already secured spots in the WTBC.

Soquet earned his spot as the reigning WPA World 8-Ball Champion, which he won in Fujairah, UAE, last April. He has been a consistent top-five player in the world for the past five years.

Peach got his spot as the reigning WPA World 9-Ball Champion. He won the 2007 title in Manila last November.

Wu and Gabica are the first two winners of the WTBC qualifying events held under the Philippine Pool Tour.

Wu, a double world champion for 8-ball and 9-ball in 2005, won the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup of the PPT last June 17-22 in Puerto Princesa City.

Gabica, the reigning Philippine Open champion and Asian Games gold medalist, won the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup of the PPT last May 6-11 in Mandaluyong City.

Meanwhile, the qualifying of players for the WTBC under the WPA allocation system is currently ongoing. The majority of spots go to the continental associations. The rest are allocated for qualifying events and wild cards. Players interested in joining the WTBC are enjoined to contact their continental and national associations for information about how they can secure spots in the championship.

The Distribution of spots are as follows:
APBU - Asia 30
BCA - North America 14
EPBF - Europe 40
OPBA - Oceania 4
South America 4
AAPA - Africa 2
Spots for Women Players 7
WPA World Champions 3
Spots for Qualifying Events 14
Spots for Tour Events 4
Wild Cards 6

Total 128

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

"BEBENG" GALLEGO EYES REPEAT IN VILLAR CUP BUT WILL FIRST PLAY IN JAPAN CUP

2008-08-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

JAPAN based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego tries to make two in a row when the first Senate President Manny Villar Cup goes to Davao City on August 21 to 23 at the Gaisano Mall.

The 41-year-old stalwart of rising Negros Billiards Stable of businessman Jonathan Sy defeated former world no.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante in the semis, 10-9, then subdued La Union bet Carlo "Cool" Biado, 11-7, in the finals to rule the third leg of the Villar Cup over the weekend at the Event Center of SM City Marilao.

"Sana maidepensa ko ang aking titulo sa Davao leg bg Villar Cup, alam kong mahirap pero gagawin ko ang aking best," said the five-times Japan Champion, who also the 2006 SMB Asian 9-ball tour titlist.

"Bilang paghahanda ay pupunta ako sa Miyerkoles (today) sa Japan para sa isang exhibition match bago babalik ako sa August 18 para sa Villar Cup sa Davao City," said Gallego in an exclusive interview with this writer during the birthday celebration of the daughter of his NBS stablemate Warren "Warrior" Kiamco last Monday at the Kiamco's residential home in Commonwealth, Quezon City, interestingly coincide the State of the Nation (SONA) of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The first two leg of Villar Cup are dominated by Kiamco (Alabang leg) and Gandy "Yang-Yang" Valle (Cebu leg).

NBS head coach Christopher "Toper" Palses said "Malaki ang paniniwala ko na malaki ang chance na mag world champion si Bebeng (Ramil Gallego) dahil nakita ko sa kanya ang dedikasyon sa larong bilyar,"

Gallego, who is fresh from winning the 14-1 Championships in Japan before the Marialo Leg of Villar Cup also schedule to compete in the longest-running and prestigious US Open 9-Ball Championship along with Kiamco, national champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza and newest hottest sensation Ricky "Bai" Zerna, top player of the NBS squad to be held on October 19 to 25 at the Chesapeake, Virginia in the United States.

" Target ko talaga ang US Open, gusto kong mapaganda ang performance ko sa taong ito kaya malaking tulong ang paglalaro natin sa Japan Circuit at sa Villar Cup," last word of Gallego, who needed an 11 in a row from the loser's brackets enable him to finish at 5th place in the last year's edition of US 9-ball Open.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

JOSE PARICA REGAINS HIS OLD DEADLY FORM, TOPS STRAIGHT POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS

2008-08-03T22:59:00.001-07:00

JOSE "AMANG" PARICA regained his old deadly form beating Mexican Oscar Dominguez, 125-117, in the finals to rule the just concluded 14.1 Straight Pool Championships at the famous Hard Times Billiards in California, United States recently.

The West Covina based Parica, acknowledge the leader of the Filipino invasion in the US Pool circuit in the mid 80's pocketed the top prize of $1,200 for dominating the 45 players field. Dominguez, on the other hand settled runner-up purse of $525 for his effort. Another Filipino entry Danny Petralba landed at 12th place finish.
According to AZ billiards.com, the match went back and forth with safety battles and come from behind runs. At one point Parica had the lead in the 14 rack with a score of 111-67 when, all of a sudden, Parica with a 37 ball run to bring the score to 111-104. In the 17th rack Dominguez was not able to spread the rack and was forced to play safe. Safety battles were exchanged as well as fouls (intentional and unintentional). Eventually, Parica was able to squeak by with the win 125-117.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO.

PAGULAYAN BEATS ORCOLLO, THE LION ROAR'S IN GUINNESS 9-BALL

2008-08-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

ALEX PAGULAYAN sealed last night his status as Number 1 in Philippine pool with a masterful 11-6 victory over compatriot World No.1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo in the finals of Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 at the Velocity@Novena Square in Singapore.

With the victory, became the first to be officially proclaimed as Filipino Guinness 9-ball pool champion under the title sponsor of Guinness, an Irish stout beer, who replace former title sponsor San Miguel Beer. He adds the title to a long list that now includes the 2004 World Pool Championship, the 2005 US Open Championship, three gold medals in the December 2005 SEA Games, 2006 BSCP National Pool Championship and the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters. He also took home a cool $15,000 (P675,000) in prize.

"At last" commented the 30-year-old Pagulayan, one of the top players of Aristeo "Putch" Puyat, acknowledged Philippine Billiards God Father.

Orcollo, who is fresh from winning the first Qatar World 9-Ball this month settle runner-up prize of $6,000 (270,000).

The Bislig, Surigao del Sur ace nipped Yang Ching Shun of Chinese Taipei, 9 – 8, in a scintillating semi-final match yesterday to set up an all-Filipino clash in the finals with Pagulayan, who won earlier over Wu Chia Ching of Chinese Taipei, 9 – 6.

The last time a Filipino won a title on the Tour, formerly SMB Asian 9-ball tour organized by ESPN STAR Sports was in 2006 when Efren "Bata" Reyes beat Ricky Yang in Jakarta, Indonesia. This also marks the first time since Lee Van Corteza defeated Francisco "Django" Bustamante in Manila in 2004 that two Filipinos will battle for the crown.

The Chinese Taipei players previously dominated the Tour as the swept all six legs last year and the first three legs this year.

Up for grabs in the Singapore leg is a total prize purse of US$50,000 as well as points to qualify for the Tour's Grand Final in Jakarta, which will feature the Top Ten players in the overall Order of Merit. The winners of each leg will get to earn US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will pocket US$36,000. In addition, the Tour's Top 10 players will also automatically qualify for pool's most prestigious event, the 2008 WPA World Pool Championships later his year. The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship.

Following stops in Chinese-Taipei, Penang, Genting Highlands and Singapore, the six-city Tour will have its penultimate leg in Guangzhou in September before heading to Jakarta for the Grand Finals in October.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

CORTEZA SHOOT MONEY RICH $1M 9-BALL SHOOT-OUT

2008-08-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

REIGNING National Pool Champion Lee Vann Corteza will lead the assault of a strong Philippine contingent as the money rich Milliondollar9ballshootout gets underway on August 6-10 at Valley Forge Convention Center in Pennsylvania, United States.

Fondly called "The Slayer" in the pool arena, the 29-year-old pride of Davao City is eyeing his biggest win in his entire billiard career when he mix it up against world's best in this $1 M total purse where the champion getting the lion share of $150,000.

"I hope to perform well in this event," said Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) top player Corteza, also the 2006 All Japan Champion titlist enroute $20,000, his biggest pay check so far.

Other notable Filipino bets competing here are former world champions Efren "Bata" Reyes and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Mandaluyong bet Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo and Macalelon, Quezon province native Santos "The Saint" Sambajon.

Host country will parade the likes of another world 9-ball titlist Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer and US Open 9-ball winner Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening, among others.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

LINING, ESQUILLO, FIVE OTHERS IN JAPAN 9-BALL

2008-08-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

FILIPINO pool wizards Antonio "Nikoy" Lining and Roel Esquillo along five others cue artists will see action in some series of tournament in Japan starting next week.
The duo (Lining and Esquillo) will play in the 2008 Japan Big Bang Cup 9-Ball Tournament in Tokyo on July 27 along with veteran internationalists Eduardo "Tisoy" Saracho, Crisencio "Ato" Baliton, Miguel Jojo Bermudez, Arnold Ignacio and Rolando Campana.

Lining, the pride of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro is the 2007 14.1 championships kingpin while the Japan-based Esquillo, who made it to the quarterfinals in this year's Japan Open which was dominated by compatriots World No.1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo and Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, respectively.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO.

WORLD NO. 1 ORCOLLO AIMS TO END TAIWAN'S GUINNESS STREAK

2008-08-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

DENNIS ORCOLLO seeks to continue his hot streak as the reigning world No.1 mixes it up with 23 other top Asian cue artists in the fourth leg of the six-city tour of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour that kicks off on July 25 to 27 at the Velocity@Novena Square in Singapore.

Fresh from winning the inaugural World 9 Ball Open in Qatar this month, Orcollo, playing under the banner of Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP), will be joined in the five-man Philippine squad by world number six Joven "The Shark" Bustamante, Genting leg runner-up Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, Philippine Junior Pool champion Jericho Bañares and 2004 World Pool Champion Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan. The Filipinos last claimed victory in 2006.

"I feel great about joining the Guinness 9 Ball Tour again and being ranked world number one definitely added to my self confidence. At the same time, it gives me pressure because I know that people are watching, and I have to live up to my being world number one," said Orcollo, fondly called Robocop in the pool world.

"All the participants in the Guinness 9 Ball Tour are good and the players from Chinese-Taipei obviously dominate this tour, but wherever I go I do my best and focus on winning. I want to bring honour to my country, so it will be a challenge to defeat the players from Chinese-Taipei this leg," added the petite Orcollo, how hails from Bislig, Surigao del Sur who also topped the First San Miguel Beer-Quezon City 9-Ball Championship and the Japan 9-Ball Open last March.

Orcollo previously joined the second leg in Penang, Malaysia, but was ousted in the group stage by Taiwanese rival Yang Ching-Shun who also beat him in the their one-one-one encounter last year's Yang-Orcollo in Gateway Mall in the event organized by ESPN STAR Sports.

Defending Grand Finals champion Chang Jung-Lin of Chinese-Taipei is still the man to beat as he conquered the 2008 Tour's first three legs in Chinese-Taipei, Penang and Genting Highlands

The seemingly unbeatable Chang now holds the Tour record for most consecutive legs won with four titles, including last year's Finals. Chang, who surpassed the legendary Efren Reyes' record, spearheads the dominant Chinese-Taipei contingent, which comprises of 2007 Singapore leg winner Yang Ching-Shun, 2008 Penang leg runner-up Wang Hung-Hsiang and 2005 WPA World Pool Champion Wu Chia-Ching.

Players from host Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India and Indonesia are also expected to get a crack at the title and earn valuable ranking points. The 24 participants will be assigned to eight groups following the draw that will be conducted on July 24 at Velocity.

At stake in the Singapore leg is a total prize purse of US$50,000 as well as points to qualify for the Tour's Grand Final in Jakarta, which will feature the Top Ten players in the overall Order of Merit. The winners of each leg will get to earn US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will pocket US$36,000.

Following Singapore, the Tour will have its penultimate leg in Guangzhou in September before heading to Jakarta for the Grand Finals in October.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

DENNIS ORCOLLO TOPS QATAR WORLD 9-BALL OPEN; POCKETS $40,000

2008-07-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

ADD Qatar Open now to the name of Dennis Orcollo.

The Bislig, Surigao native, winner of the 2006 World Pool leaque and 2007 BCA Enjoypool.com, added the inauguration of Qatar World 9-Ball Open to his growing list of tournament achievements when he topped Saturday night at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Al Muntazah Road in Doha, Qatar.

The 29-year-old Orcollo, fondly called "Robocop" in the pool world bested veteran European player Niels "The Terminator" Feijen 13-5, in the finals to bag the title and the top purse $40,000. Feijen, on the other hand receive the runner-up prize of $20,000.

Losing semi-finalists reigning World 8-Ball Champion Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany and current US Open 9-Ball titlist Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening of the United States, likewise received $ 10,000 each.

This was the second major title of Orcollo, currently No.1 in the world ranking after winning the Japan 9-Ball Open last March, beating Japanese pro player Ryoji Aoki, 9-2, in the finals to bag the title and the two million yen (P835,127) top purse.

On the road to the race-to-13 finals, Orcollo stuns Souquet 11-8, in the final four while Feijen stop the winning run Van Boening, 11-4, in other semi-final pit.

Other Filipino who competed in this $150,000 total pot prize tournament were most Filipino popular cue artists Efren "Bata" Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo, Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez, Joven "The Shark" Bustamante and Middle East based Pinoy---Allan "Surigao" Cuartero and Ruben Cuna.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

ORCOLLO LAST FILIPINO STANDING IN QATAR WORLD 9-BALL SEMIS

2008-07-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

ALL eyes on World No.1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, the last Filipino standing who posted two consecutive wins to move into the semi-final round of the Qatar Open 9-Ball tournament at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Al Muntazah Road in Doha, Qatar.

The Bislig, Surigao del Sur pride Orcollo, on the other hand, the ex-World Pool Leaque ruler stuns compatriots Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, 11-6, and Japan based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, 11-9, respectively. Gallego, earlier eliminated Francisco "Django" Bustamante, 11-8, in the round-of-16.

Orcollo next assignment is Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany, winner over Darren Appleton of Great Britain in the round-of-16 and fellow World 9-ball titlist Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan in a similar 11-9 victory, in the round-of-8.

Pagulayan eliminated countryman 2007 World 9-Ball Finalist Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez, 11-6, in the round-of-16 before bowing to Souquet.

Joining them into the final four also applying race-to-11, alternate break format were reigning US Open 9-Ball kingpin Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening of the United States and Derby City Classic ruler Neils "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands, who routed their respective opponents. The duo will clash for another semi-final pair.The finals of the $150,000 total pot prize tournament will be using race-to-13.

Van Boening beat Radoslaw Babica of Poland, 11-10, and Thomas "The Lean Machine" Engert of Germany, 11-9, in order while Feijen trounced 2007 WPA World Junior champion Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan, 11-8, and Naoyuki Ooi of Japan, 11-7. Ooi, conqueror of 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball champion Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, 11-8, in the round-of-16.

The champion here will receive $40,000, the runner-up gets $20,000, the losing semi-finalists will bring home $10,000 each, 5th to 8th placers will receive $5,000 each, 9thto 16th placers will pockets $2,500 each. While the 17th to 32nd placers will not go home empty-handed with $1,200 each.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

PAGULAYAN, ORCOLLO ADVANCE TO QATAR WORLD 9-BALL SEMIS

2008-07-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

FORMER World 9-Ball Champion Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan and World No.1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo racked up two consecutive wins to move into the semi-final round of the Qatar Open 9-Ball tournament at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Al Muntazah Road in Doha, Qatar.

The Cabagan, Isabela native Pagulayan, the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games most bemedalled cue artists defeated countryman 2007 World 9-Ball Finalist Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez, 11-6, in the round-of-16 then subdued fellow World 9-Ball titlist Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany, 11-9, in the round-of-8.

The Bislig, Surigao del Sur pride Orcollo, on the other hand, the ex-World Pool Leaque ruler stuns compatriots Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, 11-6, and Japan based Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, 11-9, respectively. Gallego, earlier eliminated Francisco "Django" Bustamante, 11-8, in the round-of-16.

Joining them into the final four also applying race-to-11, alternate break format were reigning US Open 9-Ball kingpin Shane "The South Dakota Kid" Van Boening of the United States and Derby City Classic ruler Neils "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands, who routed their respective opponents. The finals of the $150,000 total pot prize tournament will be using race-to-13.

Van Boening beat Radoslaw Babica of Poland, 11-10, and Thomas "The Lean Machine" Engert of Germany, 11-9, in order while Feijen trounced 2007 WPA World Junior champion Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan, 11-8, and Naoyuki Ooi of Japan, 11-7. Ooi, conqueror of 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball champion Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, 11-8, in the round-of-16.

The champion here will receive $40,000, the runner-up gets $20,000, the losing semi-finalists will bring home $10,000 each, 5th to 8th placers will receive $5,000 each, 9thto 16th placers will pockets $2,500 each. While the 17th to 32nd placers will not go home empty-handed with $1,200 each.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

PAGULAYAN BEATS ARCHER; BATA, DJANGO POST WINS IN QATAR WORLD 9-BALL OPEN

2008-07-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

ALEX "THE LION" PAGULAYAN, is looking forward to another major title this year after beating fellow former WPA World 9-Ball Champion Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the United States, 9-2, in Group 2 after the second round to keep the Philippine hopes high in the on-going $150,000 total pot prize Qatar Open 9-Ball tournament at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Al Muntazah Road, Doha, Qatar, late Monday.

RP's long-time 1-2 punch Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante, who both got bye in the opener also hurdled their respective rivals.

