Pinoys shine in 1st California Pool Tour

MANILA, Philippines – Although Filipino billiard masters Jose “Amang” Parica and Santos Sambajon did not show up for the 1st California Pool Players Tour (CPPT) in San Jose, 4 other Pinoys held their own against other competitors in the tournament.

Filipinos Deo Mark Alpajora, Ramon “Maestro Monching” Mistica, Jun Almoite and Jaynard Orque made up for the absence of Sambajon and the more established Parica.

Alpajora reached as far as the finals where he faced eventual champion Max Eberle of California.

To reach the championship round, Alpajora had to win all of his matches from the losers side after losing to Mistica (7-1).

Mistica, for his part, continued his streak until he met Jun Almoite (7-6), who sent him to the losers side where he received another beating, this time from Alpajora (7-5).

Aside from beating Mistica, Almoite also defeated Orque (7-5), Roger Estelle (7-2), Billy Palmer (7-4), Jeff Gregory (7-6) and Amar Kang (7-6) before losing to Eberle (5-7).

Almoite had to play against well-rested Alpajora for the right to face Eberle in the finals. Alpajora prevailed (7-4).

In the final race to 9 match, Eberle played an almost perfect 9-ball game. The American started strong and led Alpajora (7-1).

On the 9th rack, Eberle missed an easy 4-9 combination which gave Alpajora a chance to win the game. The Filipino followed this up with another 4 racks, bridging the gap between his foe, 7-6.

A dry break by Alpajora on the 14th rack gave Eberle the chance to seal the win (9-6) and take home the $2,000 top prize.

The inaugural California Pool Players Tour ran from June 12 to 13. –

by:  Marlon Bernardino