Reyes, the 1999 WPA World 9-Ball Champion and 2004 WPA World 8-Ball title-holder who is aching a to bounce back from the embarrassment he suffered in the first Senate President Manny Villar Cup in Cebu against a virtually unknown Rodrigo Geronimo, 9-1, blasted Abdulatef Alfawal of Qatar, 9-0, in Group 3 while Bustamante, the 2002 WPA World 9-Ball finalist beat Ali Al Obaidaly of Qatar, 9-2, in Group 2.

Equally impressive were 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica who nipped Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, 9-0, in Group 6, 2005 WPA World 9-Ball 3 rd placers Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo who stunned Yousof Al Wadi of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 9-1, in Group 6, 2006 World Pool leaque titlist Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo who outpointed Subah Habib of Bahrain, 9-1, in Group 1 and reigning WPA World 9-Ball finalist Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez defeated Farshad Shahverdi of Iran, 9-3, in Group 4.

Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, the 2006 WPA World 9-Ball ruler and 2007 WPA World 8-Ball kingpin, meanwhile edges Radoslaw Babica of Poland, 9-8, in Group 1.

There were also upsets…

Gandy Valle, the pride of Davao City who is fresh from winning the first Senate President Manny Villar Cup in Cebu shocked current WPA World 9-Ball ruler Daryl Peach of Great Britain, 9-5, in Group 5, little-known Ruben Cuna nipped Thomas Engert of Germany, 9-8, in Group 3, and Allan "Surigao" Cuarteto crushed Markus Juva of Finland, 9-3 in Group 8.

National Champion Lee Vann Corteza, the native of Davao City also eyeing the top prize $40,000 after demolishing Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 9-5, in Group 7, Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, clobbered Dharminder Lilly of India, 9-7, in Group 5, the Japan-based Ramil Gallego overpowered countryman Joven Bustamante, 9-5, in Group 2, as well Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, the 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball champion trounced Wang Hung Hsiung of Taiwan, 9-7 in Group 7.

A mixed result was happened to former World Champions---Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan, Mika "The Iceman" Immonen of Finland, Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann, Oliver "The Machine" Ortmann and Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany.

Wu, who is coming from a big win after topping the 2nd leg Philippine Pool Tour of Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup Ten-ball defeated Ahmed Al Sada of Qatar, 9-4, in Group 4, Immonen subdued Ivika Putnik of Croatia, 9-7, in Group 7, Hohmann beat 2005 WPA World 9-Ball finalist Chang Pei-wei of Taiwan, 9-7 in Group 5, Ortmann bowed to Zaed Dwab of Jordan, 9-5 in Group 4 and Souquet was yielded to Hijikata Hayato of Japan, 9-6, in Group 6.

2007 Guinness 9-ball tour grand champion Chang Jung-lin of Taiwan also made his presence by beating Bashar Hussain of Qatar,9-2, in Group 6, three-time world junior champion Vilmos Foldes of Hungrary hammered Fahad Mohammadi of Qatar, 9-4, in Group 7 , Marcus "Napoleon" Chamat of Sweden conquered 2007 WPA World Junior champion Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan, 9-7, in Group 3, Niels "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands defeated Khaled Almutiri of Kuwait, 9-4, in Group 8, as well unheralded Zhang Shuchun of China who beat ex-world trickshot titlist Fabio Petroni of Italy, 9-6, in Group 8.

Around 96 players will see action in this event. They will be divided into eight groups with 12 players each. They will play in a double elimination, alternate break, race-to-nine format.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

PAGULAYAN, ALCANO ADVANCE IN QATAR

2008-07-10T19:53:00.001-07:00

FORMER World Champions Alex Pagulayan and Ronato Alcano topped their respective brackets in the qualifying round to advance in the main draw of Qatar Open 9-Ball tournament June 29 to July 5 at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation, Al Muntazah Road in Doha, Qatar.

The Cabagan, Isabela native Pagulayan, the 2004 WPA World 9-Ball Titlist and 2005 US Open beat compatriot and Cebu native Israel "Amay" Rota, 7-4, to rules Group 6.

Alcano, the lanky-cue artists from Calamba, Laguna, who is also the 2006 WPA World 9-Ball Champion and 2007 WPA World World 8-Ball ruler stuns Mohanna OBaidly, 7-1, to dominate Group 5 division.

Actually, expect more Filipinos in the tournament proper today after sweeping all qualifying event on Friday (A qualifying tournament gets going yesterday.

Allan Cuartero bested 2007 WPA World 9-Ball finalist Roberto Gomez, 7-2, in Group 1,
Ruben Cuna stopped the winning ways of snooker specialist Benjie Guevarra, 7-1, in Group 2, Joven Bustamante beat Monaza Belardo, 7-1, in Group 3, Vicente Joyme beat Ibrahim Al Ahmad, 7-1, in Group 4.

Gandy Valle, who hails from Davao City and fresh from winning of Villar Cup Cebu leg last weekends is hoping to make it to the cut today playing in the last qualifying round yesterday. Valle bowed to Ahmad, 7-6, who beat Joyme, nephew of Rolly "Lando" Vicente of Puyat Sports in the finals of Group 4.

Pool maestro Efren "Bata" Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, World No.1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo, Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, and reigning national champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza took a bye in the first round.

Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) president Ernesto Fajardo is very optimistic that our Filipino pool wizards will perform well in the said event "We are very confident that our Filipino pool athletes will perform well in the Qatar World 9-Ball Open,"

Meanwhile, Leonardo "Dodong Dadiangas" Andam is expect to beat his first round opponent against local bet Ahmed Al Sada and if he prevails, another former WPA 9-Ball and 8-Ball ruler Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan is waiting in the next round. Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, on the other hand will face Dharminder Lilly of India while Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica will square off Qualifier 1.

Around 96 players will see action in this $150,000 total pot prize event that offers $40,000 to the winner. They will be divided into eight groups with 12 players each. They will play in a double elimination, alternate break, race-to-nine format. Four players from each group will qualify – two from the winner's bracket and two from the loser's bracket.A formidable cast of foreign participants from Europe and the United States also in the main draw. Ralf Souquet, Thomas Engert, Oliver Ortmann and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, Radoslaw Babica of Poland, Konstantin Stepanov of Russia, Niels Fejen of the Netherlands, Fabio Petroni of Italy, Marcus Chamat of Sweden and Johnny Archer and Shane Van Boening of the US are also the favorites in the tournament. Also include reigning WPA World 9-Ball Titlist Daryl Peach of Great Britain.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

MARLON MANALO CUES UP FOR QATAR WORLD 9-BALL OPEN

2008-07-10T19:51:00.001-07:00

AFTER a semi-final finish in the just concluded second leg of Philippine Pool Tour dubbed as the Puerto Princesa Cup over the weekend at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum in Palawan, "Marvelous" Marlon Manalo is setting his sights on the forthcoming Qatar Open 9-Ball tournament set on June 29-July 5 at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation, Al Muntazah Road in Doha, Qatar.

The 30-year-old Mandaluyong native Manalo failed to advance in the championship's round of the Puerto Princesa Ten Ball bash after bowing to runner-up Jericho Bañares, the reigning RP junior champion, 8-9, in the final four. Double world champion (WPA 9 ball and 8 ball) Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei rules the said event after beating Bañares, 11-9, in the finals.

"Hindi talaga ukol 'yung Puerto Princesa Ten Ball Tour sa akin. Hope makabawi tayo dito sa Qatar World 9-Ball Open," said Manalo, who left the country yesterday, whose stint in Qatar are supported by Mandaluyong mayor Benhur Abalos and Philippine Billiards Development Foundation (PBDF).

Joining Manalo in the tournament proper of $150,000 event are Filipino pool maestro Efren "Bata" Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, world No.1 Dennis Orcollo, reigning national champion Lee Vann Corteza, Warren Kiamco, 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-ball Open titlist Jeffrey De Luna and 2006 Doha Asian Games gold medalist Antonio Gabica.

It shall be recalled that Gabica and Manalo, settled a strong 1-2 finish in the inaugural leg of Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup of Philippine Pool Tour.
Around 96 players will see action in this event. They will be divided into eight groups with 12 players each. They will play in a double elimination, alternate break, race-to-nine format.

A formidable cast of foreign participants from Europe and the United States will also compete. Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany and Johnny Archer and Shane Van Boening of the US are also the favorites in the tournament. Not to be outdone Taiwanese youth sensation Wu and compatriot Pin-Yi Ko, the reigning world junior champion.

All these players are already seeded in the tournament proper sanctioned by the World Pool Billiard Association (WPA) and Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU).

Cebu leg champion Gandy Valle, Ramil Gallego and snooker specialist Benjie Guevarra will participate in the stage one elimination on June 27. However, if another slot opens in the main draw, the Japan-based Gallego is the top priority.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

WU, BANARES MAKES FINAL FOUR

2008-07-10T19:48:00.001-07:00

Puerto Princesa - Double world champion Wu Chia-Ching and teenage Filipino sensation Jericho Banares were the first to enter the Final Four of the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup at the conclusion of Saturday's matches. And they did so in similar fashion - via hill-hill, pulse-pounding encounters.

Banares exacted revenge against Antonio Gabica, who had beaten him in the semifinals of the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup, the opening leg of the Philippine Pool Tour last May 6-11, on the way to topping the tournament.

The 18-year-old who is the 2008 Filipino junior champion raced to commanding leads in his much-awaited meeting with Gabica, one of the tournament favorites. But with the score standing in his favor at 8-4, Gabica mounted a spirited and impressive comeback.

Gabica took four games in a row by besting Banares twice through superb safety play and then recording a couple of break-runouts.

In the 17th rack, the difficult layout after the break led to a drawn-out duel. Twice Gabica forced Banares to use his jump cue, but each time the latter was favored with a good lie after the jumpshot. In the crucial exchange during the final minutes of the match, Gabica missed by a hairline a difficult rail-first shot of the one-ball to a corner pocket, leaving an opening for Banares. The latter quickly went to work.

Banares took the one-ball using the rail first for position play, and he played the shot perfectly. From there, he mopped up the table with ease to the delight of the crowd in the TV table.

The match between Wu and Manalo was a similarly drawn-out and exciting affair, with the lead seesawing between the two noted players. The Filipino took several early leads, but the Taiwanese came charging back each time.

With the score at 8-6 in Manalo's favor, Wu made his decisive comeback by taking the final three racks.

Wu is the first non-Filipino to make it to the Final Four of a PPT tournament. In the earlier Mandaluyong Cup, the foreign contingent failed to make it past the last six in the tournament.

In the matches at 10 a.m. Sunday, double world champion and tournament top seed Ralf Soquet will play Gabica for a seat in the Final Four. In the other featured match, reigning world junior champion Ko Pin-Yi battles Manalo for the other slot.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

LAST TAIWANESE STANDING IN THE FINALS; 2 PINOYS DISPUTE LAST FINALS BERTH IN PUERTO POOL

2008-07-10T19:42:00.001-07:00

Puerto Princessa Pool
Semi-Final Results: (Sunday)
Wu Chia-Ching of Taiwan beat Ralf Souquet of Germany, 9-8
Marlon Manalo and Jericho Banares still playing as of press time for the last final berths then finals afterwards

Loser's side: (Sunday)
Marlon Manalo nipped Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan, 9-7
Ralf Souquet of Germany trounced Antonio Gabica, 9-3

Quarter-Final Results: (Late Saturday)
Wu Chia-Ching beat Marlon Manalo, 9-8
Jericho Banares defeated Antonio Gabica, 9-8

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY---WU Chia-Ching of Taiwan overcame a bad start to come from behind and win over fellow double world champion (WPA 8ball and 9Ball Champion)Ralf Souquet of Germany, 9-8, in the semifinals of the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup, the second leg of Philippine Pool Tour here at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum on Sunday.

The 19-year-old cue artist from Taipei was set to battle late Sunday the winner of the match between 1st leg Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup PPT runner-up Marlon Manalo and reigning Philippine Junior champion Jericho Banares for the top prize of US$10,000 or roughly P440,000 in the Finals yesterday of the event presented by San Miguel Beer organized by the Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines in partnership with Star Billiards Center and Raya Sports, and hosted by Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn in close cooperation with city information officer Alroben Goh.

Barely making the semifinals after a grueling and tense 9-8 squeaker over Marlon Manalo, Wu, the 19-year-old sensation, found himself pushed to the wall in yet another down-to-the-wire encounter against one of the best in the business.

He was trailing 2-5, but worked his way to get back. He pocketed the blue 10 while breaking in the 12th rack to tie the count at 6-all. The Taiwanese big shot took care of the next two racks to move closer from wrapping the game up in this event organized by the Billiards and Snookers Congress of the Philippines in partnership with Star Billiards Center and Raya Sports, and supported by San Miguel Beer, Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn and city information officer Alroben Goh.

But Souquet had other things in mind. Coming off an easy 9-3 demolition of first leg winner Gaga Gabica, Souquet had to fight back before forging an 8-8 deadlock. He appeared to have the match in his control, but had a bad break in the 17th and final rack as he scratched the cue ball, allowing Wu to clean up the table.

"Just like last night, I started slow, but I took it one rack at a time," said Hans Lu, owner of Pool Fusion Billiards Hall and interpreter of Wu.

Wu will be facing the winner of the other knockout semis match between Manalo and reigning national junior champion Jericho Bañares being played as of press time.

Studio 23 will air the semis and finals match of this event on Sunday, June 29 at 1 p.m. For latest photos of this event, visit www.rayasports.com

Both Wu and Banares, 18, from Antipolo City advance to the semi-finals after burning their respective opponents late Saturday night.

The two youthful players hurdled past the inaugural leg winner Antonio Gabica and Manalo – to become the early semifinalist. Souquet and Manalo, on the other hand booked their seat in the final four via back door.

Souquet trounced Gabica, 9-3, in the loser's side on Sunday while Manalo edged current world junior title-holder Ko Pin-Yi of Taiwan, 9-7.

How Banares beat Cebu Gabica for the final four late Saturday

Bañares repulsed a late charge by first leg champion Gabica to preserve a 9-8 win.

Banares led 8-5, but found himself threatened by a spirited assault by the former Asian Games gold medalist. In the crucial exchange during the final minutes of the match, Gabica missed by a hairline, a difficult rail-first shot of the one-ball to a corner pocket, leaving an opening for Banares. The latter quickly went to work to exact revenge against the man who has defeated him in the Mandaluyong tournament.

"Medyo minalas din siya nu'ng huli," said Bañares. "Ako naman, maganda ang placing ko sa bola and medyo sinuwerte rin. Pero ang totoo, talagang kinakabahan ako sa laban kay Gaga."

Wu also walked the tightrope before pulling off a come-from-behind victory.
Trailing 6-8, the Taiwanese sensation got a big break when the former Asian Snooker titlist couldn't get a better view of the blue 2. Manalo misplaced the No.2 then allowed Wu to set up a combination for the 2 and 10.

In the next two racks, Wu used his good breaking, setting up all balls for a good shot and cleaning up the table to complete the rally.

"I'm not pressured at the game, I'm more pressured on myself because I missed a lot of shot," said Hans Lu, owner of Pool Fusion Billiards Hall and interpreter of Wu.

On the road's to the final four

On the road's to the final four, Banares toppled Gerry Watson of Canada, 9-2, Leonardo Andam, 9-2, and Symons Courtney of Thailand, 9-5, while Wu subdued Arturo Palma, 9-3, Augusto Boots, 9-2, compatriot Ko, 9-7, on Saturday.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

LINING, ESQUILLO, BALITON JOINING JAPAN TOURNEY

2008-06-13T16:57:00.001-07:00

FILIPINO pool wizards Antonio "Nikoy" Lining, Roel Esquillo and Crisencio "Ato" Baliton will see action in some series of tournaments in Japan starting next week.

The triumvirate will first play in the Kyousho Open on June 15-16 in Fukuoka before proceeding to Tokyo for the annual Nine Ball Festival on June 21-22 which offers about P280,000 to the champion.

"We hope to perform well in Japan Circuit," said Japan-based veteran international campaigner Esquillo, who made it to the quarterfinals in this year's Japan Open which dominated by compatriots Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo and Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, respectively.

"We train hard for this event (Japan Circuit), we expect good results," added Plaridel, Bulacan native Baliton, the 2006 Astro Open and TPCC Open Champion in Japan.

Lining, Esquillo and Baliton are also scheduled to play in the Shikoku Open on June 28-29 in Osaka then proceed to the 14.1 championships on July 19-21 in Tokyo where Lining is defending the 14.1 championships'trophy.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

CHINESE WOMEN'S CHAMPION JOINS PPT PALAWAN LEG

2008-06-13T16:56:00.001-07:00

THE women's champion and six top male players of the People's Republic of China will see action in the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup scheduled on June 16 to 22.

Ms. Li Jia, a Chinese player based in Japan, became the first female player to join the ten ball event, which is open to both sexes.

The male players are Li He-Wen, Fu Jian-Bo, Zhang Shu-Chun, Wang Ming, Dang Jin-Hu and Jiang Yang-Yi.

Li and Fu are familiar names in the annual 9-ball world championship and the Guinness pool tour. Li made it all the way to the semifinals in the 2006 WPC in Manila.

Organized by the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines, the Puerto Princesa Cup is divided into two stages. Stage 1, the Elimination Round, will take place at the Star Billiards Center on June 16-17. Stage 2, the Main Tournament, moves to Puerto Princesa City, where 32 players will compete for the top prize at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum on June 20-22.

The seven Chinese players will all see action in Stage 1.

Hosted by Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn and presented by San Miguel Beer, the Puerto Princesa Cup offers a prize fund of $30,000. First prize is $10,000. All players who make it to the group of 32 are guaranteed cash prizes.

Dubbed as "the City in the forest" because of its location amidst well-preserved forests and lush vegetation, Puerto Princesa has hosted many major sports events in the country, including the recent Palarong Pambansa. It has wide appeal to athletes and sports fans because of the chance it provides for both sports competition and a holiday in a resort.

The Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup is the second leg of the Philippine Pool Tour, which opened with the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup in Mandaluyong City on May 6-11.

Registration in the second tournament is ongoing at the Star Billiards Center and Raya Sports office. Players can also register online at: www.rayasports.com.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

CHANG BEATS GABICA, TOPS GENTING LEG OF GUINNESS 9-BALL

2008-06-13T16:51:00.001-07:00

FILIPINO Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica failed to end the Taiwanese domination of the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tournament as he bowed to eventual champion Chang Jung-lin, 11-6, in the finals of the third leg of the tournament held at the Genting International Convention Center in Malaysia.

With the win, Chang received the top prize of US$15,000 and post his third consecutive leg victory after winning the Taipei (Taiwan) and Penang (Malaysia) leg, respectively.

Actually, the 36-year-old Lapu-Lapu City native Gabica, member of the star-studded Philippine Billiards Development Foundation (PBDF) rallied in the opening game by winning four consecutive racks to tie the game at 4-all.

Gabica had a chance to seize the lead in the 9th frame but miss No.9 ball shot giving Chang to control the game at 5-4 then the latter's (Chang) clustered five consecutive racks to reach the hill at 10-4 count.

Gabica won the next two racks after Chang suffered a dry break in the 16th racks to close the gap at 10-6 before Chang finish the game at 11-6.
Semis

Gabica, the country's most underrated pool player today rallied from three racks deficit (3-6) to beat Taiwanese Wang Hung-Hsiang in come-from-behind, 9-7, victory yesterday to book the second finals seat .

With the win, Gabica prevented what seemed an all Taiwanese finals when he met Chang in the finals, who earlier beat Ryu Seung Woo of Korea, 9-2.

After Gabica failed to sink the No.9 ball in the 15th rack, he didn't waste time to clean up the table after Wang missed a corner pocket shot at No.2 ball in the 16th racks for a 9-7 triumph.

On the road to the final four, Gabica nipped Yang Ching-shun of Taiwan, 9-7, while Chang smashed Li He-wen of China, 9-0.

Other Filipinos who competed in the tournament were Alex Pagulayan and Marlon Manalo who both failed to reach the knockout part of the tournament. Joven Bustamante, on the other hand reached the quarter-finals.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

TAIWANESE WU AND CHANG WILL JOIN PUERTO PRINCESA 10-BALL CUP

2008-06-13T16:50:00.001-07:00

MANILA, PHILIPPINES---2005 double world champion Wu Chia-Ching and reigning Guinness 9-ball champion Chang Jung-Lin will lead a Taiwanese contingent of six players in the Puerto Princesa Mayor's Cup of the Philippine Pool Tour which begins on June 16.

This was announced Wednesday (May 28) by Mr. Tu Yung-Hui, president of the Chinese Taipei Billiards Association, in a letter to the PPT organizing committee.

Organized by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) and
presented by San Miguel Corporation, the Puerto Princesa ten ball event will be hosted by Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn. It will take place in two stages: Stage 1 (Elimination Rounds) on June 16-17 at the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City, and Stage 2 (Main Tournament) on June 19-22 at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum in the capital of Palawan.

The four other Taiwanese players are Ko Pin-Yi, the reigning 2007 world junior champion, Lu Hui-Chan, Kuo Chun-Nan, and Chung Chien-Te. The 18-year-old Ko has had recent success playing in the big leagues. He won the Supercup in Taiwan in December last year and a tournament in Bangkok in April this year, beating Filipino Dennis Orcullo in the finals. And he was one of 16 players who saw action at the recent World Poolmasters in Las Vegas.

The PPT organizing committee has awarded Wu and Chang PPT Tour Cards by virtue of their achievements in the WPA world championships and the Guinness 9-Ball Tour. A PPT Tour Card guarantees the cardholder an automatic spot in Stage 2 of the PPT leg in Puerto Princesa.

Chung also earned a Stage 2 spot by virtue of his placing in the top 16 of the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup last May 6-11.

Ko, Lu and Kuo will see action in Stage 1 of the tournament.

The Puerto Princesa Cup has a prize fund of $30,000. A top prize of $10,000 goes to the winner of the championship. Prizes are awarded up to 32nd place.

The tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiards Union (APBU) and listed in the 2008 calendar of events of the World Pool-Billiards Association (WPA).

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

SHOULD GAB SUPERVISE AND REGULATE BILLIARDS AND OTHER SPORTS?

2008-05-24T17:00:00.001-07:00

Position Paper Presented to the Philippine Senate
and the Philippine Olympic Committee
by the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines
5 May 2008

The Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines is the national sports association (NSA) governing billiard sports in the country and representing the sport in the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). Its membership comprises the many stakeholders of billiards, including players, promoters, billiards manufacturers and distributors, agents and managers, parlor owners, trainers, referees, and sheer lovers and fans of the sport.

We are making this appeal to the Senate and the Philippine Olympic Committee for clarification and guidance because of certain actions and directives by the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) that in our view impinge on sports' freedom from government interference, and the principle of open sports that has been well recognized internationally since the 1992 Olympics. These actions and directives are:

A directive last April 4, 2008 to Star Billiards Center, a partner organization of the BSCP, ordering its owner Mr. Sebastian Chua (BSCP treasurer) to report to the GAB offices to register and secure a permit for a pool tournament that it had scheduled for April 2008 and which it had been running for many years without government interference. In the directive, GAB chairman Eric Buhain said: "Please be informed that the Games and Amusement Board is the only national government under the Office of the President mandated to regulate and supervise all sports and games in the country and one of them is the sports billiard (sic)." He claimed that GAB has authority and supervision over any sports event offering a prize of P2000 or more. (Attachment A)

Attachment to the letter to Star Billiards of a copy of Resolution No. 98-10 of the GAB "Adopting policy guidelines for the exercise of the regulatory and supervisory powers of the Games and Amusement Board over Professional Sports", which was approved by the board on November 24, 1998, and which mandated that all tournaments offering cash prizes must secure an authority from the agency, and that all players joining the tournament are de facto professionals and must secure a GAB license. (Attachment B)

A memorandum of the GAB chairman on the agency's jurisdiction dated March 17, 2008, and sent to the BSCP president on March 17, 2008, alleging that in the selection of Filipino players for international competition, even in qualifying tournaments without cash prizes, GAB has authority of supervision and regulation.

A statement of Chairman Buhain, reported in the papers today (Monday, May 5) that "promoters and players who will stage or join qualifiers and tournaments not licensed or supervised by the agency will be immediately suspended."

A letter of Chairman Buhain to players who participated in the qualifiers for the Guinness 9-Ball Tour to report to the GAB office to secure a license to exercise their profession; otherwise they would be barred from participating in any future professional events/promotions.

We place in issue the legality and reasonableness of the above actions on the following grounds and circumstances:

First, the decree which GAB cites as the source of its authority (PD No. 871) was issued under martial law on January 6, 1976 and was never meant to cover sports in general. It specifically cited "professional basketball games and other professional games", not sports. And it was meant to correct game-fixing in the PBA that had occurred at the time. We maintain that billiards in all its forms is a sport and is officially recognized as such by the International Olympic Committee since Feb. 5, 1992. In the same way that many other sports are not under the supervision of GAB today, we submit that billiards should not be subject to GAB supervision.

Second, during the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, who issued PD 871, we are of the belief that billiards was never declared nor envisioned to be subject to this decree. Up to the time he left office, the GAB under his government did not consider billiards as a professional game. What it regarded as a professional game was professional basketball under the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), and perhaps professional boxing, horseracing and cockfighting. If the author of the decree did not intend it to cover billiards and other sports, why should its executors today expand its scope to extend over all sports? In our view, this is an arrogation of authority that is not in the law.

Third, we believe that GAB's basis for distinguishing between professional players and amateur players – namely, competing in an event that offers prize money – is outdated and has been overtaken by the acceptance in 1992 of professional athletes into the Olympics. When the era of open sports was proclaimed, the basis for professionalism changed. Today, it is a settled principle in international sports that an athlete becomes a professional for being paid to play, not for competing in an event with a cash prize; and a league or tournament becomes professional because it explicitly desires to be classified as professional. In this sense, the PBA and its players are professional. But those who only compete in tournaments for the love of the sport cannot be considered professionals even if the tournament itself offers cash rewards to the winners.

A case in point would be the Star Billiards tournament where neither the players nor the host of the tournament wanted the event to be classified as professional. It has been a tournament where players of different levels of skills can play against one another, i.e. A players would play against B, C or D players through handicapping rules. For the GAB to clamp down on them because they saw a story about it in the newspapers is stretching its claws too far! Following its policies, everyone in that tournament would be required to get a GAB license annually.

GAB's basis for defining professionalism has been rendered untenable by the fact that many governments, including our own, are offering cash rewards for winning medals in the SEA games, the Asian Games and the Olympics. Would an athlete in, say, track and field, lose his or her amateur status if he/she receives a cash prize for medaling? That would be absurd.

Fourth, we protest the singling out of billiards by GAB for supervision and regulation as both discriminatory against our sport and capricious. Discriminatory because its supposed policy covering tournaments offering cash prizes is not being applied to all sports and games. Tournaments with cash prizes regularly take place in chess, tennis, bowling, beach volleyball, and other sports, and they are not subjected to GAB supervision.

This policy towards billiards is also capricious because GAB has been enforcing this policy selectively. Many tournament promoters do not secure permits. We can place on evidence hundreds of tournaments with over P2000 in prizes that were not policed by the agency.

Fifth, we submit that GAB's demand for billiards players to secure a GAB license annually is an unreasonable imposition on tens of thousands of Filipino players, who mostly can hardly make ends meet. The cost of a GAB license is P950 yearly; and in addition each player is required to get medical tests that cost nearly P2000. There are very few players who can afford these fees; and still fewer who would willingly want to pay them. The effect of this policy is to infringe on the livelihood and occupation of thousands. And this is contrary to the national government's policy of encouraging and supporting every citizen in his livelihood.

Sixth, GAB seeks from tournament organizers license fees, a percentage from gate receipts, and a share from television revenues. These revenue policies result in double taxation in the case of gate receipts (local governments collect amusement taxes) and TV revenues (promoters pay BIR taxes on sponsorship income). These are heavy impositions that would reduce promoters to penury were they to pay them. As things are, it is already very difficult to secure the sponsorships necessary to mount tournaments like the national championships and the world championship.

Seventh, we are concerned that GAB's policies toward billiards will have a stifling effect on the development and promotion of our sport all over the country and among people of all ages and gender. When people must pay to engage in any sport, they would opt for another activity which they are free to enjoy. And when tournament organizers must pay sums of money to mount any form of pool competition, they would prefer to do something else. This would be a great pity considering the dynamic growth of billiards in our country in recent years because of our holding of the world pool championship in Manila and the success of many Filipino players in competition which brought glory to our country.

Finally, we submit that GAB's interference in BSCP's selection of players for international competition is an outright violation of the time-honored principle of sports' freedom from government interference under the Olympic Charter. When GAB says that it can meddle in BSCP's qualifying events, whether they are with or without purse, is arrogation of powers not within the law and not allowed under international sports.

We believe there is urgent need to resolve these questions and issues, because on their resolution may lie the future of billiards in the Philippines. If the source of this arrogation of powers and draconian policies is PD 871, then we submit that it's time the law is reexamined, amended or even repealed.

It would be unfortunate if an anachronistic decree from a bygone time were to result in the regression of a sport which we Filipinos love and wherein we excel.

contributed by Marlon Bernardino

DJANGO IS RUNNER-UP IN PREDATOR 10-BALL

2008-05-19T15:06:00.001-07:00

FRANCISCO "Django" Bustamante failed to pocket his first major title this year when he bowed to eventual champion Tony Drago of Malta, 13-10, in the finals of the 8th annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship held at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, last Sunday.

With his superb performance, Drago took home the top prize of $17,000.

Bustamante, on the other hand duplicated the feat of his compatriot Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo who settled for runner-up in the last year's edition after losing to eventual winner American Shane Van Boening in the finals.

Dubbed as Tornado in the pool world, Drago is no stranger to high pressure matches in Las Vegas, as he was the man of the week back in December when his Team Europe scored an upset win over Team USA. Drago made his way into the final sixteen without a defeat and eliminated Darren Appleton of United Kingdom and Alex Pagulayan so far in the single elimination stages.

Bustamante only lost to Drago eliminated Robb Saez of the United States and fellow countryman reigning national open champion Lee Van Corteza in the single elimination stage.

On the way to the finals, Drago beat Marcus Chamat of Sweden in the semis to arrange a titular showdown with Bustamante, who outclassed Jeremy Jones of the United States.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

PREDATOR 10-BALL

2008-05-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

CORTEZA, BUSTAMANTE PREVAILS IN PREDATOR 10-BALL; BATA FALLS

Reigning National Open Champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza easily beat Ulrich Louie of the United States, 10-5, however countryman Francisco "Django" Bustamante was challenged by compatriot Jose "Amang" Parica before nailing his fourth straight win after posting a hard 10-8 victory in the on-going fourth round of 2008 Predator International 10-Ball Championships yesterday at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

" Nakausap ko si Van-Van (Lee Vann Corteza), magkakaroon ng bunutan bukas sa main draw at para kay Van-Van si (Shane) Van Boening ang tinik sa kampanya niya sa titulo," said NBS president Jonathan Sy in an interview with writer yesterday. Shane Van Boening, the defending champion in this double elimination format is currently playing in the one-loss side as of presstime.

After Louie took the first rack, the pride of Davao City Corteza clustered four straight racks to take a 4-1 lead and never trouble entire the game leading as much four racks in the 14th frame before scoring a stunning 10-5 victory.

Bustamante, the former World No.1 who seized a 2-0 to 3-1 lead before Parica tied the match at 3-all, 4-all, 5-all, 6-all, 7-all and 8-all.

Pool Maestro Efren "Bata" Reyes failed to flash his old brilliance and bowed to Alex Lely of the Netherlands, 10-7, for his second loss and join other early Filipino casualties that includes Warren Kiamco and Deomark Alpajora who lost to unheralded Keisuke Hanawa of Japan, 10-7.

Meanwhile, Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan and Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego won their respective matches to remain in contention in the loser's brackets.

The Cabagan, Isabela native Pagulayan trounced Manuel Gama of Spain, 10-4, while the Japan-Bacolod based Gallego nipped three-time WPA World Junior Champion Vilmos Foldes of Hungrary, 10-6, in the morning session then edges Tony Robles of the United States, 10-9, in the afternoon session.

In other matches, 2006 US Open Champion John Schmidt downed compatriot Gabe Owen, 10-3, Raj Hundal crushed Darren Appleton, 10-6, Neils Fejien beat Charlie Williams, 10-3, Tony Drago trounced Tyler Edey, 10-6, Karl Boyes defeated Imram Majid, 10-4, Ralf Souquet ousted Hanawa, 10-5, and Johnny Archer conquer Mike Davis, 10-6.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

A SAD MISUSE OF A POOL LEGEND

2008-05-12T15:50:00.001-07:00

Statement of Yen Makabenta
BSCP Chairman
9 May 2008

The statement issued yesterday (May 8) by Efren Reyes is one more example of the misuse of players by certain unscrupulous managers to hit at the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) and Raya Sports, and the leadership of the billiards community in our country.

It is a desperate attempt to deflect widespread media criticism here of Sen. Manny Villar for his misguided decision to put up a personal tournament on the same dates (May 6-11) as the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup of the Philippine Pool Tour, an international tournament that had long been in the pool calendar.

It seeks to head off a Philippine Senate inquiry that will look into the actions and inaction of the Games and Amusement Board, which has abused its powers in interfering in the work of the BSCP in its billiards program and has been remiss in its duties to stop practices of illegal gambling and tournament rigging in our sport.

It rehashes verbatim wild allegations by BMPAP officials that have already been shown to be baseless and untruthful. The suggestion that we have personally reaped financial windfalls from our support of billiards through Raya is totally off tangent since we still have to turn the smallest profit from our investments of time and resources.

Our record at the BSCP and Raya Sports since we became active in our sport in 2005 speaks for itself. We have put our country in the very center of international pool. We have brought to Manila the prestigious World Pool Championship twice, in 2006 and 2007. We have held officially two national men's championship, one national women's championship, and two national juniors championship. We have pioneered in the broadcast of a weekly billiards TV program. We have created various projects for the development of billiards all over our country. As a consequence, there are more players, more fans and more supporters of our sport today than in previous years and decades.

I am saddened to see Efren being used -- and allowing himself to be used -- as an instrument to blacken the name of someone who personally helped him rise to the top of Philippine billiards. Documentary records will show, and witnesses can attest, that I championed as a magazine editor, journalist and billiards patron his career as a player in all those years when no manager and no sponsor would recognize him as the real Filipino pool champion. And I did not take or make a single cent off him for my efforts.

In our work at BSCP since I became its chairman in 2005 and our work in Raya, we have at no time ever been the recipient of the favors of Efren. In the one time when he was offered by his manager to play for our country in the Southeast Asian Games (in 2005), he pulled out at the last hour to play instead in the lucrative International Pool Tour in the United States. So we find it incredible and shabby that he should be suggesting that we ever exploited him as a player.

In all the tournaments and events that Raya and BSCP have mounted, Efren made it a point never to participate because of the dictates of his manager, Aristeo Puyat. In the two world championships that he joined – the 2006 and 2007 WPCs – his manager made it a point to say that he was only joining because Matchroom Sports was running the show. And he has not said one word in praise of all that we were doing for our sport in our country – so we can't even owe him that.

Behind this controversy that has cast a cloud on Philippine pool is the naked attempt of player managers to take over from BSCP the governance and direction of billiard sports in our country, in order to implement their own agenda for the establishment of a pro team league. As they have failed and keep failing in their agenda, so have their actions become more desperate. The latest is their pathetic decision to mount an event simultaneously with the inaugural tournament of the Philippine Pool Tour.

To those who really know what is what in Philippine pool – and these include the players themselves who are being misused – our biggest offense at BSCP and Raya is that we dared to mount an ambitious and proactive program in our sport. Our efforts stole the limelight from a self-proclaimed "billiards godfather" and derailed the gambling schemes of some managers and their backers. Their own tournaments have been dwarfed and will always be dwarfed – in organizational knowhow, quality equipment, player participation, sponsorship support, and broadcast reach – for as long as we are on the scene.

It is fortunate that the Philippine Senate will be conducting its inquiry very soon because it will finally bring out the truth about the billiards situation in our country, and throw light on the shadowy practices and sinister forces that are tarnishing our sport and endangering its future.

Ferreting out the truth will serve as a cleansing process for Philippine pool. It will make our sport and our billiards community stronger. And we at the BSCP and Raya Sports welcome it.

ALEX WINS WORLD POOL MASTERS

2008-05-12T15:43:00.001-07:00

FIL-CANADIAN ALEX PAGULAYAN defeated Mika Immonen of Finland, 8-6, in the finals of 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters Champion to emerge over-all champion in the front of a packed crowd at the Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas on Monday.

The Cabagan, Isabela native was 6-3 down at one stage and looking in severe trouble but the match turned on an illegal break by Immonen whereby he pocketed a ball but failed to carry two other balls past the headstring.

From there Pagulayan cleared to table to gain the necessary momentum and he became stronger over the closing stages to take victory.

"This was like winning the World Championship for me. I've always wanted it but I've finally broken the ice," said a jubilant Pagulayan, playing under the banner of Puyat Sports Stable

"This is 9 ball and I couldn't get too upset because I didn't get a chance. I thought if he runs the set, then he runs the set but I knew that if I got a chance I would need to focus and concentrate and do the best I can." He added.

"I really didn't think I'd won it until the last 9 ball dropped but there were lots of people who like me watching and that was good for me to have that support," last word of Pagulayan.

Pagulayan road's to the finals after beating stablemate former world No.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante, 8-4, in the semi-finals to arrange a titular showdown with Immonen, a similar 8-4 winner over reigning WPA World Junior Champion Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan.

In the finals, Pagulayan made two balls from the opening break of the final and although Immonen got to the table, the diminutive Filipino took the rack for the early lead.

In contrast to the earlier semi-finals, there was another break that produced three balls but Pagulayan could not capitalise as he missed the 2 ball. Immonen took advantage to run out and level it.

A golden break from Immonen, as the cue ball kicked the 9 ball home, saw Immonen take the lead and he almost did the same again in the fourth, as the 9 ball hung in the pocket. The Finn pocketed the 1 ball and then made an easy 2/9 combination to go 3-1 ahead.

The 1 ball rolled into the corner pocket off the next break but Immonen made a bad miss on the 3 ball as he seemed to hit it too hard.

Pagulayan over hit his shot as he ran out of position on the 4 ball but he redeemed the situation with an excellent cut, gaining good shape on the 5 ball. From there he ran out to take the score to 3-2 to Immonen.

The Filipino made a schoolboy error in the next as he hit the 4 ball prior to hitting the 2 and with ball in hand, Immonen ran out to restore his two rack lead at 4-2.

The Finn took the next rack to move to 5-2 and all the pressure was now on Pagulayan. He responded well as he ran the next rack to reduce arrears.

There was disappointment for Pagulayan though as he scratched off the break in the next. The balls were laid out nicely and Immonen completed an easy run out to take his lead to 6-3.

Immonen made an illegal break in the next as he pocketed a ball but did not bring the requisite two others past the headstring. The punishment of loss of visit allowed Pagulayan back to the table and he made a tidy run out to get within two of Immonen.

Now playing with renewed vigour, he delivered a good break that gave him a chance to get right back into it and he duly responded as a break and run took him to within a rack of Immonen. Now on a roll, Pagulayan broke and ran the 12th rack to draw level at 6-6.

Breaking from the centre of the table, Pagulayan deposited the 1 ball into the centre pocket and played a fine long reverse cut to down the 2 ball. In the zone now, Pagulayan completed his fourth rack in a row to move to the hill at 7-6.

Just when he needed some luck, Immonen returned to the table as Pagulayan scratched on the break as he drew the cue ball into the pocket.

There was disaster for Immonen as he drew the cue ball all the way down table and into the corner pocket as he went from the 1 ball to the 2.

With ball in hand, Pagulayan worked his way through the table and as he planted the 9 ball, he let out a yell of joy as he became 2008 PartyPoker.net

"It was brutal, why did it have to happen there?" said a disappointed Immonen.

"I was able to get a good lead but the illegal break was the real turning point as it gave him the opportunity to get back in it.

"He had some nice layouts but he played well and probably deserved to win. But that's the way it is sometimes. I'm getting more consistent and the No.1 spot will come sooner or later," he added.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

ALEX ENTERS SEMIS IN WORLD POOL MASTERS

2008-05-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

FILIPINO-CANADIAN Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan flashed his old fiery form to down American Rodney "Rocket" Morris, 8-6, and became the first semi-finalist at the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters yesterday being at the Riviera Convention Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

"I enjoyed that absolutely," said Pagulayan after the match in an interview of the organizing committee. "I was nervous and a bit shaky but I think I played well under the conditions and tried really hard to focus." he added.

"In the end I had a bit more luck than him. Out there, under the gun, the table played tough but race to eight, with the TV and crowd, everything is tough," he added.

Another Filipino entry and former World No.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante is schedule to face Imram Majid of England in the Final Eight, who beat Shane Van Boening of the United States.

The winner of the match between Bustamante and Majid will meet Pagulayan in the semi-final round.

In other matches saw, reigning WPA World Junior Champion Ko Pin-Yi of Taiwan defeated ex-world titlist Ralf Souquet of Germany, 8-3, to meet Tony Drago of Malta, who brought down Niels Feijen of the Netherlands, 8-7.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

ALEX, DJANGO WIN OPENERS IN WORLD POOL MASTERS

2008-05-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

FILIPINOS Francisco "Django" Bustamante and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan lived up to expectations by hurdling their respective rivals at the start of the 2008 PartyPoker.com World Pool Masters being held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, Las Vegasin United States on Saturday.

Bustamante, the former World No.1 blasted Bruno Muratore of Italy, 8-1, to face the winner of the matches between Shane Van Boening of the United States or Imram Majid of United Kingdom in the quarter-final round.

Pagulayan, meanwhile nipped Mark Gray of England, 8-7, to meet Rodney "Rocket" Morris of the United States, winner over defending champion Thomas Engert of Germany, 8-3.

"Everyone in this tournament is tough but really, I don't care who I play. Muratore was so nervous but I was too with the crowd and the TV."Commented Bustamante in the official website.

"I only made two run outs from the break but a lot of the time he had no shot and also missed lots of balls." He added. "It's a good table though, the pockets are tight and you've got to play exact shots. If you hit it too hard, the balls come out."

Pagulayan, on the other hand said, "Rodney has always been a good friend and we're going to have some fun. We'll kick it!"

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

GABICA BEATS MANALO, WINS MANDALUYONG CUP

2008-05-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

ANTONIO "Ga'Ga" Gabica scored a long-awaited victory this year when he beat compatriot and fellow PBDF player Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo, 13-8, in the finals of tough Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup Ten Ball Championship dubbed as inauguration of Philippine Pool Tour (PPT) at the Mandaluyong Hall Auditorium in Mandaluyong City, on Sunday.

Gabica who failed to bagged any single local and international title this year, also the 2007 San Miguel Beer Philippine 9-Ball Open Champion, appeared to regain his best form in the time of World Ten Ball Championships slated on September.

Gabica received the top prize of $10,000 and slot for this year's World Ten Ball.

He raced a 3-1 to 5-2 lead and took four of the seven racks for a 9-5 lead. However, Manalo came back in the game close the match at 9-8 winning three straight racks before Gabica never looked backed for a 13-8 victory.

"Suwerte lamang talaga kasi kahit nakauna tayo kay Marlon (Manalo) ay talagang lumaban siya at dumikit pa sa bandand huli."said Gabica, who teaming up with Manalo to went home the gold medal in the doubles competition in the last year's Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

" Buti di tayo bumigay sa bandang huli," added Gabica, the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist and 8-ball silver medallist.

The tournament, jointly organized by Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) and Raya Sports aired lived through ABS Studio 23 and the Filipino Channel. The event was hosted by mayor Benhur Abalos in close cooperation with League Cities of the Philippines. World Class Brunswick Billiard Table is the official billiard table.

Actually, it was a third straight victory of Gabica over Manalo in their head to head duel after the former (Gabica) beat the latter's (Manalo) twice recently in the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) qualifying tournament for the Guinness 9-ball tour and World 8-Ball slots.

Gabica trounced national junior champion Jericho Banares, 11-3, yesterday to arrange a titular showdown with Manalo, who earlier booked his semi-finalist seat by beating Leonardo Andam, 11-7.

"Inaasahan kong gaganti si Marlon (Manalo) at tiyak bentahe siya kasi sa teritoryo niya ang venue, I mean y'ung home crowd support sa kanya, " Commented the Lapu-Lapu City native Gabica before the race-to-13 finals.

Interestingly, Gabica and Manalo, both top player of the Philippine Billiards Development Foundation (PBDF) under the tutelage of Amado "June" Diokno and Willie "Hoots" Aldeguer.

Gabica's road to the race-to-13, winner's break format came from wins over Richard Rollo, 9-5, Silverio Tulabing, 9-4, Courtent Symons of England, 9-4, and Tomoo Takano of Japan, 9-4.

Manalo, on the other hand beat Luis Saberdo, 9-6, James Al Ortega, 9-7, Gerald Carbonera, 9-4, and Allan Soliman, 9-5, respectively.

Meanwhile, Banares and Andam, both advance into the Final Four via back door. Banares, 18, beat

Leonardo Didal, 9-7,and take 7-0 lead to frustrate ex-world titlist Thorsten Hohmann of Germany into a 9-4 victory.

Andam on his part bested Chien-Te Chung of Taiwan, 9-2, after taking a 3-0 lead then ousted compatriot Mario Tolentino via 9-7 wins.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

FOUR PINOYS IN SEMIS OF MANDALUYONG CUP

2008-05-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

MANDALUYONG CITY---After five days of intense, exciting action, four players remained standing in the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup of the Philippine Pool Tour. And they were, interestingly and surprisingly, all Filipinos.

Philippine junior champion Jerico Banares and veteran Leonardo Andam notched two critical wins each in Day 5 to join Marlon Manalo and Antonio Gabica in the Final Four. Manalo and Gabica had booked their places in the semifinals in Day 4.

Former world champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany and Chung Chien-Te of Taiwan, the remaining foreign players in the field, failed in their respective bids to stay in contention for the $10,000 top prize.

The inaugural tournament of the PPT moved Saturday from the Kaban ng Hiyas Auditorium to the Mandaluyong City Hall Atrium for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The event has been reduced to one Brunswick table. And it is now being broadcast live on ABS Studio 23 nationwide in the Philippines, and worldwide on the Filipino Channel. A live Webcast is also being provided on this Raya website.

Banares, easily the sensation of the tournament at 18 years of age, began the day by edging Leonardo Didal, 9-7, in an exciting contest. Trailing 8-7, Didal had a chance to forge a hill-hill climax. But having to stretch over balls with the mechanical bridge proved too much for him. He muffed his chance. Banares closed the deal immediately afterwards.

The eighteen-year-old then went up against Hohmann, who had been in good form throughout the tournament and had lost a hill-hill thriller to Manalo for his only loss. Banares quickly showed that he could already play with the big boys. He raced to a 7-0 lead before yielding a rack to Hohmann.

Hohmann gamely tried to make a match of it as Banares briefly faltered in his shotmaking. But with a chance to close the count to 8-5, he bungled overshot his position on the 10-ball in the 14th rack and had to settle for a bank shot. He missed and Banares closed out the match.

Andam's march to the Final Four was just as thrilling. Facing first the formidable Chung, who had been solid throughout the tournament, he raced to a 3-0 lead, only to muff position and his shot on the 10-ball in the 4th rack.

Chung closed the count to 3-2 and had a chance to tie in the 6th rack. But he missed a shot on the 8-ball and Andam got the breathing room he needed. Feeling more confident, the veteran stormed ahead to a 7-2 lead and then coasted to victory.

Andam's next match with Mario Tolentino began in reverse fashion. He had to battle back to contend. Tolentino quickly raced to a 5-0 lead and was looking invincible. But then Andam took the 6th rack with a good runout of the table. And that started a remarkable roll of seven straight racks, punctuated by fine shotmaking, great position play and smooth runouts.

With the score at 8-7 and a chance to tie, Tolentino failed in a long cross-table bank shot of the 7-ball. Andam closed the deal.

The tournament now enters the final day of action on Sunday (May 12) with the cross-over semifinals. Manalo will face Banares in the first match. And Gabica will face Andam in the other semifinal.

The winners will then clash for the championship – and the trophy and check of $10,000 that go with it.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

MANALO, GABICA ENTERS SEMIS IN MANDALUYONG CUP

2008-05-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

LOCAL BET Marlon Manalo and Antonio Gabica, both top player of Philippine Billiards Development Foundation (PBDF) hurdle their respective rivals after Day 4 to advance in the semi-final round of the $30,000 Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup Ten Ball Championship dubbed as inaugural event of the Philippine Pool Tour late Friday held at the Kaban ng Hiyas Building in Mandaluyong City.

Manalo, who is seeking another title to tucked under his belt edges former WPA World 9-Ball Champion Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann of Germany, 9-8, while Gabica, reigning 2007 San Miguel Beer Philippine Open champion nipped compatriot Mario Tolentino in a similar 9-5 victory.

"Malayong factor 'yung suporta na pinakikita ng mga kababayan ko, sila ang naging ispirasyon ko at s'yempre ang pamilya ko na laging sumusuporta sa akin," said the 30-year-old Manalo, who sealed the deal with a crafty safety play on the four ball in the last rack but Hohmann managed to hit the 4-ball, however the latter's (Hohmann) gave Manalo a golden opportunity as the former (Manalo) take a left open shot to runout the table and escaped a 9-8 decision wins in the event presented by San Miguel Beer.

"Hope pumabor 'yung bola sa atin bukas (ngayon), said Manalo, fondly called "Marvelous" in international pool thus his victory was a revenge of sorts when he lost to Hohmann in the finals of the IPT North America 8-Ball Championship – also a hill-hill thriller two years ago.

On the way to the final four Manalo defeated Luis Saberdo, 9-6, James Al Ortega, 9-7, Gerald Carbonera, 9-4, and Allan Soliman, 9-5, respectively while Gabica beat Richard Rollo, 9-5, Silverio Tulabing, 9-4, Courtney Symons of England, 9-4 and Tomoo Takano of Japan, 9-4.

"Gagawin ko ang best ko na manalo muli tayo," commented the 35-year-old Lapu-Lapu City ace Gabica.

Hohmann and Tolentino also had a chance in contention in the $10,000 top prize, double elimination format , both looking for the last two slots in the loser's brackets to catch up the last bus in the semis.

On the losers' bracket, Chung Chien-Te of Taiwan tronced James Al Ortega (9-5), Junbert Ogang (9-5), and Kenji Taguchi of Japan (9-2), to stay in course.

18-year-old Jerico Banares, reigning Philippine Junior Champion continued to impress pool aficionados and the media. In a match between a junior and a senior, he downed 58-year-old Gerry Watson of Canada, 9-6, to book himself a place in the last eight.

"Who is this guy?" Watson declared with good humor afterwards. "He didn't miss a shot!"

Leonardo Didal took perhaps the biggest scalp in the tournament. He ousted Johnny Archer of the United States, 9-7. He scored two other victories: against Gilbert Carbonera 9-5, and against Tomoo Tanaka of Japan, 9-5,

The final name in the Last Eight is talented veteran Leonardo Andam. He began Day 4 with a nail-biting thriller against Raymond Faraon (9-8), and then mowed down Courtney Symons of England (9-4) and Allan Soliman (9-2).

The six players in the Losers Bracket – Thorsten Hohmann, Mario Tolentino, Chun Chien-Te, Jerico Banares, Leonardo Didal and Leonardo Andam – will see action Saturday (May 10) to decide who will be the two players to enter the Final Four in Sunday's finale.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

MANALO BEATS HOHMANN

2008-05-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

MANDALUYONG CITY, PHILIPPINES---Hometown favorite Marlon Manalo bested German ace Thorsten Hohmann in a duel of the undefeated in Day 4 of the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup, and booked himself a seat in the Final Four of the inaugural event of the Philippine Pool Tour.

The exciting match went down to the last rack and the last ball before it was settled with Manalo on top, 9-8. He sealed the deal with a crafty safety play on the four ball. Although Hohmann managed to hit the 4-ball, he left Manalo an open shot, which he promptly turned into a runout.

The victory was a revenge of sorts for the guy they call "Marvelous". In 2006, he met and lost to Hohmann in the finals of the IPT North America 8-Ball Championship – also a hill-hill thriller.

The Mandaluyong field which started with 64 players was reduced Friday night to eight players – two in the winners' bracket, and six in the losers' bracket.

The other big winner on Day 4 was Antonio Gabica, reigning 2007 San Miguel Philippine Open champion. He downed another Filipino standout, Mario Tolentino, by the score of 9-5.

Trailing 3-1, Gabica came storming back by taking five straight racks before Tolentino could take another rack. From there, Gabica coasted to the finish line.

Hohmann and Tolentino are not out of the hunt. They now move to the losers bracket in Day 5, where they will try to book themselves seats in the Final Four.

On the losers' bracket, Chung Chien-Te of Taiwan remained in contention. He won three times yesterday, besting James Al Ortega (9-5), Junbert Ogang (9-5), and Kenji Taguchi of Japan (9-2).

18-year-old Jerico Banares, reigning Philippine Junior Champion continued to impress pool aficionados and the media. In a match between a junior and a senior, he downed 58-year-old Gerry Watson of Canada, 9-6, to book himself a place in the last eight.

"Who is this guy?" Watson declared with good humor afterwards. "He didn't miss a shot!"

Leonardo Didal took perhaps the biggest scalp in the tournament. He ousted Johnny Archer of the United States, 9-7. He scored two other victories: against Gilbert Carbonera 9-5, and against Tomoo Tanaka of Japan, 9-5,

The final name in the Last Eight is talented veteran Leonardo Andam. He began Day 4 with a nail-biting thriller against Raymond Faraon (9-8), and then mowed down Courtney Symons of England (9-4) and Allan Soliman (9-2).

The six players in the Losers Bracket – Thorsten Hohmann, Mario Tolentino, Chun Chien-Te, Jerico Banares, Leonardo Didal and Leonardo Andam – will see action Saturday (May 10) to decide who will be the two players to enter the Final Four in Sunday's finale.

contributed by Marlon Bernardino

ARCHER, DE LUNA FALLS, MANALO CONTINUES HIS WINNING RUN

2008-05-08T15:28:00.001-07:00

UNHERALDED Alex Nobleza scored his biggest win with a 9-8 victory over 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball silver medalist Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, as well former Kuwait house pro player Mario Tolentino shocked former world 9-ball champion Johnny "Scorpion" Archer of the United States, 9-7, to remain unscathed in the on-going $30,000 Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup 10-ball championship held at the Kaban ng Hiyas Building in Mandaluyong City.

The victory was the biggest upset so far in this event presented by San Miguel Beer which $10,000 top prize goes to the champion and a slot for this year's World Ten Ball slated on September.

"I just lucky because the ball is in my favor in the end game," said Nobleza, member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who hails from Camarines Sur.

Nobleza who earlier beat James De Leon, 9-4, will square off with Kenj Taguchi of Japan in the next round, winner over Fidel Punzalan, 9-8, and John Carlo Cerna, 9-0, respectively in the event jointly organized by Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines and Raya Sports in close cooperation with mayor Benhur Abalos, Brunswick Billiard Table and League Cities of the Philippines.

Tolentino, meanwhile, who start in a right direction with a 9-0 thrashing victory over Jestoni Magadia, 9-0, takes on Bob Flores, who beat Ken Escano, 9-6, and Michael Mengorio, 9-4, in order.

Meanwhile, 2005 WPA World Pool 3rd placer Marlon Manalo beat fellow snooker specialist James Al Ortega, 9-7, to face Gilbert Carbonera in the next round, who demolished Yong Bak Wang of Japan, 9-6.

Manalo first win at the hands of Luis Saberdo, 9-6, while Carbonera nipped Rocky Tullao, 9-7.

Ex-world 9-ball titlist Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann of Germany, Gerry Watson of Canada, Satoshi Kawabata ng Japan and Chieh-Te Chung of Taiwan also past their respective second round assignment to remain in the winner's side.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

GABICA, FLORES, TAKANO NOTCH BACK TO BACK WINS

2008-05-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

ANTONIO "Ga-Ga' Gabica and unheralded Bob Flores blasted their respective opponents yesterday to remain in the title hunt of the $30,000 Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup ten-ball championship at the Kaban ng Hiyas Building in Mandaluyong City.

Gabica, top player of Philippine Billiards Development Foundation (PBDF) who is aiming another title-shot after winning the 2007 San Miguel Corporation Philippine 9-Ball Open beat Richard Rollo, 9-5, in the first round then subdued Silverio Tulabing, 9-4, in the second round while Flores, a relatively unknown in the local pool crushed Ken Escano, 9-6, and Michael Mengorio, 9-4, respectively.

"Kailangan talaga dito ang much more focus at s'yempre dapat pumabor sau ang bola," said the 35-year-old Lapu-Lapu City (Cebu) pride Gabica, who needed to beat former world champions Efren "Bata" Reyes in the semis and Ronato "Volcano" Alcano in the finals to win the 2007 San Miguel Corporation Philippine 9-Ball Open.

Tomoo Takano of Japan also notch back to back wins by demolishing Alvin De Guzman, 9-4, and Elmer "Buddy" Kalaquian, 9-8, respectively, to strengthening his bid in this $10,000 top prize event which is presented by San Miguel Beer in close cooperation with League Cities of the Philippines and hosted by mayor Benhur Abalos. Official billiard table is Brunswick billiard table.

Meanwhile, Marlon Manalo, Jeffrey de Luna, former world 9-ball champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany to follow the foot-step of the opening day winners that includs another ex-world 9-ball champion Johnny Archer of the United States, 2006 Asian Games 8-ball gold medalist Satoshi Kawabata of Japan and Chieh-Te Chung of Taiwan.
The 2005 WPA World Pool Championships 3rd placer Manalo, who hails from Mandaluyong City nipped Luis Saberdo, 9-6, De Luna, the 2006 Asian Games 9-ball silver medalist nipped John Berile of France, 9-3, while Hohmann trounced Benigno Lopez De Leon, 9-2, late Tuesday.

In other matches saw, US campaigner Ramon "Maestro Monching" Mistica and Japan tour stalwart Armando "Agila" Cagol bowed their respective opening assignments.
Mistica from Murphy, Quezon City succumbed to John Carlo Cerna, 9-6, while the Caloocan City based Cagol yielded to Cebu ace John Albert Refulle, 9-5.
Other notable winners in the opening round are James Al Ortega, Gilbert Carbonera, Lester Dulawan, Allan Soliman, Raymond Faraon, Gerry Watson of Canada and Kenji Taguchi and Yong Bak Wang of Japan.

After this stop in Mandaluyong, the Tour will travel to Puerto Princesa in Palawan next month before going to Cebu, Davao, Olongapo and then to Pasay for the final leg, which would sandwich the world tilt in September.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

MANDALUYONG TO ROOT FOR HOMETOWN HERO

2008-05-03T20:15:00.001-07:00

The entire city of Mandaluyong will have its own special favorite when the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup of the Philippine Pool Tour opens on Tuesday, May 6, at the Kaban ng Hiyas Auditorium.

Although there are other top Filipino players in the stellar cast of the international tournament, the city's heart belongs to Marlon Manalo, a hometown pool hero.

Presented by San Miguel Beer, the Mandaluyong Cup has drawn top international entries, including former world champions Thorsten Hohmann of Germany and Johnny Archer of the US, Japanese No. 1 Satoshi Kawabata, and Gerry Watson of Canada.

Nicknamed "Marvelous" by sports media, Manalo has been making waves in international billiards since the start of the 21st century when he took first place in the 2000 Asian Snooker Championship. He is that rare player who excels in both pool and snooker.

From there he took off like a meteor. In 2005, he won the Reno Open and the Texas Hold 'Em Billiards in the US, and then reached the semifinals of the 2005 World Pool Championship in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. In 2006, he placed second in the IPT North America 8-Ball Championship, losing a heartbreaker to Hohmann. Last year, he placed second in the 2nd BSCP National Pool Championship.

Mandaluyong City has lately become a major center for both national and international sports, thanks to the dynamic leadership of Mayor Benhur Abalos. The city was host last April 3-6 to the highly successful Philippine Open of the Asian Golf Tour. It will be hosting a national tennis tournament side by side with the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup.

Other top Filipino players in the PPT inaugural are: reigning Philippine 9-Ball Open champion Antonio "Gaga" Gabica, Manny Pacquiao International and Pool Showdown champion Jeffrey "Bata" de Luna, Leonardo "Rattlesnake" Andam, Elvis Calasang, Leonardo Didal, and Rising Stars Champion Edgar Acaba and Armando "Agila" Cagol.

Registration in the Mandaluyong is still ongoing at Raya Sports office in Makati, and the Star Billiards Center in Quezon City. Deadline for entry is Monday noon, May 5.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

FILIPINO CHAMPIONS LEAD RP BID IN MANDALUYONG CUP

2008-05-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

MANDALUYONG CITY, PHILIPPINES---ANTONIO Gabica and Jeffrey de Luna, reigning titlists of the last two major Philippine tournaments featuring all top Filipino players, will banner the country's bid in the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup of the Philippine Pool Tour. Presented by San Miguel Beer, the tournament is slated on May 6-11 in Mandaluyong City.

Gabica topped the 2007 San Miguel Philippine 9-Ball Open in September last year. He beat two former world champions on the way to the title: Efren Reyes in the semifinals, and Ronnie Alcano in the finals. It was the second time he won the Philippine Open. He is also the reigning Asian 9-ball gold medalist.

De Luna topped the Manny Pacquiao International Pool Championship in October last year. He trumped World No.1 Dennis Orcullo in the finals. De Luna is also the Asian Games 9-ball silver medalist. He was also the first Pool Showdown champion last year.

"They are at the top of Philippine pool today on the basis of their records in tournaments in which all noted Filipino players saw action," says June Diokno, executive director of the Philippine Billiards Development Foundation. "Every notable in RP pool – including Django Bustamante – was in those tournaments."

Diokno said that BMPAP doesn't know what it's talking about when it boasts of having all the top players in the country in its fold.

"The BMPAP players came up short against our players in the key tournaments. The only time when one of their players won was in the Quezon City 9-Ball Open last March, which Gabica, de Luna and our other players significantly did not join," he said.

Joining Gabica and de Luna in the Philippine contingent for the Mandaluyong Cup are Marlon Manalo, Elvis Calasang, Mario Tolentino, James Al Ortega, Edgar Acaba, Fidel Punzalan, Leonardo Andam, Leonardo Didal and Armando Cagol.

Manalo, also known as "Marvellous Marlon", is a multi-titled international campaigner. He has won the Reno Open, placed second in the IPT North America 8-Ball Championship, and was a semifinalist in the 2005 World Pool Championship. He is a native of Mandaluyong City.

Calasang, Tolentino and Ortega are recent returnees from stints as club pros in the Middle East. Calasang has reached the quarterfinals and last 32 in the last two world 8-Ball championships in Fujairah, UAE.

"The test of a true champion is competition, not talk," Diokno added. "You can't rest on laurels won long ago. Or on coming up second in the world championship. If the BMPAP players want to prove their worth, let them enter the Mandaluyong Cup and other PPT legs, and meet Gabica, de Luna and other top players from all over the world."

Registration for the Mandaluyong Cup is ongoing at Raya Sports and the Star Billiards Center.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

ZERNA BEATS EX-ASIAN GAMES SILVER MEDALIST

2008-05-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

NEGROS Billiard Stable (NBS) bet Ricky "Bai" Zerna pounced on 2002 Asian Games 9-ball silver medalist Jeong Young-hwa who committed an unforced error in the final rack to escape a 10-9 decision to advance in the semi-final round of 4th Annual Korea Pro Pool Tour Championships (KPT Championships) at the Novotel Ambassador, Doksan in Seoul, Korea.

Zerna, who is looking to surpass his runner-up finish to eventual champion Charlie "The Dragon "Williams in the last year's Korean Pro Tour event also beat fellow NBS player and former RP junior champion Mark "Big Mc" Mendoza on the way to the final four in this $8,000 top prize event.

"Matapos akong mag dry break sa last rack kala ko matatalo na ako kasi si Jeong Young-hwa na ang tumitira buti na lamang nag error siya (Jeong) sa No.2 ball kaya nabigyan ako ng pagkakataon na maubos ang bola," said the Bacolod/ Dumaguete City based Zerna to his benefactor sportsman/ businessman Jonathan Sy in a long distance call late Wednesday.

Prior to his Korean Pro Tour Championships campaign, Zerna demolished World Pool Championship finalist Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez, 7-4, in the finals of the 8-ball division to receive the top purse of P50,000 in the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) Ranking Tour at the Queen Margaret Hotel in Lucena City.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

REIGNING ASIAN GAMES 8-BALL CHAMPION SEEING ACTION IN MANDALUYONG BILLIARDS CUP

2008-05-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

SATOSHI Kawabata, Japan's No. 1 player and current Asian Games 8-Ball champion, led three other Japanese players in registering for the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup slated to start on Tuesday, May 6, at the Mandaluyong Atrium and Kaban ng Hiyas Auditorium.

With San Miguel Beer as major sponsor, the inaugural tournament of the Philippine Pool Tour has already drawn entries from various regions of the world.

The other Japanese entries are Tomoo Takano, Kenji Taguchi and Mori Manabu. Kawabata and Takano played in the 2007 World Pool Championship last November.

Chang Chien-Te of Chinese Taipei also filed his entry yesterday. He is the first of a handful of Taiwanese players who will be joining the tournament according to the Asian Pocket Billiards Union (APBU).

Not to be outdone, players from Europe and North America have registered for the Mandaluyong Cup. The latest are Jan Berille of France and Gerry Watson of Canada.

Earlier, former world champions Thorsten Hohmann of Germany and Johnny Archer of the United States confirmed their attendance by email.

The foreign pros will pit their skills against a score of notable Filipino players who have already signed up. They include Marlon Manalo, a Mandaluyong native with a string of international titles to his name; Antonio Gabica, reigning Philippine Open champion and Asian gold medalist; and Jeffrey de Luna, winner of the Manny Pacquiao International Pool Championship last November.

Making his debut in international competition is Jericho Banares, the newly crowned 2008 Philippine Junior Pool Champion. "Jericho is ready for the big time," says Sol Gueco, PPT tour director.

Other Filipino cue artists contending for the $30,000 in prize money are: Elvis Calasang, Leonardo Andam, Leonardo Didal, Fidel Punzalan, James Al Ortega.

From Cebu, Mike Hilton fielded yesterday seven players who are figure to create some surprises in the tournament. Billing themselves as "Team Hilton", they are: Noel Causing, Marvin Gentapa, John Albert Refulle, Oliver Yap, Mellari Baguio, Antonio Cosi, and Florencio Banar (playing coach of the group).

The Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup is a joint project of the Mandaluyong City government led by Mayor Benhur Abalos and the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

SOUQUET GRABS 8-BALL CROWN FROM ALCANO

2008-04-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

RALF "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany waited two years to avenge his loss to Ronato Alcano in the finals of 2006 Philippine WPA World 9-Ball Championship in Manila.
Souquet crushed Alcano, 13-9, to emerge over-all champion in the just concluded 2008 Damas World 8-Ball Championship at the Expo Center in Fujairah City, United Arab Emirates, on Friday.

The win was worth $60,000 for Souquet, while Alcano settled for $20,000 in second place prize money. Ralf also follow the foot-step of the past double world champions in the likes of Alcano, Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan and hall of famer Efren "Bata" Reyes.

Statistic showed that Ralf had only 3 dry breaks and no errors while Ronnie tallied 3 errors and 3 successful breaks.

Actually, Souquet raced a quick 3-0 lead after he took advantage of two dry breaks from Alcano. Then he stretched his lead to five racks at 8-3, but Alcano got back to the table after a dry break from Souquet in rack 12 to run that rack and then broke and ran the next rack to get back to 8-5. After a break and run by Souquet in rack 14, Alcano mounted a comeback to climb back within one rack at 9-8.

Souquet broke dry in rack 18, but Alcano was unable to finish off the rack and Souquet moved ahead 10-8. Alcano broke and ran the next rack to get back within one rack, but Souquet answered with a break and run in rack 20 to once again take a 2 rack lead.

Alcano looked ready to get back within one rack again in rack 21, but a miss on the 8-ball was his final mistake and Souquet ran that rack and then broke and ran the next rack for the tournament win.

Other Filipino who participated in the World 8-Ball were Dennis Orcollo, Warren Kiamco, Antonio Gabica, Jeffrey de Luna, Roberto Gomez, Elvis Calasang, Joven Bustamante, Israel Rota and Alan Cuartero.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

ALCANO VS. SOUQUET IN WORLD 8-BALL FINALS

2008-04-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

DEFENDING CHAMPION Ronato "Volcano" Alcano and Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany will face each other in what promises to be a classic race-to-13, alternate break final at the World Pool 8-Ball Championships at the the Expo Center in Fujairah City, United Arab Emirates late last night. This after the tow hottest pool cue hurdle their respective rivals in the final four.

Alcano edged last year's runner-up and compatriot Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo,10-9, in the semi-finals while Souquet outplayed Marcus "Napoleon" Chamat of Sweden,10-8.

Actually, this is the second time the two players face off for the coveted crown. Alcano routed Souquet in the finals of 2006 Philippine WPA World 9-Ball Championships at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

Here in WPA World 8-Ball, the two pool wizard were playing for the top prize of $60,000 with the runner-up getting $20,000, saying they deserved it after a tough and gruelling preliminaries round and knock-out stage before the championships round.

Last Year, Alcano complete the coveted double of winning the World Pool 9-Ball and 8-Ball championships and thereby duplicate the feat of

Chinese Taipei's teenaged sensation Wu Chia Ching, who achieved the distinction in 2005 and Filipino Hall of Famer Efren "Bata" Reyes, 1999 WPA World 9-Ball Champion in Cardiff, Wales and 2004 WPA World 8-Ball Champion here in Fujairah.

Alcano failed to set a new record (winning three major title, World 9-Ball, World 8-Ball and US Open 9-Ball) after settled for a runner-up place with eventual champion American brightest hope Shane Van Boening in the 2007 US Open 9-Ball in Chessapeake, Virginia.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

SMB BACKS TEN BALL TOUR

2008-04-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

MANILA, PHILIPPINES---All roads lead to the first World Ten Ball Championship (WTBC) in September, said to be the ultimate battleground for pool professionals across the globe, but contenders have yet to prove their mettle in the San Miguel Beer-backed Philippine Pool Tour (PPT) to qualify for the major event.

Open to international and local players, the PPT kicks off on May 6 with the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup in Mandaluyong City. It will then swing through the country's key regions and cities, culminating in the world championship in September at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

The winner of the Mandaluyong Cup will get a guaranteed seat in the WTBC, for which players around the world are competing to qualify. In addition, the champion will win $10,000 as cash prize. Players from 2nd to 32nd place will split the balance of the $30,000 prize fund.

A long-time supporter of billiards, San Miguel Beer (SMB) thinks PPT will be widely patronized by Ten Ball enthusiasts around the world. The tour is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiards Union (APBU), Asia's highest governing body for pool sports.

"Ten Ball is fast emerging as the game of choice of top players, that's why we are very excited with the staging of the Philippine Pool Tour," said one SMB executive. " We know that our contenders and those from abroad are all looking forward to the start of the matches."

Players from Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, England, Germany, France, USA and other countries are expected to join the tour in one or more of its five legs. 2003 world champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany has signed up for the first leg.

Mandaluyong City was picked for the inaugural leg because Mayor Benhur Abalos is also the incumbent president of the League of Cities of the Philippines.

Nicknamed "Tiger City" for its dynamic growth, Mandaluyong has been very active in hosting national and international sports tournaments. It hosted last April 3-6 the highly successful Philippine Open of the Asian Golf Tour at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club. It will host side by side with the Mayor's Cup a national tennis championship on the week of May 6-11.

The second leg of the PPT is scheduled in Puerto Princesa City in June, with Mayor Edward Hagedorn and the city government as host.

Other cities that will form part of the PPT in 2008 and 2009 include Cebu City, Davao City, Bacolod-Iloilo City, Clark-Angeles City, Subic-Olongapo City, Baguio City, Boracay, Pasay City and Manila.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

CALASANG EDGES KOREAN COUNTERPART IN WORLD 8-BALL

2008-04-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

FILIPINO Elvis Calasang made his presence in day 1 after beating heavyweight Ryu Seuong Woo of Korea, 8-6, in their Group B match to join the early winners at the start of 2008 World 8-Ball Championships on Friday at the Expo Center Fujairah in Fujairah City, United Arab Emirates.

Calasang, a former house pro and pool instructor in Middle East and member of the Philippine Billiard Development Foundation (PBDF), will meet Au Siu Wai of Hongkong in the next round, winner over Mohammed Obaid of UAE, 8-7.

Gabriele Cimmino of Italy and Marcus Western of Germany, meanwhile hurdle their respective rivals in Group B. Cimmino defeated compatriot Bruno Muratore, 8-7, to meet Western in the next round, who ambush Brunei Prince Muhtadee Billa, 8-1.

Earlier the other day, in Group A, defending champion Ronato Alcano smashed Carlos Talavera of Guatamela, 8-1, in the race-to-8, alternate break format to meet Li Haitao of China, who beat Hanni Al Howri of UAE, 8-5.

Mohammed El Assal of Iran shocked Bernard Kiat of Singapore, 8-2, to face Fu Jian Bo of China in the next round, who crushed Naif Al Jeweni of Kingdom of South Africa, 8-4.

In Group C, 2005 WPA World 9-ball and 8-ball champion Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan blanked Sayeem Hossain of Bangladesh, 8-0, to meet Huidji See of the Netherlands, who edges Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland, 8-7.

In other matches saw, Karl Hanscho of England trounced Mahmood Al Hashmi of UAE, 8-2. His next assignment is Niels "The Terminator "Feijen of the Netherlands who outplayed Ron Wiseman of the United States, 8-1.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

HOHMANN, ARCHER, JOINS RP POOL TOUR

2008-04-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

MANILA, PHILIPPINES---TWO world champions from Europe and America have signed up to play in the first Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup of the Philippine Pool Tour, which is scheduled on May 6 to 11 at the City Atrium and Kaban ng Hiyas Auditorium of Mandaluyong City.

Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, 2003 world 9-ball champion and 2006 straight pool champion, expressed his desire to compete in the Mandaluyong Cup in a letter to the Raya Sports office. He will be coming to Manila on May 6 after competing in the Korean Pro Pool Championship in Seoul on April 29 to May 2.

Following his stint in Manila, Hohmann will fly to Las Vegas to play in the Predator International Ten Ball Championship on May 13 to 17.

Johnny Archer of America, 1992 and 1997 world 9-ball champion, will be flying straight from the US to compete in the Mandaluyong Cup. Archer has been in top form lately. He won in succession the Turning Stone Classic in New York, the 12th annual Jay Swanson Memorial tournament in California, and the Great Southern Billiard Tour stop in South Carolina.

Archer and Hohmann will test their ten-ball skills against Filipino and Asian players who are expected to turn up in big numbers for the Mandaluyong Cup. The tournament offers $30,000 in prize money and a guaranteed seat for the winner in the World Ten Ball Championship in Manila in September.

Besides Mandaluyong City, the PPT will have four other legs this year: Puerto Princesa in June, Cebu, Davao and Pasay City. Other American and European players have expressed interest in joining the tour at its second leg in Palawan.

Both Hohmann and Archer are familiar to Filipino pool fans having played in the Philippines in the 2006 and 2007 World Pool Championship, as well as several invitational tournaments. Archer has won a couple of tournaments in the country.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

DEFENDING CHAMPION ALCANO OFF TO GOOD START IN WORLD 8 BALL

2008-04-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

DEFENDING Champion and the Philippine No.1 rotation player Ronato "Volcano" Alcano got off to a great start yesterday in the 2008 World 8-Ball Championships before a huge crowd of pool fans at the Expo Center Fujairah in Fujairah City, United Arab Emirates

The lanky cue artists from Calamba, Laguna, who also won the 2006 WPA World 9-Ball Championships in Manila and place second in the 2007 US Open 9-Ball Championships in Chesapeake, Virginia didn't waste time after a blazing start of 6-0 run in the race-to-8, alternate break format to beat unheralded Carlos Talavera from Guatamela, 8-1, in Group A.

Talavera's only rack came in the 7th, before Alcano ended the game at 8-1.

AZbilliards boss Mike Howerton who is in Fujairah said to this writer in an email yesterday before the match, "The first round of matches are just starting now. The only Pinoy match taking place in the first round is Alcano vs Carlos Talavera from Guatamela. I don't see that being much of a problem for Ronnie to win. He actually has a pretty easy run into the final sixteen. There will also be a 3pm round and Elvis Calasang will place Seung Wo Ryu from Korea. That is all we have for Pinoy matches today (last night)."

Elvis Calasang is in Group B still engage battles as of presstime with Rye Seoung Woo of Korea.

Meanwhile, the Filipinos were greatly spread, and there's a great chance that it could be another All-Filipino finals like last year. Thanks to a lucky draw for the ten Filipino qualifiers.

The 2008 World 8-Ball Championships got underway last night in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates and the 64 players were split up into 8 different groups. The format is the same as the last World 9-Ball Championships that was held here in Manila last year. Four players will advance into the Round of 32 from each group. Two (2) straight wins and you're in to the next stage, and 2 will come from the losers' side.

Alcano, beat compatriot Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, 11-8, in the finals last year.

The petite Orcollo from Bislig, Surigao del Sur is aiming for a world title-shot as he takes on Mohammed Al Hosani of UAE in Group H, the same bracket of countryman Israel "Amay" Rota of Cebu, who goes up against Mark Gray of England.

Roberto "Superman" Gomez, the 2007 WPA World Pool Finalist is in Group D. He takes on Craig Bower of England while Antonio "Gaga" Gabica is in Group E and will test the mettle of Chris Melling of England.

Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, Warren "Warrior" Kiamco and Alan "Surigao" Cuartero are all bunched up in Group F and will square off with Ralf Souquet of Germany, Amine Quahbi of Morocco and Ibrahim Bin Amir of Malaysia, respectively.

Joven "The Shark" Bustamante is considered to be in the toughest group, Group G. He faces Marcus Chamat of Sweden.

Meanwhile, Brunei's Crown Prince Muhtadee Billah is in Group B against Marcus Western of Germany while lone female Jasmin Ouschan of Austria is in Group C and meets Saleem Al Juneebi of UAE.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

WORLD TEN BALL SLOT AT STAKE IN PHILIPPINE POOL TOUR IN MANDALUYONG

2008-04-15T04:59:00.001-07:00

A whopping top prize of US$10,000 plus a slot in the inauguration of WPA World Ten Ball Championships goes to the winner when the Philippine Pool Tour (PPT) gets it's first rack on May 6 to 11 in Mandaluyong City.

This was bared yesterday by Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) spokesman Amado "June" Diokno to be held at the City Hall Atrium and Kaban ng Hiyas Auditorium.

"There will be at least one PPT tournament per month until the World Ten Ball Championship in Manila on September 2008," said Diokno, also the executive director of the newly-formed Philippine Billiard Development Foundation (PBDF). "We expect many foreign players and fans to pour into Manila this year."

Dubbed the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup, the tournament is a Ten Ball event where the winner gets an automatic slot in the WPA World Ten Ball Championship in Manila in September. It is one of six tournaments under the RP Pool Tour organized by BSCP in partnership with Raya Sports, Star Billiards and PBDF,

The Mandaluyong Cup is open to Filipino and foreign players of both sexes. In keeping with Olympic practice since 1992, it will not distinguish between professional and amateur players. Foreign players from Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan and Europe have already expressed their intent to join the PPT.

Mayor Benhur Abalos of Mandaluyong City is giving his full support to the event, in keeping with his city's longstanding program of encouraging sports events and sports development. The city was host of the recent and highly successful Philippine Open leg of the Asian Golf Tour at the Wack-Wack golf course.

Diokno added that other stops of the PPT will be in Puerto Princesa, Cebu, Davao, Olongapo and Pasay City. City mayors and city governments will become hosts of the tournaments under a program developed by BSCP with the League of City Mayors of the Philippines.

Star Billiards will provide world-class equipment for the Mandaluyong Cup. This includes Brunswick tables, Simonis cloth and Aramith balls.

Entry in the Mandaluyong Cup is $50 or P2000. Members of the PBT get a 50% discount on their entry fees. Registration is now being accepted by BSCP and Raya Sports. Contact Ms. Ahyie Torres, Tel. 8952021 and email: raya@prismphil.com.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

TWO MORE FILIPINOS QUALIFY FOR WORLD 8-BALL

2008-04-15T04:51:00.000-07:00

MAKE IT TO THE 64-MAIN DRAW OF WORLD 8-BALL

TWO more Filipino cue artists made it to the 64 main draw of 2008 World 8-Ball Championships after topping their respective qualifying tournament at the the Amir Billiards Club in Fujairah City, United Arab Emirates, on Monday.

The Qatar based house pro and pool instructor Israel "Amay" Rota, who hails from Cebu trounced Chris Melling of England, 5-4, in the qualifying 3 while the Quezon City resident Joven "The Shark" Bustamante won the 4th qualifying event via 5-3 score against another England player Mike Hill.

Last Saturday, 2007 World Pool Finalist Roberto Gomez won the 1st qualifying event followed by 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball silver medallist Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna last Sunday, winner in the 2nd qualifying event.

The Philippines is hoping to add more bets through these qualifiers with players like 2004 World 8-ball runner-up Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo, former Asian Games gold medalist Gandy Valle, reigning national champion Lee Van Corteza and veteran internationalists Warren Kiamco and Ramil Gallego.

Meanwhile, already seeded in the tournament are defending champion Ronnie Alcano and last year's runner-up Dennis Orcollo, as well as Antonio Gabica and Elvis Calasang, who both topped the qualifying round of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) recently.

Meanwhile, other world-renowned players seeded in the main draw are 2005 WPA World 9-ball and 8-ball champion Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan, 2007 WPA World 9-Ball champion Darryl Peach of England, reigning US Open 9-ball titlist Shane Van Boening of the United States, and former World Pool champions Ralf Souquet and Oliver Ortmann of Germany. The field will also have a lone female entry in Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, and a touch of royalty with the participation of Brunei's Crown Prince Muhtadee Billah.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

DE LUNA BEATS BUSTAMANTE, QUALIFIES FOR WORLD 8-BALL TOURNEY

2008-04-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

BECOMES THE SIXTH FILIPINO TO QUALIFY

JEFFREY "The Bull" De Luna overpowered Bugsy stalwart Joven Bustamante, 5-4, in the semis then blanked a British opponent, 5-0, in the finals to dominate the second of eight qualifying tournaments for the 2008 World 8-Ball Championship to be held at the Amir Billiards Club in Fujairah City, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday.

The 24-year-old De Luna, member of the newly-formed Philippine Billiard Development Foundation (PBDF) became the sixth Filipino to enter the tournament proper when the 64-man main draw of this annual World 8-Ball event gets it's first rack on April 18 and will ends on April 25.

"Pa birthday ko ito sa mahal kong si Ian (De Luna) at alay ko din sa bayan ang aking tagumpay," Jeff referring's the 24th birthday celebration yesterday by her wife Ian De Luna.

Ian, wife of Jeff commented, "The words that inspires him (Jeff), no matter how good you started it, its how you ended it," said Ian, also a professional women's billiard player.

Jeff also beat another Bugsy mainstay and 2007 World Pool Finalist Roberto Gomez, 6-3, in the bonus round. Last Saturday, Gomez won the first of eight qualifying rounds.
Jeff, 24, rose to prominence in billiard world after beating former two-time Asian Games 9-ball gold medallist Yang Ching-shun of Taiwan in the semi-finals of 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball competition. He settled for runner-up to his fellow PBDF player Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica.

Jeff also beat world no.1 and Bugsy top player Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo to win the 1st Manny Pacquiao International 9-Ball Open last year at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

By winning this second of eight qualifying tournaments, Jeff will join fellow qualifier Gomez and seeded players composed of defending champion Ronnie Alcano and runner-up Orcollo, as well as Gabica and Elvis Calasang, who both topped the qualifying round of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) recently.

Other Filipinos saw action in the qualifying round were 2004 World 8-ball runner-up Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo, former world 9-ball champion Alex Pagulayan, former Asian Games gold medalist Gandy Valle, reigning national champion Lee Van Corteza and veteran internationalists Warren Kiamco, Ramil Gallego, and Israel Rota.

Meanwhile, other world-renowned players seeded in the main draw are 2005 WPA World 9-ball and 8-ball champion Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan, 2007 WPA World 9-Ball champion Darryl Peach of England, reigning US Open 9-ball titlist Shane Van Boening of the United States, and former World Pool champions Ralf Souquet and Oliver Ortmann of Germany. The field will also have a lone female entry in Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, and a touch of royalty with the participation of Brunei's Crown Prince Muhtadee Billah.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

RP POOL TOUR KICKS OFF WITH MANDALUYONG CUP

2008-04-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

The Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines announced today (April 10) the launching of the Philippine Pool Tour (PPT) with the inaugural tournament in Mandaluyong City on May 6 to 11.

Dubbed the Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup, the tournament is a Ten Ball event whose winner will get an automatic slot in the WPA World Ten Ball Championship in Manila in September. It is one of six tournaments under the RP Pool Tour organized by BSCP in partnership with Raya Sports, Star Billiards and the Philippine Billiards Foundation,

Prize money for the Cup is $20,000, with $10,000 going to the winner. Prizes will be given up to 32nd place in the tournament.

The Mandaluyong Cup is open to Filipino and foreign players of both sexes. In keeping with the Olympic tradition since 1992, it will not distinguish between professional and amateur players. Foreign players from Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan and Europe have already expressed their intent to join the PPT.

Mayor Ben-hur Abalos of Mandaluyong City is giving his full support to the event, in keeping with his city's longstanding program of encouraging sports events and sports development. The city was host of the recent and highly successful Philippine Open leg of the Asian Golf Tour at the Wack-Wack golf course.

As venue for the tournament, Mandaluyong will lend both its City Hall Atrium and Kaban ng Hiyas Auditiorium.

June Diokno, spokesman of the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines, said that other stops of the PPT will be in Puerto Princesa, Cebu, Davao, Olongapo and Pasay City. City mayors and city governments will become hosts of the tournaments under a program developed by BSCP with the League of City Mayors of the Philippines.

"There will be at least one PPT tournament per month until the World Ten Ball Championship," Diokno said. "We expect many foreign players and fans to pour into Manila this year."

Star Billiards will provide world-class equipment for the Mandaluyong Cup. This includes Brunswick tables, Simonis cloth and Aramith balls.

Entry in the Mandaluyong Cup is $50 or P2000. Members of the PBT get a 50% discount on their entry fees. Registration is now being accepted by BSCP and Raya Sports. Contact Ms. Ahyie Torres, Tel. 8952021 and email: raya@prismphil.com.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

CORTEZA, GALLEGO, KIAMCO EYES WORLD 8-BALL SLOT IN FUJAIRAH

2008-04-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

TOP players of Negros Billiards Stable (NBS) are ready to face their respective opponents in the qualifying event of the World 8-Ball which will start on April 12 in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

National champion Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza, Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego and Warren "Warrior" Kiamco, the three musketeers under the management of sportsman/ businessman Jonathan Sy will try to knock and enter in the first of 8 qualifying round wherein only one player is allowed to get in per event.

"Hope palarin kami ni Bebeng (Gallego) at Warren (Kiamco) na makapasok sa main draw ng World 8-Ball." said the Southeast Asian Games multiple gold medallist Corteza, who hails from Davao City.

"Hindi naman sasayangin ang walang humpay na suporta at pagtitiwala na binigay sa amin ni Boss Jo (Jonathan Sy), kaya ibibigay naming tatlo ang lahat ng makakaya namin para manalo para sa bayan," added the Japan champion Gallego.

" Talagang pinaghandaan namin ito (World 8-ball) nina Bebeng (Gallego) at Lee Vann (Corteza)." said Kiamco, the 2007 US Bar 9-ball and 8-ball champion.

Th triumvirate also schedule to play in the forthcoming Predator 10-Ball Championships on May 12 to 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada and the Qatar World Open 9-Ball Tournament on June 29 to July 5 in Doha, Qatar.

In related story in World 8-Ball, the Filipino already seeded in the tournament proper on April 18 to 25 are last year's champion Ronato Alcano and runner-up Dennis Orcollo, together with Antonio Gabica and Elvis Calasang, who both won the qualifying round of Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP), the sole governing billiards body in the country.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

IRIS RANOLA TOPS GREAT LAKE QUALIFIER

2008-04-11T17:27:00.001-07:00

IRIS RAÑOLA TOPS GREAT LAKE QUALIFIER

PHILIPPINE lone representative Iris Rañola couldn't hide her excitement after winning her 9-ball debut tour in the United States.

Playing under the banner of Puyat Sports Stable, Rañola, who hails from Divisoria, Zamboanga trounced Iowa's Rachel Brykett, 9-5, in the finals to capture the title for the 8th and final stop of the 07-08 Great Lake qualification tournaments for the WPBA BCA GenerationPool.com at the Jacobs Cues billiard hall in Galesburg, Illinois last April 5.

" Tiyak ko hindi kayang ipaliwanag ang nadarama ni Iris (Rañola) ngayon dahil maganda agad ang simula ng kanyang kampanya sa US," said national women's coach Boyet Asonto yesterday who just arrived the country the other day from Taiwan by accompanying Rubilen Amit and Mary-Ann Basas, both finish in the last 16 in the 2008 Amway WPA World 9-Ball Championships.

"Sabi sa akin ni Iris (Rañola) na sasali siya ng maraming tournament sa US para mahasa siya at makakuha ng experience. Pero isa din dahilan kaya siya pumunta sa US para ipagamot ang kanyang sakit na cyst sa kaliwa niyang breast." He added.

According to the official website yesterday, the reigning national women's champion Ranola, who finished fourth in the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball competition had a nice start over tour season points winner Liz Lovely of Dayton, Ohio, 7-4, then blasted her next two assignments against Donna Ferguson, 7-0, and Tina Hess, 7-0 and defeated Brykett, 7-4, for the hot-seat match. Brykett bounced back with a 7-5 win over Tina Hess in the one-loss side to earn a rematch with Ranola in the final.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

JOVEN TAMANG DEFENDS HIS TITLE

2008-04-11T17:18:00.001-07:00

JOVEN TAMANG WILL DEFEND HIS 9-BALL TITLE IN HOBBIES BILLIARD

AFTER topping the inauguration leg last week, Joven Tamang will defend his title against a dozen aspiring cue artists who want to follow the foot steps of Filipino billiards great Efren "Bata" Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan when the All Amateur Players Open 9-Ball Tournament resumes with its weekly leg on April 12 at the Hobbies Billiard 8 President Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City.

Tamang trounced Baste Padua, 7-4, in the finals to captured the title plus the top prize P5,000 in the double knock-out tournament, organized and sponsored by sports patron Danny Bariso.

According to Mr. Bariso, the 9-ball tournament is open to all amateurs player in the country which aims to discover new billiards talents.

Tournament coordinator RP no.1 trick shot champion Julie "Falcon" Guevarra said that a whopping top purse P20,000 awaits to the Grand Finale winners slated this year.

Registration fee is P300. For inquiries, please call or text Mr. Guevarra at mobile no. 0918-319-0414 or Ms. Anna Pomales at tel.no. 556-1264 or mobile no.0916-628-7158 for complete details.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by josive sison

CHANG TAKES ANOTHER LEG OF THE GUINNESS TOUR

2008-04-06T05:05:00.000-07:00

It seemed as though nothing can stop Taiwan hotshot Chang Jung-lin who completed a stellar start to demolish his compatriot Wang Hung-Hsiang, 11-7, in an all Taiwanese finals to claim the second trophy of the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour at the G Hotel in Penang, Malaysia, Sunday.

Chang, who took the inaugural leg in Taipei, Taiwan last month by beating Filipino Joven Bustamante, 11-5, in the finals.

His victory also continued the impressive showing of the Chinese Taipei contingent, which is aiming for a repeat of the last year's six-city sweep.

For their efforts, Chang pocketed $15,000, while Wang netted $6,000. The Tour's next stop will be in Genting, Malaysia, which will take place next month from May 30 to June 1.

The tournament underdog Wang took a 3-1 lead hoping to make a name for himself among the elite 24-member field composed of Asia's best cue masters. However, he committed a couple of errors and dry breaks allowing Chang to lead the match at 10-3 after winning nine consecutive racks. But Wang didn't give up easily when he charged to close the match at 10-7 before Chang finally nailed the last rack.

On the way to the finals, Chang beat Wu Chia Ching, 9-7, to arrange a titular showdown with Wang, winner over Yang Ching-shun, 9-6.

The Filipino representative here in Taiwan but failed to advance in the final four yesterday were Bustamante, Antonio Gabica, both quarter-finalists and Alex Pagulayan and Dennis Orcollo, who fell short in the knock-out stage last Friday.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

AMIT, BASAS BOWS OUT OF AMWAY WOMEN'S 9-BALL

2008-04-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

RUBILEN Amit and Mary-Ann Basas of the Philippines led early in their respective matches but failed to advance in the next round after losing in their last 16 assignment of the 2008 WPA Amway World Women's 9-Ball Championship yesterday in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Cebuana native Amit fell short against world No.1 Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, 4-7, while Basas, was nipped by Chieh-Yu Chou of Chinese-Taipei, 6-7.

Ouschan, who also beat Amit in their group stage play in last year's edition will square off with Chou in the quarter-final round.

Amit and Basas, whose stint here is being supported by sportsman/ businessman Aristeo "Putch" Puyat, are both under the watchful eye of national women's head coach Boyet Asonto.

"Sayang, parehong lamang sa simula sina Rubilen (Amit) at Mary-Ann (Basas) pero minalas sa bandang huli," said coach Boyet Asonto, in a long distance telephone interview yesterday.

Putch Puyat, commented yesterday "Proud ako sa mga player natin kasi ginawa nila ang kanilang best para sa bayan, 'yung nga lamang ay hindi pumabor ang bola sa laro nila sa last 16" said Puyat.

Amit led the match 3-1, but errors let Ouschan back into the match for the 7-4 win according to the official website yesterday while local hopeful Chou are still alive after an unbelievable win over Basas. Basas led the match 5-2, but missed a 5-ball allowing Chou back to the table. Chou evened the score at 5-5 before scratching on a 9-ball. Basas reclaimed the lead at 6-5, breaking for the match. A safety by Basas went awry when Chou kicked at the 2-ball and ended up making the 9-ball to tie the match at 6-6. Chou then went on to win the final game.

Basas who needed to go through the qualification tournament, finished with two wins and 3 loses in Group F while last year's runner-up Amit topped the Group H bracket with four wins and one loss to automatically advance in the round-of-16. Basas, meanwhile disposed of Hsiang Lin-Tan of Chinese-Taipei, 7-3, in the last 24 to advance in the last 16.

In other matches, Hsiao-Chi Lin of Chinese-Taipei turned back 2007 Macau Asian Indoor Games 9-Ball Champion and Osaka Open Champion Shu-Han Chang of Japan, 7-6, to face Allison Fisher who beat countryman Kelly Fisher of Great Britain, 7-3, in the last 24 and Yukiko Hamanashi of Japan , 7-4, in the last 16.

Tournament favorite Jeanette "The Black Widow" Lee of the United States continued her winning ways by crushing Line Kjorsvik of Norway, 7-6, in the last 24 and Akimi Kajitani of Japan, 7-3, in the last 16 to meet Yuan Chung-lin of Chinese-Taipei in the next round.

submitted by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison

RUBILEN AMIT IN SWEET 16, MARY ANN BASAS MAKES IT TO LAST 24 IN AMWAY

2008-04-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

PHILIPPINE top female player Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit continued her winning ways after dominating her Group H bracket to barge into the "Sweet 16" after the second day of 2008 WPA Amway World Women's 9-Ball Championship yesterday in Taipei, Taiwan.

Amit, whose stint here is being supported by sportsman/ businessman Aristeo "Putch" Puyat finished with 4 wins and 1 loss in her Group H bracket. She will face the winner of the match between Akio Ohtani of Japan and world's no.1 Jasmin Ouschan of Austria for the last 16.

According to national women's head coach Boyet Asonto in a long distance interview yesterday, the Cebuana native Amit trounced Shu Wah Hoe of Singapore, 7-4, and edged Anna Kostanian of the United States, 7-6, before yielding to Shu-Han Chang of Chinese-Taipei, 6-7. Her first two wins against Denise Wilkinson of New Zealand, 7-4, and qualifier 8 Chun Ting Lee of Chinese-Taipei, the other day.

"Sana mahawakan ni Rubilen (Amit) 'yung momentum," commented Asonto.

Amit, who took the gold medal in the women's 9-ball of the 2007 Thailand Southeast Asian Games is aiming to surpass her last year's runner-up finish here in Taipei.

It shall be recalled that Xiao-Ting Pan of China defeated Amit, 11-5, in the last year's finals. Pan pocketed the top purse of $20,000 while Amit went home the runner-up prize of $10,000, her biggest pay check. However Pan is not playing in the event due to problems with her Visa.

Still on the same tournament...

BASAS MAKES IT TO THE LAST 24

Another Filipino entry Mary Ann Basas, who hails from Davao City made it to the last 24 after winning her last two matches against Belinda Calhoun of the United States, 7-2, and Estelle Bijnen of the Netherlands, 7-6, and finished with 2 wins and 3 loses in her Group F matches. Her next assignment is Hsiang-Lin Tan of Chinese-Taipei for the right to enters into the last 16. Amit automatic enters into the last 16 by virtue of a good performance after topping her group play.

Here are the statistics of countries who made it to the last 24: Japan – 3, Taiwan – 8, Korea – 2, Philippines – 2, Netherlands – 1, Norway – 1, Austria – 2, Germany – 1, UK – 2 and USA – 2.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

RUBILEN AMIT STARTS HOT IN AMWAY WORLD WOMEN'S 9-BALL TOURNEY

2008-04-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

RP'S no.1 Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit won her first two games on the opening day of the 2008 Amway World Women's 9-Ball Championship yesterday in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Cebuana native Amit, who took the gold medal in the women's 9-ball of the 2007 Thailand Southeast Asian Games brought down Denise Wilkinson of New Zealand, 7-4, and local ace Chun Ting Lee, 7-5, respectively.

According to the official website, Amit led the match 5-1, but missed an 8-ball allowing Lee back to the table. Lee quickly tied the score at 5-5, but then missed her own 8-ball. Amit took a 5 minute break and then finished off the final two racks for the win. "I am really under pressure, because I was second place in last year, I know I have to adjust myself to be more relaxed," Amit commented after the match.

Amit alongside Puyat Sports stablemates Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante have been cast to star with lead role American female cue Jennifer Barretta in the upcoming motion picture "9-Ball" the film is scheduled to begin principal photography June 15 at Universal Studios.

In related reports here in Amway World Women's 9-Ball Championship, another Filipino entry Mary-Ann Basas, who hails from Davao City made it to the tournament proper after a magnificent performance in the qualification tournament while Irish Rañola failed to participate. She is currently in the United States.

Defending champion Xiao-Ting Pan of China is not playing in the event due to problems with her Visa. Pan's loss will be the gain of 20 year old Korean player Eun-Ji Park who had the best performance during the qualifying stage.

In other matches, world's no.1 Jasmin Ouschan of Austria scored a 7-1 wins against Sue Pin Kao of Taiwan and Joanne Ashton of Canada while Jeanette "The Black Widow" Lee of the United States crushed Suet-Yee Kwan of Malaysia, 7-1, and Diana Statecnzy of Germany, 7-1.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

ORCOLLO, PAGULAYAN TAKES DIFFERENT ROUTE IN GUINNESS TOUR

2008-04-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

FILIPINO Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan took different routes at the start of the second leg of the Guinness 9-Ball Tour, yesterday at the G Hotel in Penang, Malaysia.

Orcollo defeated Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 9-7, in Group E and needed to beat former Asian 9-Ball tour over-all champion Yang Ching-shun of Chinese-Taipei to advance in the knock-out stage today.

Pagulayan, the 2004 WPA World 9-Ball Champion, bowed to 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist Luong Chi-Dong of Vietnam, 7-9, in Group C and pray that he will beat Ryu Seong Woo of Korea to be able to force a two-way tie if Ryu also beat Luong.

Playing as of press time were Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica and Joven "The Shark" Bustamante, who is aiming to surpass his runner-up finish in the kick off leg last month in Taipei, Taiwan which was dominated by Taiwanese Chang Jun-ling.

Gabica, whose stint here is supported by the Philippine Billiard Development Foundation (PBDF), takes on Ibrahim Bin Amir of Malaysia and Bernard Tey of Singapore in Group B while Bustamante battles Naoyuki Oi and Sumit Talwar of India in Group H.

A total of 24 Asian superstars are bracketed in Eight groups, sanctioned by the Asian Professional Billards Union (APBU), the event will also have players from Malaysia , Indonesia , Singapore , Vietnam , Korea , Japan , Thailand , India and China.

The Winner of each leg will take home US$ 15,000 while the Grand Finals Champion will walk away with US$ 36,000.

The Guinness 9-Ball Tour is the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship and the top 10 finishers in the Tour's Order of Merit will automatically earn a slot for pool's most prestigious event, the 2007 WPA 9Ball Championship scheduled in November.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

PAGULAYAN, 3 OTHERS OPEN GUINNESS CAMPAIGN TOUR TODAY

2008-04-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

FORMER WORLD 9-BALL Champion Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan alongside Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo and Joven "The Shark" Bustamante take on the mission to lead the Filipinos in stopping the Taiwanese domination in the second leg of the 2008 Guinness 9-Ball Tour starting, today, Friday at the G Hotel in Penang, Malaysia.

Pagulayan, also the 2005 US Open titlist, battles in the three-man group event which are composed of Ryu Seong Woo of Korea and Luong Chi-Dong of Vietnam, the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist.

"I hope to perform well in this event, medyo hindi kasi naging maganda performance natin sa nakalipas," said the Cabagan, Isabela native Pagulayan, who failed to make it to the knock-out stage in the kick off leg of Guinness in Taipei, Taiwan and Japan 9-Ball Open in Tokyo, Japan.

Gabica, the 2007 SMB-Solar Sports RP 9 Ball Open champion and 2007 Thailand Southeast Asian Games gold medallist, will test the mettle of Ibrahim Bin Amir of Malaysia in Group B along with and Bernard Tey of Singapore.

Bustamante, who is aiming to surpass his runner-up finish with first-leg winner Taiwanese Chang Jung-lin will square off Naoyuki Oi of Japan and Sumit Talwar of India in Group H.Chang, also the reigning Guinness 9-ball tour Grand Finale champion, who beat Lee Vann Corteza in the crown is in Group A together with Chinese sharpshooter Fu Jian-Bo and spiky-haired Thailand bet Nitiwat Kanjanasri.

Orcollo, on the other hand, who is fresh from winning the Quezon City 9-ball tour and Japan 9-ball Open are bracketed in Group E so called "group of death" in the company of former Asian 9-Ball tour over-all champion Yang Ching-shun of Chinese-Taipei and Ricky Yang of Indonesia.

A total of 24 Asian superstars are bracketed in Eight group, sanctioned by the Asian Professional Billards Union (APBU), the event will also have players from Malaysia , Indonesia , Singapore , Vietnam , Korea , Japan , Thailand , India and China.
Winners of each leg will take home US$ 15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will walk away with US$ 36,000.

The Guinness 9-Ball Tour is the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship and the top 10 finishers in the Tour's Order of Merit will automatically earn a slot for pool's most prestigious event, the 2007 WPA 9Ball Championship scheduled in November.

Telecast of Asia's premier pool competition will be carried LIVE on STAR Sports with fifteen hours of exhilarating competition from 4 April to 6 April 2008. This year, STAR Sports will complement its live broadcast with a 30-minute preview programme before each leg. Broadcast times are as follows:

Fri, 04 April, 2008 4.30pm (HKT) Preview show (30min)

Fri, 04 April, 2008 5.00pm (HKT) Joven Bustamante (PHI) vs Naoyuki Oi (JAP)
6.30pm (HKT) Ibrahim Amir (MAS) vs Antonio Gabica (PHI)
8.00pm (HKT) Chang Jung-Lin (TPE) vs Fu Jian-Bo (CHN)

Sat, 05 April, 2008 from 12.00pm (HKT)Quarterfinals (4 Matches)
Sun, 06 April, 2008 from 12.00am (HKT)Semifinals & Finals (3 Matches)

(Competition on Friday will start at 11am; TV Schedules subject to change without prior notice)

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

ALL AMATEUR OPEN 9-BALL

2008-04-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

TOUR RESUMES IN HOBBIES BILLIARD-8 ON APRIL 5

DOZENS of aspiring cue artists want to follow the foot step of Filipino billiards great Efren "Bata" Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante and Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan gather anew as the All Amateurs Players Open 9-Ball Tournament resumes with its weekly leg on April 5 to 6 at the Hobbies Billiard 8 President Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City.

Supported by sports patron Danny Bariso, the double knock-out, race-to-6 format offers P5,000 to the champion and P2,000 to the runner-up place.

Tournament coordinator RP no.1 trick shot champion Julie "Falcon" Guevarra said that a whopping top purse P20,000 awaits to the Grand Finale winners slated this year.

Mr. Guevarra added that the 9-ball tournament is open to all amateurs player in the country which aims to discover new billiards talents.

Registration fee is P300. For inquiries, please call or text Mr. Guevarra at mobile no. 0918-319-0414 or Ms. Anna Pomales at tel.no. 556-1264 or mobile no.0916-628-7158 for complete details.

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

UPDATED WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS LIST

2008-03-29T17:33:00.001-07:00

We have received an updated list of participants for the upcoming World 8-Ball Championship in Fujairah on April 18th through 25th.

The field includes defending champion Ronnie Alcano, Dennis Orcollo, Chia-Ching Wu, Satoshi Kawabata, Shane Van Boening, Corey Deuel, Ronnie Wiseman, Ralf Souquet, Oliver Ortmann, Konstantin Stepanov, Jasmin Ouschan, Niels Feijen, Antonio Gabica and reigning World 9-Ball Champion Daryl Peach.

The US Squad has removed Mike Davis and Stevie Moore, but added Corey Deuel who has expressed hopes of playing in both the World 8-Ball Championship (Apr 18-25) and the UPA Desert Shootout (Apr 24-27).

Player List:

Ronnie ALCANO Philippines
Dennis ORCOLLO Philippines
Hung Hsiang Wang Chinese Taipei
Chia Ching WU Chinese Taipei
Satoshi KAWABATA Japan
Aoyuki OL Japan
Farhad SHAHVERDI Iran
Boon Tan TIONG Singapore
Fahad Mohammadi Qatar
Devendra JOSHI India
Bin Amir IBRAHIM Malaysia
Jianbo FU China
Haitao LIU China
Siu Wai Au Hong Kong
Sayeem HOSSAIN Bangladesh
Shane VAN BOENING United States America
Corey DEUEL United States America
Ronnie WISEMAN United States America
Francis Crevier Canada
Marcus WESTEN Germany
Kasper Kristoffersen Denmark
Karl HANSCHO Austria
Aristides DAMOYLAKIS Greece
Bruno Muratore Italy
Ralf SOUQUET Germany
Oliver ORTMANN Germany
Mark Gray England
Konstantin STEPANOV Russia
Huidji SEE Netherlands
Martin LARRSEN Denmark
Ruslan CHINAHOV Russia
Dimitri Jungo Switzerland
Bahram LOFTY Denmark
Radoslaw Babica Poland
Jasmin OUSCHAN Austria
Kaven ZARAKANI Iran
Naif Al Jeweni Saudi Arabia
Crown Prince HRH Prince Muhtadee Billah Brunei
Niels FEIJEN Netherlands
Gabriele Cimmino Italy
Antonio GABICA Philippines
Elvis CALASANG Philippines
Seung-Woo Ryu Korea
Daryl PEACH England
Carlos TALAVERA Guatemala
Matt EDWARDS New Zealand
Amine OUAHBI Morocco
Mohammed EL ASSAL Egypt
Viac ZYBNEK South Africa

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

BATA, DJANGO, AMIT JOINS BARRETTA IN UPCOMING AMERICAN MOVIE DUBBED AS 9-BALL

2008-03-29T17:31:00.001-07:00

FILIPINO pool maestro Efren "Bata" Reyes, former world no.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante and 2007 Women's Amway World Pool Championships Finalist Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit have been cast to star with lead role American female cue Jennifer Barretta in the upcoming motion picture "9-Ball."

The film is scheduled to begin principal photography June 15 at Universal Studios. This independent film will be directed, and produced by Anthony Palma of Main Street Productions, who also created the story, wrote/ the screenplay and will produce. Palma said in a press release yesterday, "It is a honor, and privilege to have these three great pool players now part of the cast of "9-Ball." Pool players, and fans of the sport everywhere can look forward to seeing the Best of the Best, and most exciting players in the World in "9-Ball."

In the movie "9-Ball.", an exciting story geared to be one suspenseful, dramatic and authentic pool movie.

"Isang malaking karangalan sa bayan natin na mapili sina Efren (Reyes), Django (Bustamante) at Rubilen (Amit) na mapasama sa American Film na 9-ball," said Rolly "Lando" Vicente of Puyat Sports Stable, long-time friend of the triumvirate.

Reyes and Bustamante are currently in Japan while Amit, the country's top women's pool player is aiming to improve her runner-up place finish as she competes in the forthcoming 2008 Amway Women's World Pool Championships on April 1 to 7 in Taipei,Taiwan.

"I will try my best to bring honor to our country just like what our men players are doing," said the 25-year-old Cebuana Amit in a recent interview, who lost to eventual winner Xiao-Ting Pan of China, 11-5, in the last year's finals. Pan pocketed the top purse of $20,000 while Amit went home the runner-up prize of $10,000.

Meanwhile, Reyes and Bustamante are two of the most respected pool champions in the history of the sport. In the film "9-Ball" the audience will get to see what makes these champions the Heroes they are.

"9-Ball" is about a young, up and coming pool player who breaks away from hustling pool in the back rooms of bars, to follow her dream of becoming the Women's 9 Ball Champion of the World. Palma is delighted to have World-renowned players cast in "9-Ball." Palma says, " I want "9-Ball" to show pool as the great sport it is and what better way to do that then have real life World Champions in the movie, these players represent what the movie "9-Ball" is all about."

Barretta who is cast in the lead role says, "This project is the most exciting thing happening in pool right now and I'm excited to be a part of it. "9 Ball" is destined to become a classic," The film has also garnered excitement from other greats such as Karren Corr and Julie Kelly who have already served as technical advisors on the script. They have also been cast to play themselves in the movie. World Champion Corr says, "After reading the screenplay for "9-Ball" I was more impressed than ever to be involved with this film. "9-Ball" is the first film produced that combines women's professional pool with a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat…Gail is a young woman with a lot of guts, determination, and ambition to become the 9-Ball Women's World Champion. "9-Ball" is a film that you want to see, and after you see it to go shoot pool," Kelly is also excited to be a part of the movie. "I also like that it is about a woman pool player, we've seen great pool movies but nothing like "9-Ball." The film aims to inspire all up and coming pool players to take their craft seriously and follow their dreams professionally. said Kelly.

The "9-Ball" movie's Executive Producer is Ralph Clemente. For more information about the film, please visit the website at www.mainstreetproductions.com or call 215-764-6128.

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

ORCOLLO BEATS ALCANO TO WIN JAPAN 9-BALL OPEN TILT

2008-03-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

In just two weeks time, world's no.1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo raised his total earnings by $25,000 after winning a back-to-back title.

Orcollo received 1.5M yen (about $15,000) after winning the Japan 9-Ball Open over the weekend in Tokyo, Japan according to Matchroom forums sports website.

Orcollo needed to dispose of compatriot double world champion Ronato Alcano, 9-3, in the semi-final round and Japanese Ryuji Aoyuki, 9-2, in the finals to bring home the championship trophy.

He just won $10,000 the other week by beating 2007 World Pool Finalist Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez in the finals of the SMB 1st Quezon City 9-Ball Open in Trinoma Mall, Quezon City.

Matchroom Sports Forums added that most of the leading Philippine players were here in Japan 9-Ball that included Gomez, last year's winner Alex Pagulayan, Efren Reyes, Django Bustamante, Nikoy Lining, Bebeng Gallego, Roel Esquillo, Warren Kiamco, Gomez, Gandy Valle, Lee Van Corteza and Dondon Razalan and several other Fil amateur players.

Joined by close to 600 professional and amateur pool players in Japan, as well as several Taiwanese and Philippine players according to famous Europe website.

Orcollo, Alcano, qualifiers Antonio Gabica and Elvis Calasang are also seeded in the main draw of Fujairah World 8-Ball in United Arab Emirates on April 19. Alcano and Orcollo, the top two finishers in the last year's world 8-ball edition.

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

MANALO, DE LUNA VYING IN FUJAIRAH WORLD 8-BALL ELIMS

2008-03-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

MARLON "Marvelous" Manalo and Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna, both eyeing slots to the tournament proper when the qualifying round of the 2008 World 8-Ball Championships gets going on April 12 to 16 in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

"Ready na ako," said the Mandaluyong resident Manalo, who placed runner-up to eventual winner Efren "Bata" Reyes in the 2004 edition World 8-ball meet.

Defending World 8-ball champion Ronato Alcano, last year's runner-up Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo and qualifiers Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica and Elvis Calasang are among the Filipino seeded in the main draw which begins on April 18 and will ends on April 25.

Manalo is fresh from successful US trip beating American Rodney "Rockets" Morris, 15-10, in the finals of 3rd International Pool Tour in Hollywood Studio in Los Angeles, California enroute the winner-take-all $5,000 purse.

De Luna, meanwhile, is one of the dozen Filipino participants who are campaigning in yesterday's ongoing 2008 Japan 9-Ball Open in Tokyo, Japan. Another Filipino ace Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, is the defending Japan 9-Ball Open Champion.

Manalo, Gabica and De Luna are members of the newly-formed Philippine Billiards Development Foundation (PBDF) along with Rene Mar David, 2006 Sydney World Junior Quarter-Finalist.

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

YNARES 9-BALL EXHIBITION MATCHES

2008-03-22T01:03:00.000-07:00

CONQUEROR OF AMANG PARICA INVITED TO PLAY IN YÑARES 9-BALL

VETERAN campaigner Ramon "Maestro Monching" Mistica leads pool players invited to play in the forthcoming 1st Mayor Boyet Yñares 9-ball Exhibition matches on March 29 in Yñares, Plaza, Binangonan, Rizal.

Mistica, made big waves in the local billiard scene after shocking Filipino pool legend Jose "Amang" Parica in the mid 80's. He will join former Southeast Asian Games medalist Victor Arpileda, Rogelio Sotero, Paul Kenneth Arpilleda, Patrick Gonzales, Antonio Delpin, Sean Mark Malayan and Alex Lumpay to show their stuff in Binangonan, Rizal.

"Sana makapagbigay dulot kami ng kasiyahan sa mga taga Rizal Province at makapag-ambag kami ng aming dunong sa kanila na layunin nito na mapalaganap ang billiards sa grass roots level," said Mistica, who also won several tournaments in Canada and the United States.

In another news, Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, world's no.1 defeated 2007 World Pool Finalist Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez, 13-9, in the finals to receive the top prize $10,000 in the just concluded 1st QC 9-Ball Open, held at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

Francisco "Django" Bustamante and Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego filled up the top four spots. Other pool players seeing action in the Ynares exhibition matches are former world champions Efren "Bata" Reyes, Alex Pagulayan, Ronato Alcano and reigning national open champion Lee Vann Corteza.

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO

CORTEZA, KIAMCO, RAZALAN VYING IN JAPAN 9-BALL OPEN

2008-03-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

REIGNING national champion Lee Vann Corteza, Warren Kiamco and Dondon Razalan will compete in the 2008 Japan 9-Ball Open in Tokyo, Japan on March 22.

Corteza won the 2006 All Japan Championships while Kiamco, on the other hand is 2005 Japan 9-Ball Open champ. Razalan on the other hand, won the 2008 Kyoto, Japan 9-Ball Open this year.

"Pagkatapos ng QC 9-Ball Open ay lalahok ako sa Japan 9-Ball Open." said the Calauag, Quezon native Razalan in a recent interview.

"Maraming kababayan natin na lalahok sa Japan 9-Ball Open." Added Razalan, also based in Lopez, Quezon and Japan.

Meanwhile, both Corteza and Kiamco are schedule to play in the 8th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship from May 12-17 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Joining them in the Japan 9-Ball Open were world champions Efren "Bata" Reyes (1999), Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan (2004), former world no.1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Ronato "Volcano" Alcano (2006), 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica, 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball silver medalist Jeffrey de Luna, 2006 World Pool League winner Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo, veteran campaigners Antonio "Nickoy" Lining, Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego, Roel Esquillo and new comer Odon Antollin Cruz, son-in-law of Efren "Bata" Reyes.

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO.

BANARES BEATS CERNA WINS RP JUNIOR OF POOL

2008-03-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

Final Standings and Prizes (55 players field, 19-year-old and below, born 1989)

1st-Jericho Banares (Scooter plus trophy)
2nd-John Carlo Cerna (Aircon plus, Mountain Bike plus trophy)
3rd-Jordan Legaspi (TV plus DVD plus trophy)
4th-Rayner Espejo (TV plus DVD plus trophy)
5th-Alexander Aquino (Aircon)
6th-Zoren Bantayan (TV)
7th-Michael Mengorio (Mountain Bike)
8th-Rene Mar David (Mountain Bike)

JERICHO BANARES defeated John Carlo Cerna, 13-8, in the finals to emerge over-all champion in the just ended 2nd Philippines Junior Pool Championships qualifying round at the No.46 Joy St., Grace Village in Quezon City on Sunday.

"Masayang-masaya po ako kasi talagang pinaghandaan ko ito (RP Junior of Pool)," said the Tanauan, Batangas native Banares but raise in Antipolo City.

On the way to the finals, Banares needed to disposed of last year's runner-up and former undefeated player Jordan Legaspi of Bocaue, Bulacan, 11-8, in the cross-over semi-final round (single knock-out) while Cerna trounced Rayner Espejo of Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, 11-8.

Banares receive the top purse Scooter plus trophy while Cerna went home the runner-up prize of Aircon, Mountain Bike plus trophy in this event hosted by long-time billiards patron Sebastian "Baste" Chua and supported by Ambassador Francis Chua, the special Philippine envoy on China trade and investments.

Banares and Cerna, both will represent the country in the forthcoming 2008 WPA World Junior Pool Championships slated this year in the United States.

In the battle for third, Legaspi beat Espejo, 11-5.

No less than Raya Sports president and BSCP chairman Yen Makabenta, BSCP president Ernie Fajardo and national coach Ramon Ancaja led the closing rites in this Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines, Raya Sports and Events, Philippine Billiards Development Foundation and Star Billiards Center league.

Note for added info: Tournament director Sol Gueco said that another undefeated player Boots Augusto of Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu failed to play in the final four after the former (Gueco) verified the birth certificate of the latter's (Augusto). According to Gueco, Augusto admitted to him that Augusto born in Nov.6, 1988 that automatic him to disqualified in the four-day (March 13-16) event, open to all 19-year-old and below pool players which born in 1989.

Contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO