TWO
OF THE COUNTRY'S HOTTEST POOL SENSATION
Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna and
Roberto "Pinoy Superman" Gomez
hopes to continues their rise to stardom
when the 3rd leg of Guinness 9-ball tour
resume in action on June 15-17 at the Genting
Highlands Resort, Malaysia.
De
Luna and Gomez, two of the rising star from
Bugsy promotion will play against some of
the Asia's best cue artists in this 3-day
event, which offers a champion purse of
US$15,000. The first two legs were dominated
by the Taiwanese, namely Chang Jung-lin
(Jakarta) and Yang Ching-shun (Kaohsiung),
in order.
De
Luna and Gomez were invited to represent
the Philippines along with Bugsy stablemate
double world champion Ronato "Volcano"
Alcano and Negros Billiards Stable (NBS)
top player Lee Vann "The Slayer"
Corteza in this Guinness 9-ball tour, formerly
Asian 9-ball tour, the only ranking tour
in Asia for this year's World Pool Championships.
The
23-years-old De Luna is already outright
seeded in the main draw of Philippine WPC
this on November along with Alcano and Corteza
for making in the "last 16" in
last year's WPC Manila edition.
However,
De Luna, the 2006 Asian Games 9-ball pool
silver medalist is aiming to advance in
the Grand Finals of Guinness 9-ball tour
on August 31 to September 2 in Bali, Indonesia
which offers US$36,000 for the over-all
grand champion.
"Nagpapasalamat
po uli ako sa organizing committee at sa
pamunuan ng BSCP na nabigyan ulit tayo ng
pagkakataon na makapaglaro ulit sa Guinness
9-ball tour." De Luna said who failed
to advance in the big money round of the
inauguration of Guinness 9-ball tour last
April 20 to 22 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Gomez,
the 27-years-old from Divisoria, Zamboanga
is looking to sustain his winning form after
the local "Pinoy Superman" won
the prestigious "The 9-Ball Battle
of Scandinavian" billiards tournament
last January at the Elbowroom in Oslo, Norway
followed an impressive performance in the
Manny Pacquiao 10-ball Open last February
in General Santos City.
"The
organizers themselves handpicked De Luna
and Gomez for that tournament as they said
that they were really impressed with their
past performance in the world of pool. Beside
ito na ang future ng bilyar natin, mga bata
gaya ng Taiwanese mga bata na din ang pinadadala
at sa Amerika nga ay 22-years-old ang rising
star si Shan Vane Boening," said local
benefactor Bugsy Promotions head Ceferino
"Perry" Mariano, who manages reigning
double world champion Alcano and currently
world pool leaque and Enjoypool.com BCA
winner Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo,
reigning US Bar Table 9-ball and 8-ball
Champion Warren "Warrior" Kiamco
as well Antonio "Ga-Ga" Gabica
who finish gold-silver in the 9-ball and
8-ball event of the 15th Asian Games in
Doha, Qatar recently among others.
"
Sa pamamagitan ng Guinness 9-ball tour ay
sana muli tayong makapasok sa WPC at s'yempre
gaya din ni Jeff ( De Luna) ay hangad ko
din na makapasok sa grand finals ng Guinness
sa Bali (Indonesia) sa Setyembre."
Gomez added.
After
the Genting Highlands leg, the Guinness
9-ball tour will fly to Singapore on July
13-15 before the final leg on Shanghai,
China on August 3-5.
A
former news reporter for a giant television
network in the country, Gomez stole the
spotlight during the early stages of the
WPC, when he defeated the likes of former
US Open champion American Corey Deuel, Englishmen
John Wims and Japanese Masaaki Tanaka in
the Group play, to emerge as top seed going
into the tournament's knockout phase. He,
though, lost to eventual champion and Bugsy
stablemate Alcano in the Round of 64.
by: Marlon Bernardino -
05-30-07
CORTEZA,
MANALO, LAPEÑA, MONTAL, SAMBAJON WAS
EXIT ALREADY;
PAGULAYAN, KIAMCO STILL KICKING
Only
two Filipino remain in contention in the loser's
side. Pagulayan, who earlier relegated in
the loser's side beat Ignacio Chavez of the
United States to meet Japanese Naoyuki Oi
in the next round. Warren "Warrior"
Kiamco, the 36-years-old Pasil, Cebu native
clustered five straight wins to remain in
the title hunt which offers top prize US$14,000
to the champion.
Among
his victims were Mike Dechaine (10-9), 13-years-old
Landon Shuffett (10-8), Hiroshi Takenaka
(10-4), Robb Saez (10-6) and countryman
Marlon Manalo.
His
next assignment is Darren Appleton, world
ranked no.1 in English 8-ball pool from
England.
Appleton
is the one who inflicted the second loss
of two US based Pinoy--- Santos Sambajon
and Al Lapeña, respectively. Edwin
Montal, another Filipino-Canadian here bowed
to Huidje Sey of Korea (10-7). Sey also
loss to Appleton.
Corteza,
meanwhile suffered his second loss to 22-years-old
Shan Van Boening of the United States (10-9).
According
to Corteza's handler sportsman/ businessman
Jonathan "Bacolod" Sy in an interview
yesterday, going to the final rack, the
game was tied at 9-all and Corteza is in
the break when two balls was sank in the
hole. However, the yellow 1 ball was cover
in another ball that leads Corteza to push
the ball. Despite the position is very tough,
Boening miracle sank the No.1 ball and clean
up the table to escape a narrow 10-9 victory
over Corteza.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-26-07
DENNIS
ORCOLLO BARGE INTO TOP SIX AFTER WINNING BCA
TITLE
FILIPINO DENNIS "ROBOCOP" ORCOLLO
barge into top six spot based in the 2007
Player Money list report yesterday of AZbilliards.com.
This was because the 28-years-old top player
of Bugsy promotion earned US$15,000 for winning
the 2007 Enjoypool.com, formerly Billiards
Congress of America last Saturday in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
Orcollo, who is eyeing his second straight
crown when the Predator World 10-ball Championships
gets going late Wednesday (Manila Time)
in Jacksonville, Florida, has a winning
a total US$33,300.00 to move up sixth place.
Other Filipino was invited to participate
in the Predator World 10-ball last night
were former world no.1 Francisco "Django"
Bustamante, Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan,
Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza,
Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo, Warren
"Warrior" Kiamco and Santos "The
Saint" Sambajon.
Xiao Ting Pan, reigning World 9-ball champion
remains at top spot with US$49,200, US$100
ahead with runner-up five-time champion
Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of
the United States with US$49,100.
Rounding up the top the ten placers were
No.3 Efren "Bata" Reyes (US$39,350)
and No.5 Ronato "Volcano" Alcano
of the Philippines(US$34,400), No.5 Jeanette
Lee of the United States (US$34,000), No.7
Corey Deuel of the United States (US$31,260),
No.8 Karen Corr of Ireland (US$29,880),
No.9 George Breedlove of the United States
(US$29,600) and No.10 Ga Young Kim of Korea
(US$27,600).
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-23-07
ORCOLLO BLANKS VAN COENING WINS ENJOYOLL.COM
EARN SLOT IN THE THIRD LEG OF GUINNESS
9-BALL TOUR
REIGNING
WORLD POOL LEAQUE CHAMPION Dennis
"Robocop" Orcollo blanked
uprising Shane Van Boening of the
United States (7-0) in the finals
to emerge over-all champion in the
just concluded 2007 Enjoypool.com
(formerly Billiard Congress of America)
9-ball Championships Saturday night
(Manila time) at the Riviera Hotel
and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According
to Azbilliards report yesterday,
when the Bislig, Surigao del Sur
native was not running racks, he
was putting Van Boening in safeties
with little chance to do anything
offensively.
Van
Boening's first real chance to make
any headway in the match was in
rack six, but he came up short on
his 9-ball shape and missed the
ball badly. He had another chance
in rack seven when Orcollo played
a weak safety, but Van Boenings
return safe was even worse and it
left Orcollo all the chance he needed
to run out the final rack.
With
this impressive win, the 28-years-old
top player of Bugsy promotion went
home the top prize of US$15,000
while the 22-years-old Van Boening
settled for runner-up prize of US$9,000.
Another host country bet Mike Davis
finished at third place in the tournament
attracted 64 world's best player
that includes former world champions
Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann
of Germany, Earl Strickland and
Johnny Archer of the United States
and Mika Immonen of Finland.
"
Inaalay ko po aking tagumpay sa
ating bayan. Pati sa aking manager
na si Mr. Perry Mariano na laging
nasa tabi ko, sa aking pamilya at
sa poong maykapal." Said Orcollo,
whose next stop is the forthcoming
Predator World 10-ball championships
on May 23-27 at the Bankshot Billiards
Hall in Jacksonville, Florida wherein
compatriots Francisco "Django"
Bustamante, Lee Vann "The Slayer"
Corteza, Alex "The Lion"
Pagulayan, Warren "Warrior"
Kiamco and Marlon "Marvelous"
Manalo also seeing in action.
Billiards
and Snooker Congress of the Philippines
(BSCP) chairman and Raya sports
president Yen Makabenta lauded Orcollo's
superb performance.
"Great
news for RP pool." said Leyte
native Makabenta, who was cited
"Man of the Year" by US
based magazine Billiards Digest
for the successful debut of the
World Pool Championship in Manila
last year.
Not
only the huge money and international
recognition earned Orcollo after
winning the formerly known tough
field of Billiards Congress of America
(BCA) event, as bonus he got inclusion
in the four Filipino representative
in the third leg of Guinness 9-ball
tour in Genting Island, Malaysia
next month. Orcollo finished third
in the inauguration of Guinness
9-ball tour last month in Jakarta,
Indonesia.
"Yes."
This was assured by Makabenta when
this writer asked him yesterday
regarding Orcollo's inclusion in
the third leg of Guinness 9-ball
tour, the only ranking tour in Asia
for this year's World Pool 9-ball
Championships in Manila interestingly
organized by Makabenta.
Reaching
the finals in the total pot prize
US$160,000 event is not easy for
the undefeated player Orcollo. He
needed to beat David Reljik of Australia
(11-5), Marcus "Napoleon"
Chamat of Sweden (11-7), Neils "The
Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands
(11-10), compatriot former world
no.1 Francisco "Django"
Bustamante (11-7) and Jose "Amang"
Parica (11-8) and Boening (11-6)
in their hot-seat match to advance
in the championships round.
Van
Boening on the other hand, defeated
Davis (7-6) in the loser's side
to secure the last seat and force
a rematch with Orcollo in the finals.
In
the distaff side, Karen Corr of
Ireland trounced Allison Fisher
of Great Britain (7-4) in the finals
to capture the coveted title. She
receive top prize US$15,000 while
Fisher didn't go empty handed with
second prize US$9,000.
Filipino player failed in the big
money round were former world no.1
Francisco "Django" Bustamante,
Jose "Amang" Parica, Marlon
"Marvelous" Manalo, Warren
"Warrior" Kiamco and Santos
"The Saint" Sambajon.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
04-07-07
|
BOENING
FORCE A REMATCH AGAINST OROCOOLO IN BCA 9-BALL
FINALS
AMERICAN SHANE VAN BOENING run-out the final
rack to escape a narrow 7-6 victory against
countryman Mike Davis in the loser’s
brackets to secure the last slot
to force a rematch against Filipino undefeated
player Dennis Orcollo in the 64 man-field
2007 Enjoypool.com (formerly Billiard Congress
of America) 9-ball Championships yesterday
at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
After winning the opening lag, the 22-years-old
Boening, who turned professional pool player
last year take a 3-0 commanding lead in the
race-to-7, alternate break according to online
report of AZ billiards forum yesterday.
Davis tied the game at 3-3 by winning the
next three racks. Boening reach the hill for
the comfortable 6-4 lead after Davis suffered
a scratch in the 10th racks. However, Davis
leveled the game at 6-6 count winning three
consecutive racks after Boening missed No.5
ball in the 12th racks. Superb break of Boening
in the final rack leads him for run-out for
the double hill victory.
At stakes a total pot prize US$160,000 in
this event which attracted top player in the
land where the champion pocketing US$15,000
while the runner-up gets US$9,000.
Meanwhile, on the way in the finals, the 28-years-old
Orcollo needed to disposed
David Reljik of Australia (11-5), Marcus “Napoleon”
Chamat of Sweden (11-7), Neils “The
Terminator” Feijen of the Netherlands
(11-10), compatriots former world no.1 Francisco
“Django” Bustamante (11-7) and
Jose “Amang” Parica (11-8) and
Boening (11-6) in their hot-seat match to
advance in the championships round.
Filipino player failed in the big money round
were former world no.1 Francisco “Django”
Bustamante, Jose “Amang” Parica,
Marlon “Marvelous” Manalo, Warren
“Warrior” Kiamco and Santos “The
Saint” Sambajon.
In the distaff side, Allison Fisher of Great
Britain takes on Jasmin Ouschan of Austria
for the last finals berth. The winner of the
match will challenge undefeated lady cue star
Karen Korr of Ireland for the crown.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-19-07
Orcollo
is the last Filipino Standing in BCA, Enters
Finals
REIGNING World Pool Leaque champion Dennis
“Robocop” Orcollo, the last Filipino
standing defeated Shane Van Boening of the
United States (11-6) in their intense hot-seat
match battle yesterday to booked his seat
in the finals in the ongoing 64 man field
dubbed as 2007 Enjoypool.com (formerly Billiard
Congress of America) 9-ball Championships
at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
The 28-years-old Orcollo, top player of Bugsy
promotion won the opening lag and surge a
5-3 to 7-4 lead in the race-to-11, alternate
break format according to on line report yesterday
of AZbilliards forum.
Orcollo who is currently based in Quezon City
earlier beat compatriot Filipino legendary
Jose “Amang” Parica (11-8) while
the 22-years-old deft (bingi) Boening trounced
countryman Mike Davis (11-6) in the fifth
match of winner’s brackets.
Boening, a relatively unknown in world of
pool turned professional pool player last
year according to BSCP chair and Raya sports
president Yen Makabenta.
Businessman/ sportsman Perry Mariano, Orcollo’s
benefactor wish good luck to his player.
“Hope manalo si Dennis (Orcollo) dahil
siya na lamang ang pag-asa ng bansa natin
sa BCA kasi na eliminate na ang lahat ng player
natin.” said Mariano.
Orcollo who finished third in this year’s
BSCP National Open is the only hopeful for
the country when his fellow Pinoy cue wizard
was booted yesterday in the event offers US$15,000
for the champion. Orcollo is already assured
US$9,000 for reaching the finals in this US$160,000
total pot prize 9-ball tourney.
The 54-years-old Parica, acknowledge the leader
of Filipino invasion in the mid 80’s
suffered his second loss to 2006 US Open ruler
John Schmidt of the United States (11-8)
to joined former world no.1 Francisco “Django”
Bustamante, Marlon “Marvelous”
Manalo, Santos “The Saint” Sambajon
and Warren “Warrior” Kiamco in
the exit.
Schmidt also beat Satoshi Kawabata of Japan
(11.3). Kawabata on the other hand, inflicted
second loss of Sambajon (11-6)
If Schmidt luckily beat Davis, he will face
Boening for the last finals berth in the one-loss
side.
Davis nipped 2001 Cardiff World 9-Ball Champion
Mika “The Iceman” Immonen of Finland
(11-9). Immonen crushed Manalo and Bustamante
in a similar 11-8 victory, respectively.
The 44-years-old Bustamante clobbered five-time
world champion Johnny “The Scorpion”
Archer of the United States (11-8) while Archer
walloped Kiamco (11-3).
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-18-07
PINOY
CUE MASTER ORCOLLO STOP COMPATRIOT BUSTAMANTE
FILIPINO
ACE DENNIS “ROBOCOP” ORCOLLO,
the reigning 2006 World Pool Leaque champion
stop the winning run of countryman Francisco
“Django” Bustamante, the former
world no.1 in an intense 11-7 victory to post
his fourth straight wins in as many rounds
in the ongoing 64 man field dubbed as 2007
Enjoypool.com (formerly Billiard Congress
of America) 9-ball Championships yesterday
at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
The 28-years-old Orcollo, top player of Bugsy
promotion will face neither Filipino legendary
Jose “Amang” Parica or 2001 World
Pool Champion Mika “The Iceman”
Immonen of Finland who battling as of press
time according to AZbilliards.com.
“Suwerte lang pumabor ‘yung bola
sa akin.” said Orcollo, who avenge his
defeat to eventual champion Bustamante in
their semi-final bout in the last December’s
Solar Sports Fil-9 Ball Open in Parañaque
City.
At stakes here in BCA is a whopping total
prize purse US $160,000 where the champion
pocketing the US $15,000. The runner-up place
went home US$9,000.
If Orcollo luckily beat neither Parica/ Immonen,
then he will face the winner of the match
between Mike Davis of the United States and
Shan Van Boening of Canada for the sixth match
in the winner side brackets.
Davis walloped Ronnie Wiseman of Canada (11-6)
while Boening surprise Satoshi Kawabata of
Japan (11-10).
Kawabata is the conqueror of Pasil, Cebu native
Warren “Warrior” Kiamco, another
Bugsy stalwart (11-8) in the third round of
winner’s brackets last Wednesday.
The 36-years-old Kiamco, both winners in the
9-ball and 8-ball competition in this year’s
US Bar Table Championships will face former
five-time world champion Johnny “The
Scorpion” Archer of the United States,
who beat compatriot Shawn Putnam (11-5).
However, if Kiamco beat Archer, then beat
the winner of the match between Steve Moore
and John Morra, both from Canada he will face
Bustamante in the future round for the loser
side.
Marlon “Marvelous” Manalo edges
2003 World Pool 9-ball champion Thorsten “The
Hitman” Hohmann of Germany (11-10) and
beat Danny Hewitt of the United States (11-4),
in the one-loss side to remain in contention.
The 30-years-old Mandaluyong pride Manalo
will meet Raj Hundal of United Kingdom in
the next round.
As of press time, Santos “The Saint”
Sambajon, the pride of Macalelon, Quezon province
will meet either Luc Salvas of Canada and
Larry Nevel of the United States.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-17-07
GUINNESS
9-BALL TOUR 2007 MOVES ON TO TAIWAN
Alcano, 3 other Filipinos set to do battle
in Kaohsiung
SUFFERING its first defeat since last year’s
all-Filipino sweep of the Asian tour, the
Philippine contingent, spearheaded by reigning
double world pool champion Ronato “Volcano”
Alcano alongside 2004 World 9-ball champion
Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan, 2006
Doha Asian Games gold medallist Antonio “Ga-Ga”
gabica and 2006 Japan Open winner Antonio
“Nickoy” Lining, are raring to
get back to their winning ways as they once
again take on Asia’s pool elite when
competition gets under way today in the second
leg of the Guinness 9Ball Tour at the harbour
city in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
However, such a task is easier said than done
as the local resistance will be bannered by
two former world champions – Taiwan's
Chao Fong-Pang (1993 & 2000 WPA World
Pool Champion) and compatriot Wu Chia-Ching
(2005 WPA World Pool Champion) and further
bolstered by the inclusion of Jakarta leg
title holder Chang Jung-Lin, Yang Ching-Shun,
Lu Hui-Chan and three-time World Junior Champion
Wu Yu-Lin, who is making his debut appearance
in the tour. Action in the group stage begins
today at the Kaohsiung Business Exhibition
Center.
Last month, Chang Jun-lin of Chinese-Taipei
bested Filipino ace Lee Vann “The Slayer”
Corteza in the finals of the inauguration
of Guinness 9-ball tour in Jakarta, Indonesia.
With this result, Philippines campaign here
failed to duplicate in the last year’s
Filipino sweep domination where pool maestro
Efren “Bata” Reyes took two legs
while Ramil “Bebeng” Gallego and
Rodolfo “Boy Samson” Luat, won
each legs.
The 34-years-old Alcano is in Group G together
with Nitiwat Kanjanasri of Thailand and Vietnamese
bet Luong Chi-Dung. The soft-spoken Filipino
favorite will take on Kanjanasri first at
2:30pm (HKT Time) then face off against Luong
at 5pm in the TV table on STAR Sports.
Over in Group E, the Calapan, Oriental Mindoro
Lining will battle local favorite Chao Fong-Pang
at 11am after which he will square-off with
Indian Dharminder Singh Lilly at 6:30pm.
The Lapu-Lapu City bet Gabica, bracketed in
Group D with Singaporean Bernard Tey Choon
Kiat and Taiwan billiard prodigy Wu Yu-Lun
will start his campaign against Wu at the
TV table at 6:30pm then close out the eliminations
versus Tey at 8pm.
Pagulayan, the Cabagan, Isabela native will
have a tough time when he challenges the pocketing
skills of Indonesia’s number one player
Ricky Yang at 5pm and afterwards utilize his
bag of tricks to test the mettle of Ryu Seung-Woo
of Korea at 630pm.
Formerly the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the Guinness
9-Ball Tour has been made bigger and better
for players and fans alike with the new partnership
between ESPN STAR Sports and Guinness. Total
prize money has doubled to US$320,000 (from
US$160,000 from last year's tour) and the
Tour will feature a grand final in Bali for
the Top 10 players. Winners of each leg will
win US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion
will walk away with 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 top
ten finishers in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour
Order of Merit will automatically qualify
for pool's most prestigious event, this year's
edition slated for a second straight staging
for Manila in November.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-17-07
DENNIS
ORCOLLO EDGES REIGNING EUROPEAN NO.1 PLAYER
FILIPINO cue master Dennis “Robocop”
Orcollo edges European No.1 player Neils “The
Terminator” Feijen of the Netherlands
(11-10) to remain undefeated in the ongoing
64 man field dubbed as 2007 Enjoypool.com
(formerly Billiard Congress of America) 9-ball
Championships yesterday at the Riviera Hotel
and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 28-years-old Orcollo, top ace of Bugsy
promotion also beat David Reljik of Australia
(11-5), and Marcus “Napoleon”
Chamat of Sweden (11-7), in order.
Feijen, the winner in this year’s Battle
of Scandinavia 8-ball in Oslo, Norway and
Derby City Classic 9-ball in Louisville, Kentucky
bested Richard Broumpton (11-3) and Tony Crosby
(11-3) before yielding to Orcollo.
The Quezon City based Orcollo, the 2006 World
Pool Leaque winner will face countryman former
world no.1 Francisco “Django”
Bustamante in the next round, who beat Jeremy
Jones (11-7) of the Unites States, Marlon
“Marvelous” Manalo (11-6) and
Santos “The Saint” Sambajon (11-9)
of the Philippines.
Manalo from Mandaluyong City earlier trounced
2005 World Junior runner-up Hisashi Kusano
of Japan (11-2) before bowing to Bustamante
while Sambajon, who hails from Macalelon,
Quezon province trounced Bruce Wilkinson (11-3)
of the United States and ex-world 9-ball champion
Ralf “Kaiser” Souquet of Germany
(11-5) before yielding to Bustamante.
“Umaasa ako na magiging maganda ang
performance natin dito sa BCA.” Said
the Bislig, Surigao del Sur native Orcollo.
Orcollo is aiming to a better finish in this
BCA event to lift hi status in world billiard
circuit after a poor showing in the month
of April.
Orcollo loss to eventual winner Lee Vann “The
Slayer” Corteza in the semi-final matches
of 2nd BSCP National Pool Championships in
Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Orcollo also loss in the race-to-60, 9-ball
showdown against Taiwanese Yang Shing-chun
at the Gateway Mall in Araneta Center, Cubao.
Then Orcollo bowed to Corteza in their semi-final
match of the inauguration of Guinness 9-ball
tour in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the 55-years-old Jose “Amang”
Parica, acknowledge leader of the Filipino
invasion in the mid 80’s defeated Allen
Hopkins (11-9) and former US Open ruler Corey
Deuel (11-10) of the United States and ex-world
trickshot winner Fabio Petroni of Italy (11-10),
respectively to stay in course.
Parica is schedule to face 2001 Cardiff World
9-ball ruler Mika “The Iceman”
Immonen of Finland, who subdued Ernesto Dominguez
of Mexico (11-6), Paul Potier of Canada (11-7)
and 2002 Cardiff World 9-ball winner Earl
“The Pearl” Strickland of the
United States (11-4).
The survivor Orcollo vs Bustamante tussle
will meet the winner between the match of
Parica and Immonen in the fifth round of winner’s
brackets.
Not as fortunate is reigning US Bar Table
double champion (9-ball and 8-ball) Warren
“Warrior” Kiamco, another Bugsy
stalwart who loss his third round assignment
against Satoshi Kawabata of Japan (11-8) to
join Manalo and Sambajon in the loser’s
brackets in this double elimination format.
Kawabata, on the other hand meet Shane Van
Boening of Canada, winner over fellow Canadian
John Morra (11-9). The winner of Boening vs
Kawabata will face the victor of Mike Davis
and Ronnie Wiseman in other side of the draw.
At stakes is a whopping total prize purse
US $160,000 where the champion offers US $15,000.
The runner-up place take home US$9,000.(
Advertiser
Marvelous
Manalo Finish
Third in Florida 9-Ball
LONE
Filipino entry “Marvelous” Marlon
Manalo settled for strong third place finish
in the field of 47 at the conclusion of Seminole
Florida Pro Tour Stop 9-ball tournament yesterday
at the New Wave Billiards hall in Miami, Florida.
After posting three consecutive wins against
Nathan Rose, Ronnie Wiseman and Tony Chohan
with a similar 7-5 victory the other day,
the 30-years-old top player of RP billiards
patron Aristeo “Putch” Puyat of
Puyat Sports was relegated in the loser’s
brackets after yielding to Donnie Mills (8-7)
in the fourth match of the winner’s
brackets.
Then Manalo came back in the contention in
the US$8,000 added prize tournament by beating
Dave Grossman (8-3), Tony Crosby (8-3), Corey
Deuel (8-2) and Tony Chohan (8-7) in the one-loss
side according to yesterday’s report
of famous Arizona based website AZbilliards.com.
He had a chance to secure the last seat for
the race-to-9, finals but suffered his second
loss at the hands of eventual winner Dennis
Hatch (8-1).
With this results, Manalo failed to duplicate
his record last week after emerging over-all
champion in the same event for the top prize
US$3,500.
Hatch, on the other hand, beat Donnie Mills
(9-4) in the finals to enroute top purse US$2,700,
while Mills satisfied runner-up prize US$1,800.
(MARLON BERNARDINO).
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-7-07
FILIPINO
ACE SAMBAJON WINS NY 9-BALL TILT
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
Filipino ace Santos “The Saint' Sambajon
defeated twice korean Shin Park to emerge
over-all champion in the 33 man field Blaze
9 Ball Tour Stop # 12 last May 6 at the
Leisure Time Billiards in Levittown, New
York.
The undefeated Sambajon, who hails from
Macalelon, Quezon province edges Park, 7-6,
in their rematch in the finals to went home
the top prize US$800 according to report
of AZbilliards.com.
On do way to the finals, Sambajon needed
to dispose Michael Wong 7-1, Shin Park 7-6,
Adam Kielar 7-5, Liz Ford 7-4, respectively
in the winner’s brackets and Oscar
Bonilla 7-3 for the hot-seat match to reach
the finals.
Park, on the other hand bested Bonilla 7-1
in the loser’s brackets to forge a
rematch to Sambajon in the finals.
Bonilla, is the conqueror of New York based
Pinoy (son and father) 13 years-old Darwin
7-4 and Mhet Vergara 7-6 in the winner’s
side.
Ford, the lone female entry who upset former
world champion Earl “The Pearl”
Strickland, 7-4, to finish at 5th place.
Rounding up to the top five finishers were
runner-up Park, 3rd placer Bonilla and 4th
placer Mhet Vergarra. (MARLON BERNARDINO).
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-11-07
BSCP:
CORTEZA, ORCOLLO, DE LUNA REPLACE;
ALCANO REMAINS IN NEXT LEG OF GUINNESS 9-BALL
TOUR
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
THE COUNTRY’S BID in the next leg
of Guinness 9-ball tour will be missing
the service of reigning national Open champion
Lee Vann “The Slayer” Corteza,
2006 World Pool Leaque ruler Dennis “Robocop”
Orcollo and 2006 Doha Asian games 9-balll
silver medallist Jeffrey “The Bull”
de Luna this was bared yesterday by the
top officials of the billiard federation.
According to Billiard and Snooker Congress
of the Philippines (BSCP) president Ernie
Fajardo and chairman Yen Makabenta, ex-Japan
Open champ Antonio “Nickoy”
Lining, 2006 Doha Asian games 9-ball gold
medalist and 8-ball silver medalist Antonio
“Ga-Ga”Gabica and 2004 World
Pool Champion Alex “The Lion”
Pagulayan will be front liner of team Philippines
including double world champion (WPA 9 ball
and WPA 8 ball) Ronato “Volcano”
Alcano in the Guinness 9-ball tour, formerly
Asian 9-ball tour where the staging of second
leg of Guinness 9-ball tour kicks off on
May 18 to 20 in Kaohsiung, Taipei.
“They can still be considered in other
legs. But for the 2nd (leg), we’re
sending Alex (Pagulayan) and Nickoy (Lining).”
added Fajardo in a text message yesterday.
Actually, aside from Lining, Marlon “Marvelous”
Manalo are the top pick of BSCP in the second
leg while Alcano and Gabica are the choice
of organizing group. Manalo begged of at
the last minute to compete in some series
of tournament in the United States. The
30-years-old Manalo is currently playing
in Connecticut then schedule to proceed
in San Francisco, California. He is planning
to joined countryman Deomark “Deo”
Alpajora and Ramon “Maestro Monching”
Mistica to play in the Bay area.
Philippines and Taiwan, both allowed to
fields at least four entries in the Guinness
9-ball tour which offers $15,000 for the
leg winners while $36,000 for the grand
champion set in September in Bali, Indonesia.
Only Alcano remains in the Guinness 9-ball
tour, the only ranking tour in Asia for
this year’s World Pool Championships
in Manila this November.
The 34-years-old Alcano, signed a P1 million
one-year contract being the ambassador and
brand endorser of Guinness, Iris stout beer,
famous in Europe and some part of Asia but
not in the Philippines.
“Si Ronnie (Alcano) ay talagang mare
retain yan hanggang sa huling leg kasi may
kontrata s’ya sa Guinness. Pero ang
pagkaka-alam ko ay main objective natin
sa Guinness tour ay ‘syempre ‘yung
manalo tayo para sa glory sa bansa.”
Bugsy promotion head Perry Mariano said
in a separate interview yesterday who manage
the career of Alcano, Orcollo, De Luna and
Gabica, among others.
In fact, majority of the Filipino representative
assured already slot in the WPC, namely:
Alcano, Pagulayan, Corteza, Orcollo, Manalo,
Lining and De Luna, only Gabica is not seeded
in the main draw.
“Pero pinakamahalaga y’ung mga
player natin ay makapasok sa sa main draw
ng World Pool at kasama na din ‘yung
pagpasok sa grand finals ng Guinness sa
Setyembre.” Mariano added.
The 28-years-old Corteza, top player of
Negros Billiard Stable (NBS), the reigning
national open champion and 39th All Japan
king pin said, “Good luck to them.”
referring to Pagulayan, Lining, Gabica and
Alcano’s campaign for the second leg.
Corteza, the pride of Davao City had a strong
second place finish in the inaugural leg
of Guinness 9-ball tour in Jakarta, Indonesia
last weekend. He beat Alcano, 9-8, in the
quarters, 9-8, then subdued Orcollo, 13-11,
in the semis but failed to sustain his winning
run yielding to eventual winner Taiwanese
Chang Jung-lin, 11-5. Corteza had a chance
to close the match at 6-5 count in the 11th
racks but suffered a controversial foul
from the referee after his shirt was contacted
at 8-ball with three balls remaining (7,
8 and 9).
Who is Chang? The 21-years-old Chang is
relatively unknown in the world of pool,
in fact when Vilmos Foldes of Hungrary won
the 2003 World Junior Champion, Chang was
the runner-up. He is also the reigning Taiwan
pro tour winner and still studies in the
College.
His
WPC record: 2005-L16 (knocked out Filipinos
Francisco “Django” Bustamante
& Warren “Warrior” Kiamco,
but lost to American Rodney “Rocket”
Morris), 2006-L64 (lost to Briton Kevin Uzzell).
CORTEZA, ORCOLLO ALSO PLAYING IN THE US POOL?
After the officials of BSCP decided not to
field Corteza and Orcollo in the second leg
of Guinness 9-ball tour, the duo (Corteza
and Orcollo) are schedule to compete in the
money rich United States pool event starting
next month. The triumvirate (Manalo, Corteza
and Orcollo) along with 2007 US Bar table
(9 ball and 8 ball) winner Warren “Warrior”
Kiamco will see action in the Predator Championships
in Florida next month.
Meanwhile, with Guinness as the new sponsor,
the entire Tour offers total prize money of
$320,000 (up from US$160,000 last year), and
it will feature a Grand Final in Bali for
the Top 10 players. Winners of each leg will
win US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion
will walk away with US$36,000. With six stops,
this is the biggest Tour since its inception
in 2003.
After
the opening leg in Jakarta, the Tour’s
other stops are Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei
on May 18 to 20 then off to Genting Highlands
Resort in Malaysia on June 15 to 17, 2007.
The next leg will be in Singapore on July
13 to 15, 2007, and in Shanghai, China on
August 3 to 5, 2007.
The
Grand Championship Final is slated August
31 to Sept. 2 in Bali, Indonesia.
The Tour qualifies players for the WPA World
Pool Championship. The top ten finishers will
automatically qualify for pool’s most
prestigious event, which is slated in Manila
on November 3-11.
The
Guinness 9-Ball Tour will be broadcast live
by Star Sports, with 15 hours devoted to each
leg. Each leg will be held over three days,
with the field of 24 players divided into
eight groups which will play a single round-robin
format. The eight group winners will advance
to the quarter-finals where the knockout format
will apply as the players play through to
the final.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
04-25-07
FEMALE
PLAYER BESTED ARCHER AND REYES;
AZBILLIARDS NO.1 PLAYER
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
2007 Player Money List:
1 Xiao Ting-Pan (China/ $47,200)
2 Johnny Archer (USA/$47,100)
3 Efren Reyes (Philippines/$39,350)
4 Jeannette Lee (USA/ $33,000)
5 Ronato Alcano (Philippines/ $30,900)
6 Corey Deuel (USA/ $29,310)
7 George Breedlove (US/$29,100)
8 Niels Feijen (Netherlands/ $24,250)
9 Kelly Fisher (England/ $24,050)
10 Ga Young Kim (Korea/$23,600)
11 Warren Kiamco (Philippines/ $20,550)
12 Francisco Bustamante (Philippines/ $20,000)
13 Dennis Orcollo (Philippines/ $18,300)
14 Mika Immonen (Finland/ $18,250)
15 Rodolfo Luat (Philippines/ $17,100)
16 Steve Moore (USA/$16,950)
17 John Schmidt (USA/$16,500)
18 Jung-Lin Chang (Chinese-Taipei/$15,000)
19 Shannon Daulton (USA/$14,850)
20 Jason Miller (USA/$14,550)
THIS time woman power prevailed!!! Chinese Xiao-Ting
Pan, the reigning Amway Women’s World
9-ball champion is this month’s over-all
top player based in the latest results was published
yesterday by the famous website Arizona based
AZbilliards.com.
Despite settled for third place finish in the
WPBA San Diego Classic which topped by Kelly
Fisher last April 19-22 at the Viejas Casino
in Alpine, California, Xia receive $5,400 good
for her to climbed at No.1 spot in the 2007
Player Money list accumulating a total purse
$47,200, $100 ahead with runner-up place five-time
world champion Johnny “The Scorpion”
Archer of the United States and $7,850 ahead
with third placer hall of famer Efren “Bata”
Reyes of the Philippines.
The 25-years-old Xia from mainland China, bested
Filipina Rubilen “Bingkay” Amit
in the finals of Amway last April 5-8 in Tao-Yuan,
Taiwan to capture the women’s crown plus
the whopping grand prize worth $20,000.
She finished runner-up place to eventual winner
Ga Young Kim of Korea last February 22-25 to
pocket worth US$8,300 was held at the Gateway
Convention Center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
She beat Helena Thornfedlt in the finals to
dominates the WPBA Great Lake Classic last March
21-25 at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City,
Indianapolis to receive the top prize US$13,500.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
04-24-07
MANILA,
PHILIPPINES---WHEN it rains, it pours!
Fresh from topping the 2nd BSCP National Open
championships, Lee Van “The Slayer”
Corteza has been tapped as one of the four players
to represent the Philippines in the opening
leg of the 2007 Guinness Asian 9-Ball Tour on
April 20-21 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
According to Billiards and Snooker Congress
of the Philippines (BSCP) president Erneto Fajardo,
Corteza already assured a slot in the Guinness
9-ball tour after winning the 2nd BSCP National
Pool Open last Saturday with a 13-11 win against
Marlon "MarvelousEManalo in the finals.
"Gagawin ko ang lahat para sa bayan. Nawa'y
ipagdasal n'yo po kami.ESaid the 28-years-old
top player of Negros Billiard Stable (NBS).
Corteza, who hails from Davao City is the 2006
All Japan Championship ruler last December.
Corteza visit US Embassy Manila yesterday to
apply his visa application.
Much known Van-van in the local pool circuit,
he earlier got an official invitation to play
in the Predator Championships on May in Florida
and the prestigious International Challenge
of Champion P50,000 winner-take all matches
at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut
in July.
Formerly the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the Guinness
9-Ball Tour has been made bigger and better
for players and fans alike with the new partnership
between ESPN STAR Sports and Guinness. Total
prize money has doubled to US$320,000 (from
US$160,000 for last year’s Tour) and the
Tour will feature a Grand Final in Bali for
the Top 10 players.
Winners of each leg will win US$15,000 while
the Grand Final Champion will walk away with
US$36,000. With six stops, this is the biggest
Tour since its inception in 2003.
The six-city Guinness 9-Ball Tour begins in
Jakarta on April 20, 2007, and will attract
Asia’s top cuemasters competing for the
region's biggest purses. Asian Professional
Billiards Union-sanctioned players from Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam,
Korea, Japan, Thailand, India, China and Taiwan
all countries with strong following of the sport
will be taking part.
The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking
tour in Asia for players to qualify for the
WPA World Pool Championship. The top ten finishers
in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour Order of Merit will
automatically qualify for pool's most prestigious
event, this year's edition slated for Manila
in November.
The Philippine had a four slot's two from the
endorsement of organizing group ESPN Star Sports
and Guinness and the other two coming from the
Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines
(BSCP).
2007 World 8-ball Fujairah runner-up Dennis
"Robocop" Orcollo, acknowledge Philippine
Billiard Money Game king is the second entry
of BSCP.
Double world champion (9-ball and 8-ball) Ronato
"Volcano" Alcano and 2006 Doha Asian
games 9-ball silver medalist Jeffrey "The
Bull" De Luna are both endorse coming from
the organizing group.
The 34-years-old Alcano, signed a P1 million
one-year contract for endorsing Guinness Beer,
the famous Irish stout beer.
After the Jakarta leg; the tour goes to Kaohsiung
in May, Kuala Lumpur in June, Singapore in July,
Shanghai in August and culminates in Bali in
September.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
04-02-07
The
players pose prior to the challenge match
Simonis Predator Europe vs Philippines Challenge
Match
Dragon Promotions produced a special challenge
match between Europe and Philippines hosted
by Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower,California.
Europe was represented by the sharp looking
Mika Immonen(FIN) and Thorsten Hohmann (GER)
while Philippines was represented by World
Cup of Pool Champs Efren Reyes and Francisco
Bustamante. A packed crowd of 200 fans had
waited since 2 hours prior to secure their
seats for the match. The match was sponsored
by Simonis Cloth and Predator Cues.
Reyes
took on Hohmann in a straight pool match race
to 100 on a very tight and challenging triple
shimmed table, while Immonen would battle
out Bustamente in bank pool race to 3. In
a neck to neck battle, Hohmann prevailed over
Reyes 100-92 while Immonen failed in his best
game to overcome the ferocious Francisco 3-1.
"These
tables are not meant for 14.1." commented
John Schmidt, US Open Champion who stopped
by to sweat the action." It's a little
too tight for high runs. But it's impressive
to see the intensity of all these players
here. The fans are taking this very seriously
and so the players are getting into it. I
told Mika and Thorsten not too take this match
too lightly cause to a lot of these Filipino
fans, this is not a joke!
The
winning team would be decided in a final race
to 7 scotch doubles match. Mika and Thorsten
looked in perfect sync as they climbed to
a 6-3 lead. But the Pinoys began their magical
journey back to 6-5, and then Immonen missed
a near straigh in 9Ball to win the match.
Now at 6-6, Hohmann made 2 great kickshots
to outmaneuver Reyes and Bustamante's witty
safeties. Hohmann was left with a long 2Ball
with cue ball frozen to the rail. He hit with
near perfect speed and accuracy. Somehow the
2Ball failed to go in and hung up! Reyes and
Bustamante then cleaned up the table in alternate
fashion to win the match and the event win
for the Philippines to the cheers of the Filipino
fans .
"We
had an amazing turn out today, and it's a
Monday!" said Brook Thomason. "Believe
it or not, this was out first exhibition we
ever hosted. This was great, and next time
we want to make it even better."
By
Press Release - April 20, 2007
CORTEZA
IN JAKARTA GUINNES 9-BALL TOUR
IS SET TO LEAVE TODAY
REIGNING 2nd BSCP National Pool champion Lee
Vann Corteza is set to leave today, Wednesday
to compete in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour on Friday
to Sunday at the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Joining
the top player of Negros Billiards Stable (NBS)
Corteza in the team are reigning double world
champion Ronato "Ronnie Calamba" Alcano,
2006 World Pool Leaque ruler Dennis "Robocop"
Orcollo and Jeffrey "The Bull" de
Luna, among others.
“Winning
the world pool crown is a dream for all billiards
player.” said the Davao cue master Corteza
recently who will use the Guinness 9-ball tour
as part of his preparation in this year’s
World Pool Championships in Manila.
Corteza beat Marlon “Marvelous”
Manalo, 13-11, in the finals to rules the 2nd
BSCP National Pool Championships recently held
at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila.
He is nicknamed "Van Van" of “The
Slayer“, and started playing pool in 1993.
He also won the 39th All Japan Championships
last December to already secured slot in World
Pool Championships in Manila on November.
Interestingly, no one Filipino player coming
from the South is a world pool champion.
“The
main objective of NBS (Negros Billiard Stable)
is that a player coming from Visayas and Mindanao
will be declared world champion. Along with
Sir Jonathan (Sy), we are full support for Van-Van
campaign.” said Christopher Palses, head
coach and team manager of Negros Billiard Stable.
“
I always beside Lee Van (Corteza) campaign.”
added sportsman/ businessman Jonathan Sy, benefecator
of Corteza, as well Rodolfo “Boy Samson”
Luat, fire cracker victim Jarry “Putol”
Pelayo, Panfilo “Lintok Abu” Damuag,
Reynaldo “Karambola king” Grandea,
Jech-Jech “ giant killer” Lemen,
Ricky “Bai” Zerna and Godofredo
“Boy Cotabato” Ducanes among others.
The 28-years-old top player of Negros Billiard
Stable (NBS) has won four Gold Medals and one
Silver Medal at the Southeast Asian Games, and
was the winner of the 2004 Asian 9-ball Tour
tournament in the Manila as well, beating fellow
countryman Francisco “Django” Bustamante
13-11 in the final.
Efren
“Bata” Reyes from Angeles City,
Pampanga, acknowledged “The Magician”
in the pool world won the World 9-ball Pool
Championships in 1999 at Cardiff, Wales in England.
Alex
“The Lion” Pagulayan, a native of
Cabagan, Isabela won the world 9-ball crown
in 2004 at Taipei in Taiwan while Ronato “Volcano”
Alcano from Calamba, Laguna bested German ace
Ralf “Kaiser” Souquet to rules the
2006 World 9-ball crown in Manila.
Bustamante,
the pride of Tarlac City finished runner-up
in the 2002 edition in Cardiff yielding to American
Earl “The Pearl” Strickland while
Pagulayan also finished runner-up in the 2003
edition in Cardiff losing to eventual champion
Thorsten “The Hitman’ Hohmann of
Germany
Meanwhile in Guinness 9-ball tour, a cash prize
of $15,000 awaits the champion of the invitational
tournament that will feature the finest cue
artists in Asia.
The
28-years-old top player of Negros Billiard Stable
(NBS) has won four Gold Medals and one Silver
Medal at the Southeast Asian Games, and was
the winner of the 2004 Asian 9-ball Tour tournament
in the Manila as well, beating fellow countryman
Francisco “Django” Bustamante 13-11
in the final.
From Jakarta, the Guinness 9-Ball Tour wil go
to Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei on May 18 to 20
then off to Genting Highlands Resort in Malaysia
on June 15 to 17, 2007. The next leg will be
in Singapore on July 13 to 15, 2007, and in
Shanghai, China on August 3 to 5, 2007.
The
Grand Championship Final is slated August 31
to Sept. 2 in Bali, Indonesia.
Corteza
will also see action in a series of competitions
in the United States slated next month. He will
play in the Predator Championships in Florida
whose stint is backed up by sportsman/ businessman
Jonathan "Bacolod" Sy.
He
was invited to strut his stuff along with Alcano
in the $50,000 winner-take all International
Challenge of Champions on August 8 and 9 in
the Mohegan Suns Casino in Unscasville, Connecticut
in USA.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
04-17-07
Advertiser
THE
BATTLE IS ON,
two of the most feared money game player will
try to display their skills in the pool table
when the much awaited Yang-Orcollo race-to-60,
9-ball duel gets underway tomorrow, Thursday,
April 12 at the Trade Hall of Gateway Mall in
Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City.
“Robocop”
Dennis Orcollo will face “The Son of Pool”
Yang Shin-chun dubbed as “The Richest
Game of Asia” will be aired by Solar Sports
organized by Bugsy Promotion and Rocketman Enterprises
in close cooperation with San Miguel Beer, BSCP
chair Yen Makabenta and sports advocate Ariel
Inton.
“
Talagang pinaghandaan ko ito at excited ako
na makalaban si Yang kasi hindi pa kami naghaharap
sa tournament o maging sa money game.”
said the 28-years-old Orcollo. “ Hope
ipagdasal ninyo po ako.” he added.
The
Orcollo-Yang un official’s money game
king showdown at stake $10,000 in the winner’s
break format where Brunswick table is the official
billiard table in the three-day event (April
12, 13 and 14) also backed up by PCSO and Motolite.
Orcollo,
who is now residing in Quezon City finished
runner-up in the 2007 World 8-ball in, Fujairah,
United Arab Emirates and settling third place
finish in the 2nd BSCP National Pool Championships
at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila,
recently.
READ
MORE>
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
04-10-07
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DEFINITELY
the biggest sporting event in the country
this year will remain in Metro Manila
despite Cebu City earlier gave intention
to host the World Pool Championships.
This
was bared yesterday by tournament organizer
Yen Makabenta, Raya Sports president
and Billiards and Snooker Congress of
the Philippines (BSCP) chairman.
Makabenta,
who is cited by the Billiard Digest
Magazine being "The Man of the
Year" because of successful staging
in the debut last year's of WPC now
had a three venues are the possible
site.
"In
the running right now." Makabenta
referring the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon
City, Philippine International Convention
Center (PICC) and Mall of Asia, both
in Pasay City.
Araneta
Coliseum much known the Bog Dome can
occupy at least 20 thousand crazy billiards
fanatics.
PICC
is the host venue last year which won
by Filipino Ronato Alcano after beating
German ace Ralf Souquet in the finals.
Makabenta
said, in three days time he will make
an official announcement regarding the
details of WPC.
"Will
make official announcement on Friday."
He added.
Makabenta
added that the prestigious World Pool
Championships slated on November 3-11
had at least Ten Filipino is seeded
in the main draw.
The
Ten Filipino is bannered by Alcano,
the reigning WPA 9-ball and 8-ball champion,
1999 WPC champ Efren "Bata"
Reyes, 2004 WPC champ, 2005 US Open
champion and 2007 Japan Open champion
Alex Pagulayan, 2005 WPC semi-finalist
Marlon Manalo, reigning National open
champion and 39 th All Japan winner
Lee Vann Corteza, 2006 World Pool League
and 2007 Enjoypool.com champion Dennis
Orcollo, 2006 Japan Open champion Antonio
Lining, 2006 Doha Asian Games silver
medalist Jeffrey de Luna
and 2006 Asian 9-ball tour champion
Ramil Gallego and Rodolfo Luat.
Francisco
"Django" Bustamante, the 2002
WPC runner-up is possible earned slot
in this year's WPC according to Makabenta
after topping the 2007 UPA Pro Tour
last April in Normandie Casino in Los
Angeles, California.
Meanwhile,
according to recent report of Matchroom
Sports Forum, Indonesia will host the
2008 and 2009 edition of WPC.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-26-07
BUSTAMANTE,
ORCOLLO STRIKE AGAIN IN PREDATOR WORLD
10-BALL
FORMER
WORLD NO.1 Francisco "Django"
Bustamante and reigning world pool leaque
champion Dennis "Robocop"
Orcollo hurdle their respective rivals
to remain undefeated in the ongoing
Predator World 10-Ball Championships
at the Bankshot Billiard Hall in Jacksonville,
Florida.
The
44-years-old Bustamante, top player
of RP billiards patron Aristeo "Putch"
Puyat beat countryman US based Pinoy
Al Lapeña (10-6) in Winner's
Side 2 while the 28-years-old Orcollo
toppled American Mike Davis (10-4) in
Winner's Side 1.
Bustamante,
also the winner in the 2007 UPA Pro
Tour Championships at the Normandie
Casino in Los Angeles, California last
April will face five-time world champion
Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer
of the United States in the next round.
The 49-years-old Waygross, Georgia born
Archer crushed 2005 World 9-ball semi-finalist
Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo
(10-6).
Orcollo,
who not yet won any major title until
topping the 2007 Enjoypool.com (formerly
Billiards Congress of America) last
week in Las Vegas, Nevada will clash
unknown Manuel Gama of Portugal, who
squeezed Keisuke Hanawa of Japan (10-2).
Not
as fortunate also were national open
champion Lee Vann "The Slayer"
Corteza, and 2004 World 9-ball kingpin
and 2005 US Open winner Alex "The
Lion" Pagulayan.
The
28-years-old Corteza, mainstay of the
Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) bowed to
Raj Hundal of the United Kingdom (10-8)
in Winner's Side 1, while the 29-years-old
Cabagan, Isabela native Pagulayan was
yielded to another US hopeful Danny
Harriman (10-7), both in the Winner's
Side 2.
Hundal,
on the other hand takes on currently
European champion Niels "The Terminator"
Feijen of the Netherlands while Harriman
will test the mettle of Ralf "Kaiser"
Souquet of Germany, another world 9-ball
champion, who beat Naoyuki Oi of Japan
(10-8) in ths double elimination format.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-26-07
CORTEZA,
FIVE OTHERS REMAIN UNBEATEN IN WORLD 10-BALL
LEE VANN "THE SLAYER" CORTEZA,
the reigning 2nd BSCP National Open Champion
and 39th All Japan Championships ruler
beat local ace Ignacio Chavez (10-5) yesterday
to remain in the winner side brackets
along with five other Filipino campaigner
in the ongoing Predator World 10-Ball
Championship na ginaganap sa Bankshot
Billiards Hall sa Jacksonville, Florida.
Other
Filipino cue master in the winner's
brackets were 2006 World Pool Leaque
winner Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo,
former world no.1 Francisco "Django"
Bustamante, 2004 WPC at 2005 US Open
winner Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan,
2005 Texas Em Hold winner Marlon "Marvelous"
Manalo and US based Pinoy Al Lapeña.
The
28-years-old Corteza, top player of
Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) is in the
Winner's Side 1 bracket and will face
Raj Hundal of the United Kingdom in
the next round, winner over Hisashi
Kusano of Japan (10-8).
If
Corteza, had a monicker "The Slayer"
because he always upset a higher seed
player, beat Hundal, his future match
the survivor Niels "The Terminator"
Feijen of the Netherlands and Tony Crosby
of the United States tussle.
The
Davao cue master Corteza, playing under
the wings of sportsman/ businessman
Jonathan "Bacolod" Sy, earlier
beat 2003 Cardiff World 9-ball champion
Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann
of Germany (10-7) in the second round
while Feijen toppled American Tony Robles
(10-6) while Crosby surprise former
world 9-ball king Mika "The Iceman"
Immonen of Finland (10-9).
Orcollo
on the other hand, also in the Winner's
Side 1 bracket beat Darren Appleton,
world ranked no.1 English 8-ball pool
player of England (10-4) and will meet
Mike Davis of the United States who
walloped Huidje Sey of Japan (10-4).
If
Corteza and Orcollo will continue their
winning ways, both of them will possible
clash in the sixth match of Winner's
Side 1.
Meanwhile,
Bustamante defeated Tyler Edey of Canada
(10-5) and Troy Frank of the United
States (10-9), in order but was not
lucky in the main draw because he will
face countryman Lapeña in the
next round, who clobbered Antonio Fazanes
of Spain (10-9) and Ronnie Wiseman of
the United States (10-5).
The
survivor of Bustamante and Lapeña
pit will face the winner of Manalo and
five-time world champion Johnny "The
Scorpion" Archer of the United
States tussle.
Manalo
crushed Marcus "Napoleon"
Chamat of Sweden (10-9) and Allen Hopkins
of the United States (10-9) while Archer
beat compatriots Kim Shaw (1-0-2) and
Cliff Joyner (10-7), respectively.
Pagulayan,
meanwhile beat fellow Canadian-Pinoy
based Edwin Montal (10-5) and Stefan
Cohen (10-8) of the United States to
arrange a showdown with American Danny
Harriman. If Pagulayan beat Harriman,
then his next assignment either ex-world
9-ball king Ralf "Kaiser"
Souquet of Germany or Naoyuki Oi of
Japan who also won their respective
matches.
In
the One Loss Side 1, Montal, 2007 US
Bar Table 9-ball and 8-ball champion
Warren "Warrior" Kiamco and
2005 Skins Billiards winner Santos "The
Saint" Sambajon hurdle their respective
rivals to remain in contention in the
loser's side, race-to-10, double elimination
format. The 96 man-field invitational
Predator World 10-Ball event offers
a total prize fund US$55,920 where the
champion receiving US $14,000.
Montal beat Carlos Cabello of Spain
(10-9), Kiamco edges Mike Dechaine of
the United States (10-9) while Sambajon
outplayed Phil Hyun Chon of Korea (10-1).
by: Marlon Bernardino -
05-26-07
DENNIS ORCOLLO
PACE PREDATOR WORLD 10-BALL
DENNIS
"Robocop" Orcollo, the
reigning World Pool Leaque champion
won his first match to spearhead
seven others Filipino campaigner
at the start of Predator World
10-Ball Championship late Thursday
at the Bankshot Billiards Hall
in Jacksonville, Florida.
After
getting a bye in the first round,
the 28-years-old Quezon City
based, top player of sportsman/
businessman Ceferino "Perry"
Mariano of Bugsy promotion smashed
American Richard Jones (10-3)
to face the 29-years-old Darren
Appleton of England, world ranked
no.1 English 8-ball pool player
in the next round, who beat
Neil Fujiwara of Japan (10-4)
and Luc Salvas of Canada (10-9),
respectively.
The
Bislig, Surigao del Sur born
Orcollo, a member of the star
studded Bugsy promotion is fresh
from winning the top prize US$15,000
last Saturday after blanking
the 22-years-old Shane Van Boening
of the United States (7-0) and
eyeing consecutive title in
this 96 man-field invitation
Predator World 10-Ball Championships
at stake is total prize fund
US$55,920 where the champion
receiving US $14,000.
If
Orcollo, dubbed as Philippine
money game king will prevail
with Appleton, he will face
the winner of the match between
Huidje Sey of Japan and Mike
Davis of the United States.
Sharing
the limelight is reigning 2nd
BSCP National Open Champion
and 39th All Japan Championships
ruler Lee Vann "The Slayer"
Corteza who won his first two
matches.
The
28-years-old Davao cue master
walloped Carlos Cabello of Spain
(10-8) and 2003 Cardiff World
9-ball champion Thorsten "The
Hitman" Hohmann of Germany
(10-7) in order to face local
ace Ignacio Chavez, winner over
Raul Hebles of Spain (10-5)
and Evgeny Stalev of Russia
(10-4).
If
Corteza can past Chavez, he
will most likely face the survivor
of 2005 Velden Austria World
Junior runner-up Hisashi Kusano
of Japan and UK's specialist
Raj Hundal tussle.
Meanwhile,
2005 Texas Em Hold winner Marlon
"Marvelous" Manalo
also won his opening match against
Ryan Farah of the United States
(10-2), and will clash Marcus
"Napoleon" Chamat
of Sweden in the second round,
even US based Al Lapena clobbered
Julio Aquino of the United States
(10-5) to meet Antonio Fazanes
of Spain. Edwin Montal crushed
Matt Tetreault of the United
States (10-8) ot face fellow
Pinoy-Canadian 2004 World 9-ball
king and 2005 US Open ruler
Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan,
in the next round. Pagulayan,
a Cabagan, Isabela native bye
in the first round.
Former
world no.1 Francisco "Django"
Bustamante who also bye in the
first round takes on Tyler Edey
of Canada in the second round,
who subdued David Grossman of
the United States (10-2).
Not
as fortunate were 2007 US Bar
Table 9-ball at 8-ball champion
Warren "Warrior" Kiamco
and 2005 Skins Billiards winner
Santos "The Saint"
Sambajon who dropped their respective
matches in the race-to-10, double
elimination format and was relegated
in the loser's brackets.
The
36-years-old Pasil, Cebu native
Kiamco, another Bugsy stalwart
yielded to Hunter Lombardo of
the United States (10-7) while
Sambajon who hails from Macalelon,
Quezon province bowed to Stevie
Moore of the United States (10-5).
Manuel
Gama of Portugal made a big
revelation in this event after
edging Charlie "The Korean
Dragon" Williams of the
United States (10-7) even unheralded
Keisuke Hanawa of Japan suprised
former International Challenge
of Champions winner Thomas "The
Lean Machine" Engert of
Germany (10-8). New comer Kim
Shaw of the United States upset
Hayato Hijikato of Japan (10-4)
to join in the winning column.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-25-07
|
DJANGO,
CORTEZA, ORCOLLO HEADS RP CUE ARTIST IN
WORLD 10 BALL
POOL WIZARDS Francisco "Django"
Bustamante, Lee Vann "The Slayer"
Corteza and Dennis "Robocop"
Orcollo spearhead team Philippine campaign
at the start today, May 23 to 27 in the
much awaited Predator World 10-Ball Championship
at the Bankshot Billiards Hall in Jacksonville,
Florida.
The
44-years-old Tarlac City bet Bustamante,
top player of RP billiards patron Aristeo
"Putch" Puyat of Puyat Sports
trounced five-time world champion Johnny
"The Scorpion" Archer in the
finals to emerge over-all champion in
the 5th Annual US Pro Tour Championship
last April at the Normandie Casino in
Los Angeles, California.
The
28-years-old Davao ace Corteza, playing
under the wings of sportsman/ businessman
Jonathan "Bacolod" Sy won the
39th All Japan Championships last December,
tops the 2 nd BSCP National Open last
April already secure a "10-years
multiple US visa" to enter in the
land of milk and honey.
The
four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist
Corteza, who is fresh from a strong runner-up
finish in the inauguration of Guinness
9-ball tour in Jakarta, Indonesia last
month left the country last Sunday and
arrive in New York City yesterday to proceed
in Florida for the 96 player invitational
tournament. At stakes is a total prize
fund US$55,920 where the champion will
be receiving $14,000.
While
the 28-years-old Quezon City based, top
skipper of sportsman/ businessman Ceferino
"Perry" Mariano of Bugsy promotion
is fresh from winning the 2007 Enjoypool.com
64-man field last Saturday in Las Vegas,
Nevada. The Bislig, Surigao del Sur born
Orcollo is also the reigning World Pool
Leaque winner.
Other
Filipino player was invited to play by
United States Professional Pool Players
Association (UPA) and Dragon Promotions
(DP) signed by Cindy Lee, president of
Dragon Promotions were 2004 World 9-ball
and 2005 US Open ruler Alex "The
Lion" Pagulayan, 2005 Skins Billiards
winner Santos "The Saint" Sambajon,
2005 Texas Em Hold winner Marlon "Marvelous"
Manalo and 2007 US Bar Table 9-ball and
8-ball champion Warren "Warrior"
Kiamco.
Filipino
cue artists also slated to seeing in action
in the Florida Pro Tour Stop 10-Ball Tournament
on June 2-4 at the Capone's Billiards
Hall in Spring Hill, Florida then proceed
to 4th annual World Summit of Pool 9-Ball
Championship on June 13-16 at the Riviera
Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas , Nevada.
The
96 players invitational Predator World
10-Ball Championships had special rules:
Hard Break will be enforced with penalty
if soft break is intentionally used and
10-Ball on the break will not count if
made in the closest corner pockets to
the rack.
The
format is Double Elimination Race to 10,
Final 16 Players Single Elimination Race
to 11 and Finals one race to 13.
The
organizing group Dragon Promotion added
that the World Summit of Pool 9-Ball competition
will use race-to-11, double elimination
format and race-to-7, alternate breaks
or the TV rounds. Prize Money Payout with
$25,000 guaranteed added and based on
96 Player Field.
Host
country will parade Earl "The Pearl"
Strickland, Johnny "The Scorpion"
Archer, Charlie "The Dragon"
Williams, Rodney "Rocket" Morris,
Corey Deuel and Gabe Owen among others.
Meanwhile,
Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet, Thorsten
"The Hitman" Hohmann and Thomas
"The Lean Machine" Engert of
Germany and Mika "The Iceman"
Immonen and Marko Lohtander of Finland
head the list of renowned foreign players.
Also
include were Wu Chia-ching and Yang
Ching-shun of Chinese-Taipei, Raj Hundal
and Darren Appleton of England, Kunihiko
Takahashi and Hayato Hijikata of Japan,
Shin Park and Ga Young-kim of Korea,
David Reljic of Australia, Erik Hjorliefsen
and Luc Salvas of Canada, Ditto Acosta
of Aruba, Ernesto and Oscar Dominguez
of Mexico, Vilmos Foldes and Sandor
Tot of Hungrary, Konstantine Stepanov
and Evgeny Stalev of Russia, Marcus
Chamat of Sweden, Fabio Petroni of Italy
and Jasmine Ouschan of Austria.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
5 -22-07
YANG BEATS CHAO WINS GUINESS 9-BALL TOUR
IN a mighty clash between two of Taiwan's
hometown favourites, a student prevailed
over his long-time mentor as Yang Ching-Shun
managed to set aside friendship for a
moment to defeat sentimental favourite
Chao Fong-Pang, 11 – 6, at the final
of the second leg of the prestigious 2007
Guinness 9Ball Tour last Sunday at the
jam-packed Kaohsiung Business Exhibition
Center in Chinese-Taipei.
Knowing
all too well the capabilities of his former
pool teacher, Yang wasted no time in building
an early 2 – 0 lead against the
39 year-old Chao by opening the match
up with a runout and cleaning up after
Chao came up dry in the second rack.
Mirroring
his protégé, Chao capitalized
on a yellow one ball miss by Yang in the
third rack and came up with his own version
of a run-out in the 4 th rack to knot
the score at two a-piece.
But
an uncharacteristic miss on the brown
seven, a bungled safety attempt in the
8 th and an unlucky scratch in the 9th
from the two time former world champion
allowed Yang to build up his lead to a
comfortable 7 – 3 as he continuously
awed the crowd with his impeccable shot
making skills.
Nonetheless,
the old master, even after all those years,
still had some tricks to impart as Kaohsiung's
"Cold Face Killer", always cool
and calculated, managed to frustrate Yang
at the 11 th rack with two peculiar safety
shots that left his younger rival no option
but to settle for insanely impossible
attempts at the pink four which resulted
in an automatic point for Chao.
The
unbelievable sequence of events began
when Yang snookered himself after potting
the red three. Left with no shot on the
four ball, he deliberately committed a
foul by hitting the green six to bring
it closer to the four and in effect leaving
Chao with no shot on the four as well
even with ball in hand. But Chao, knowing
all the tricks in the book, knew all too
well how to get out of the sticky predicament.
With pinpoint precision, Chao drove the
cue back to where Yang originally committed
the foul, on the way feathering the four
ever so slightly to create a legal shot.
With his plan completely back firing on
him, Yang tried to kick the cue off the
top rail in the hopes of hitting the four
but missed it altogether notching him
his second foul. With ball in hand once
more, Chao repeated the same process with
the same results as Yang tried the kick
shot once more to commit his third consecutive
foul which automatically forfeited the
rack to Chao as tournament rules dictated
that three fouls in a row would mean automatic
points to the opponent.
The
free point allowed Chao to get back in
the game, 5 – 7.
In
the end however, it was youth that conquered
wisdom as Chao ran out of stamina at the
final stretch, committing three crucial
unforced errors in consecutive racks to
give Taiwan's "Son of pool"
Yang the well-deserved, 11 – 6,
victory and the US$15,000 top purse together
with 70 tour points to boost his chances
of making it to the grand final in Bali
where only the top ten finishers are invited.
"Of
course I am very happy with the win. I
really practiced hard for this event.
And it is a good feeling knowing that
all my sacrifices paid off because sometimes
even practicing everyday does not necessarily
guarantee a win. But even if I l had lost
I'd still be alright with it since I never
felt any pressure all throughout tournament.
I was just playing the game for myself
and enjoying the experience of playing
alongside these world-class athletes.
And since I was really playing well my
confidence level was really high which
I think gave me an advantage in my match
with Chao." Remarked Yang.
Yang,
who was actually the tour's 2005 overall
winner, gained a finals berth by trumping
three time junior world pool champion
Wu Yu-Lun, 11 -8 in their semifinals contest.
Chao on the other hand, eliminated reigning
WPA World 8ball and 9Ball champion Ronato
"The Volcano" Alcano, 11 –
6 on his way to the final.
The
Tour now moves on to Malaysia's entertainment
hub, Genting Highlands which will take
place on June 15 – 17. After which
there will be stops in Singapore on July
13 –15, and Shanghai on Aug 3 –
5 with the grand final happening in Bali
on Aug 31 – Sep 2.
by: Marlon Bernardino -
05-20-07
Alcano,
Wu Enters Semis in Guinnes 9-Bll Tour
DOUBLE World champions, Ronato “Volcano”
Alcano (WPA 8ball and 9Ball Champion)
and three-time world junior champion Wu
Yu-Lun will be moving on to the semifinals
of the second leg of the 2007 Guinness
9Ball Tour Championships after burning
their respective quarterfinal opponents
at the jam-packed Kaohsiung Business Exhibition
center in Chinese-Taipei yesterday.
Topping their respective groups during
the elimination round last Friday, Alcano
overcame a miserable shooting performance
to defeat Singapore’s Chan Keng
Kwang, 9-5, while Taiwan’s newest
teen sensation Wu burned his compatriot
Lu Hui-Chan, 9-4, to bag a semifinals
ticket in the annual event organized by
ESPN STAR Sports.
Getting off to a quick 6 - 2 start, the
34-years-old Calamba-City based Alcano,
actually had quite a frustrating time
in his match against Chan as he was unable
to put away a couple of key shots in the
final stretch of the match which allowed
his Singaporean rival to chip away at
his lead.
Sitting on the hill at 8 – 3, Alcano
seemed to be tentative in his approach
to the table which resulted in a lot of
missed opportunities for the Filipino.
Fouls at the 9th and 13th rack plus a
runout by Chan in the 12th saw the Singaporean
advance his score against the double world
champion, 5 – 8. But a crucial miscue
by Chan in the 14th rack gave Alcano a
routine bank shot at the 9ball which he
successfully pocketed at the corner to
end finally end the match at 9 –
5.
Three time Junior World Pool Champion
Wu Yu-Lun on the other hand had a much
easier time trumping the sleepy-eyed Lu
Hui-Chan. Demonstrating incredible cue
control and awesome power-breaking, the
17-year old youngster did not even have
a chance to break sweat as he effortlessly
ended the challenge of his countryman
at 9 – 4.
The three other Filipinos, Antonio Gabica,
Alex Pagulayan and Antonio Lining all
failed to move past the group stage as
they split their two assignments.
Lining suffered a heartbreaking loss to
long time rival Chao Fong-Pang of Taiwan,
but edged out India's Dharminder Singh
Lilly, 9 - 7. Pagulayan, who was in a
weakened state due to food poisoning,
lost to Indonesia's top seeded player
Ricky Yang, 9 -4, but nosed out Korea's
Ryu Seung-Woo, 9 - 8. Gabica never really
posed much of a threat to Taiwan's three
time Junior World Pool champion Wu Yu-lun
as he lost, 9 - 4, and then closed out
the group stages with a win over Singapore's
Bernard Tey Choon Kiat, 9 -8.
Alcano will next meet the winner of the
quarterfinal duel between former World
Pool Champion Chao Fong-Pang and Pagulayan’s
tormentor Ricky Yang. The lanky Filipino
cue-artist already has a guaranteed prize
of US$3,500for making it to the semifinals.
The other semi-finals matchup will have
Wu taking on either another fellow Taiwanese
Yang Ching-Shun or Au Chi-Wai.
Formerly the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the Guinness
9-Ball Tour has been made bigger and better
for players and fans alike with the new
partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and
Guinness. Total prize money has doubled
to US$320,000 (from US$160,000 from last
year's tour) and the Tour will feature
a grand final in Bali for the Top 10 players.
Winners of each leg will win US$15,000
while the Grand Final Champion will walk
away with 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
top ten finishers in the Guinness 9-Ball
Tour Order of Merit will automatically
qualify for pool's most prestigious event,
this year's edition slated for a second
straight staging for Manila in November.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-19-07
Alcano
Take Charge in Guiness 9Ball Tour
TOURNAMENT FAVORITE double world champion
Ronato “Volcano” Alcano opened
up the group stages with a convincing
win over Thailand’s Nitiwat Kanjanasri,
9 – 4, to jump start his bid to
claim the 2007 Guinness 9Ball Tour Kaohsiung
leg crown yesterday at the Kaohsiung Exhibition
Center in Chinese-Taipei.
Raring to redeem himself after a disappointing
performance last month at the inaugural
leg in Jakarta, the reigning WPA World
8Ball and 9Ball champion, wasted no time
in building an early, 2 – 0, lead
as he pounced on the easy miss on the
1ball corner pocket of his young opponent
in the very first rack and then following
it up with a routine clean up after another
foul by Kanjanasri in the second rack.
But in the third, Kanjanasri, got his
game on track to shift the momentum in
his favour as he was able to string four
straight racks, which surprised the lanky
Filipino playing under Bugsy promotions.
Not wanting to give his Thai rival any
more chance to further boost his confidence,
Alcano regained composure and made up
for his earlier miscue by stepping up
his game and score seven straight table
runs to notch the win in the 13th rack.
The 34-years-old Calamba City-native was
scheduled to meet 2005 Manila Southeast
Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist Vietnamese
bet Luong Chi-Dung later in the evening.
A victory by Alcano against Luong in the
group stage would guarantee the Filipino
a seat in the quarterfinals today.
Asked about how he managed to handle the
pressure in the match, Alcano said: “In
this tournament, you need two things in
order to be victorious. Winning is not
just about pure skill. It is imperative
that luck is on your side as well. If
you are blessed to have these two factors
on your side then you have a good chance
of emerging on top. I was blessed to have
luck shining down on me in my first match.”
However, two other Filipino campaigners
were not that lucky. 2006 Japan 9-ball
open winner Antonio “Nickoy”
Lining and 2004 WPA World Pool Champion
Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan
were unable to hurdle their first assignments
in their respective groups.
Up against long time rival Chao Fong-Pang,
Lining, already on the hill at 8 –
7, was set to close out the contest in
the 16th rack but he uncharacteristically
missed on the brown seven corner pocket
attempt, giving the Taiwanese the opportunity
to even up the score and eventually bag
the win in the race-to-nine, alternate
break match.
The 28-years-old Cabagan, Isabela native
Pagulayan on the other hand had an incredibly
hard time playing in Group F against Indonesia’s
Ricky Yang. Bothered by food poisoning,
the normally energetic Filipino had barely
enough strength to muster a challenge
against Indonesia’s number one pool
player. Yang breezed through the matchup
as Pagulayan succumbed to the Indonesian,
9 – 4.
With both Pagulayan and Lining losing
out in their opening group stage contests,
posting commanding wins over their next
group stage matches are imperative in
order to have a chance to move on to the
quarterfinals. Pagulayan will be pitted
against Korea’s Ryu Seung-Woo while
Lining will take on India’s Dharminder
Singh Lilliy.
The lone Filipino player yet to see action
in Kaohsiung was 2006 DOHA Asian games
medallist, Antonio Gabica, who was set
to do battle against three- time World
Junior Champion Wu Yu-Lun of Taiwan.
Other early winners in the group stage
were 2005 World Pool Champion Wu Chia-Ching
and Lu Hui-Chan, both from Taiwan.
Formerly the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the Guinness
9-Ball Tour has been made bigger and better
for players and fans alike with the new
partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and
Guinness. Total prize money has doubled
to US$320,000 (from US$160,000 from last
year's tour) and the Tour will feature
a grand final in Bali for the Top 10 players.
Winners of each leg will win US$15,000
while the Grand Final Champion will walk
away with 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
top ten finishers in the Guinness 9-Ball
Tour Order of Merit will automatically
qualify for pool's most prestigious event,
this year's edition slated for a second
straight staging for Manila in November.
The Guinness 9-Ball Tour is sanctioned
by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU)
and organised by ESPN STAR Sports' Event
Management Group (EMG). Guinness is the
title sponsor for the Tour. Asia's Number
One Sports Broadcaster, ESPN STAR Sports,
and sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard
Association (WPA), the Tour has featured
some of the world's best pool players
and is the only ranking tournament that
offers automatic qualification to the
WPA World Pool Championship for its Top
Ten finishers.
Beginning life in 2003 as the Asian 9-Ball
Tour, the inaugural Tour featured two
stops – in Singapore and the Philippines
– after three scheduled legs were
cancelled because of the SARS outbreak.
The Tour visited five cities in 2004 and
had four stops each in 2005 and 2006.
'The Magician' Efren “Bata”
Reyes has won seven of the 15 tournaments
held up till end-2006, with Filipino cue
masters dominating the roll of honor with
12 wins. Yang Ching-Shun of Chinese Taipei
has the other three wins.
The Guinness 9-Ball Tour 2007 will be
the biggest and richest to-date with five
legs and new Grand Final in Bali. Each
leg will feature 24 players with the overall
top ten players making the Grand Final.
At stake each leg is US$50,000 and Word
Pool Championship ranking points. Winners
for each leg walk away with US$15,000
prize money. The Grand Final will boast
a US$70,000 purse with the Champion pocketing
US$36,000.
by: Marlon Bernardino -
05-19-07
DOUBLE
WORLD CHAMP ALCANO, THREE OTHER IN GUINESS
9-BALL TOUR TODAY
RONATO “VOLCANO” ALCANO, the
reigning WPA 9-ball and 8-ball ruler
, will spearhead the Philippines’
bid in the second leg of Guinness 9-Ball
Tour which kicks off today, Friday (May
18-20) at the Harbor City in Kaohsiung
, Taiwan.
The other Filipino bets are 2004 World
9-Ball champion Alex “The Lion”
Pagulayan, 2006 DOHA Asian Games 9-ball
Gold Medalist Antonio “Ga-Ga”
Gabica and 2006 Japan Open winner Antonio
“Nickoy” Lining.
Filipino players dominated the Tour last
year as they won all four legs. Efren
“Bata” Reyes won two events,
and Rodolfo “Boy Samson” Luat
and Ramil “Bebeng” Gallego
took one each. The 2006 Tour and all previous
editions were sponsored by San Miguel
Beer.
However, Reyes along his stable mate former
world no.1 Francisco “Django”
Bustamante will missed to play in the
Asian 9-ball tour this year because the
two FIlipino cue icon are brand endorser
of San Miguel Beer, a direct competitor
of Guinness, an Iris stout beer, the new
titled sponsor of the Asian 9-ball tour
which served a qualifying round of November’s
World Pool Championships in Manila
But this time Philippines failed to duplicate
his all-Filipino sweep performance last
year’s after Taiwanese Jung-Lin
Chang, a relative newcomer to the tour,
who emerged the victor in Jakarta after
showcasing superb pocketing skills and
accurate power breaking to topple the
2007 Philippines National Champion Lee
Vann “The Slayer” Corteza,
in the championship race to the top of
the 9-ball event.
Asked about his opinion on the young generation
of players, reigning double world champion
(8ball and 9ball) Ronato Alcano remarked:
“Well it’s good that they
are finally coming out. Before there were
only a couple of really great players
like Chao Fong-Pang but now the competition
had really opened up. The young players
such as Muhammad Zulfikri (Indonesia),
Chang and Wu Chia-Ching are good for the
development of pool.”
The Tour is the only ranking tour in Asia
for players to qualify to the World Pool
Championship. The top ten finishers in
the Guinness 9ball Tour Order of Merit
will automatically enter the 2007 World
Pool Championship at Manila in November.
Adding to the stakes will be a total tour
prize money purse of $320,000 up for grabs
in the six legs of the event.
The champion of each leg will earn the
top prize of US$15,000 while the runner-up
will settle for US$6,000. The winner of
the grand finals in Bali, will acquire
US$36,000. Kaohsiung is the second stop
for this year’s 9ball tour after
which there will be tournaments in Malaysia
, Singapore , Shanghai and a grand final
in Bali , Indonesia . Prior to this current
leg, the Guinness 9Ball Tour held the
opening tournament in Jakarta .
Following the exciting format that was
adopted last year, the tour promises both
players and spectators alike an exhilarating
pool experience throughout the contest.
The main draw of 24 players will be divided
into eight groups and they will compete
in a single round robin format for the
group stage with the top eight players
advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals
onwards will follow a single game knockout
format. There will be alternate breaks
with the group stage and quarterfinals
following a race to 9, while the semifinals
and the finals will be a race to 11. In
the semis and finals, a player must win
by two clear racks up to a maximum of
race to 13.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-18-07
Guinness 9Ball Tour Moves On To Taiwan
Alcano, Pagulayan, Gabica and Lining to
banner the Philippine Contingent
FOLLOWING a successful inaugural staging
in Jakarta, STAR Sports continues its
coverage of top-notch pool competition
as the 2007 Guinness 9-Ball Tour continues
onward to its second stop at the harbour
city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan on May 18 –
20, 2007.
Last month, the opening leg in Jakarta
gave way to a classic showdown between
long time pool rivals, Philippines and
Taiwan as they clashed all the way from
the group stages to the finals where two
young cue-masters upstaged their older
and more experienced counter-parts.
Ultimately, it was Taiwan ’s Chang
Jung-Lin, a relative newcomer to the tour,
who emerged the victor in Jakarta after
showcasing superb pocketing skills and
accurate power braking to topple the 2007
Philippines ’ National Champion
Lee Vann Corteza, in the championship
race to the top of the 9-ball hill.
Asked about his opinion on the young generation
of players, reigning double world champion
(8ball and 9ball) Ronato Alcano remarked:
“Well it’s good that they
are finally coming out. Before there were
only a couple of really great players
like Chao Fong-Pang but now the competition
has really opened up. The young players
such as Muhammad Zulfikri ( Indonesia
), Chang and Wu Chia-Ching are good for
the development of pool.”
With Lin claiming the title in Indonesia,
the Philippines’ dream of a repeat
performance of last year’s all-Filipino
sweep of the tour has been completely
shattered, giving the distinct impression
that the competition field, heralded as
Asia’s elite, just keeps getting
better and better every time. More importantly,
with the Guinness 9ball tour showcasing
a couple of young players like Chang and
Jeffrey De Luna of the Philippines, the
world got a first-hand look at the new
breed of up and coming pool stars who
are raring to stake their claim of glory
and bask in the international limelight.
As the tournament shifts to Kaohsiung,
fans of the sport can expect a re-energized
Filipino squad, fronted by Alcano, 2004
World Pool Champion Alex Pagulayan, 2006
DOHA Asian Games 9ball Gold Medalist Antonio
Gabica and 2006 Japan Open Winner Antonio
Lining, together with a solid cast of
Asia’s finest pool players, to try
to steal the show in Kaohsiung and snatch
the crown away from the hometown favorites
in hopes earning enough qualifying points
towards the World Pool Championships in
November.
Launched in February 2003, the annual
9ball Tour is Asia’s only premier
9ball tournament featuring many of the
best pool players Asia has produced such
as 2005 tour champion Yang Ching-Shun
and billiard phenom, Wu Chia-Ching, both
from Chinese Taipei, along with Ronato
Alcano and Alex Pagulayan.
Besides the stellar trio of Chang, Yang
and Wu, the host country is represented
by Chao Fong-Pang and Wu Yu-Lun.
Competition will start at 1100hrs (HKT)
on May 18, 1300hrs on May 19 and 1130hrs
on May 20. Admission to the competition
venue is free. Fans of the sport are invited
to witness the 9ball drama unfold at the
Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Center.
STAR Sports will be dedicating fifteen
(15) hours of LIVE coverage for this thrilling
second leg of the 2007 Guinness 9Ball
Tour. The matches will be aired LIVE (HKT)
on May 18 at 1700-2130hrs for the preliminaries,
1300-1900hrs for the Quarterfinals on
May 19 and 1130-1600 hrs for the Semifinals
and the Final match on May 20.
The Tour is the only ranking tour in Asia
for players to qualify to the World Pool
Championship. The top ten finishers in
the Guinness 9ball Tour Order of Merit
will automatically enter the 2007 World
Pool Championship at Manila in November.
Adding to the stakes will be a total tour
prize money purse of $320,000 up for grabs
in the six legs of the event.
The champion of each leg will earn the
top prize of US$15,000 while the runner-up
will settle for US$6,000. The winner of
the grand finals in Bali, will acquire
US$36,000. Kaohsiung is the second stop
for this year’s 9ball tour after
which there will be tournaments in Malaysia
, Singapore , Shanghai and a grand final
in Bali , Indonesia . Prior to this current
leg, the Guinness 9Ball Tour held the
opening tournament in Jakarta .
Following the exciting format that was
adopted last year, the tour promises both
players and spectators alike an exhilarating
pool experience throughout the contest.
The main draw of 24 players will be divided
into eight groups and they will compete
in a single round robin format for the
group stage with the top eight players
advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals
onwards will follow a single game knockout
format. There will be alternate breaks
with the group stage and quarterfinals
following a race to 9, while the semifinals
and the finals will be a race to 11. In
the semis and finals, a player must win
by two clear racks up to a maximum of
race to 13.
For more information on the Tour, please
check out www.guinness9balltour.com. For
the latest schedules and program information
on ESPN STAR Sports, catch us on the net
at www.espnstar.com.
The Guinness 9Ball Tour is sanctioned
by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union and
organized by ESPN STAR Sports’ Event
Management Group (EMG) and the Billiards
Association of Chinese Taipei. Guinness
is the title sponsor for the Tour. Iwan
Simonis and Aramith supply the official
tablecloth and official balls respectively.
Brunswick Metro is the official pool table.
Han-Hsien International Hotel is the official
hotel. Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Center
is the official venue. STAR Sports is
the official broadcaster.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-17-07
Pinoy
Cue Master KIAMCO beats reign US Open
Champ
FILIPINO ACE Warren "Warrior"
Kiamco upset reigning US Open champion
John Schmidt (11-7) to strengthening
his title bid in the ongoing 64 man
field dubbed as 2007 Enjoypool.com (formerly
Billiard Congress of America) 9-ball
Championships yesterday at the Riviera
Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 36-years-old Kiamco, top ace of
Bugsy promotion who earlier beat Brady
Golan of Canada (11-5) in the opening
round will face Japanese Satoshi Kawabata,
winner over local ace Steve Lillis,
11-8, and Mat Krah, 11-4, respectively.
" Nawa’y ipagdasal ninyo
po kami na Filipino ang magkakampeon
dito sa BCA Open." Kiamco rely
his message yesterday to his benefactor
Bugsy promotion boss Perry Mariano.
Kiamco, the pride of Pasil, Cebu and
currently based in Quezon City resident
won the US Bar Table Championships early
this year. He both won the 9-ball and
8-ball competition.
" Maganda po ang kundisyon ko ngayong
taon." Last word of Kiamco, who
twice go to Makati Medical Center last
year because of his ulcer.
Other Filipino campaigner who past their
initial round assigment that includes
former world no.1 Francisco "Django"
Bustamante, 2006 World Pool Leaque winner
Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo,
Filipino legendary Jose "Amang"
Parica, Marlon "Marvelous"
Manalo and Santos "The Saint"
Sambajon.
The 44-years-old Bustamante from Tarlac
City bested Jeremy Jones (11-7) to face
countryman Manalo in the next round,
winner over 2005 World Junior runner-up
Hisashi Kusano of Japan (11-2), while
the 28-years-old Orcollo, another Bugsy
stalwart, defeated David Reljic of Australia
(11-5) to face Marcus Chamat of Sweden,
whom who beat Austin Murphy (11-9) of
the United States.
The 55-years-old Parica, acknowledge
the leader of the Filipino invasion
in the mid 80’s edges Allen Hopkins
of the United States (11-9) to slug
it out another US Open ruler Corey Deuel
also from the host country, conqueror
of Mike Vidas (11-5) while the Macalelon,
Quezon pride Sambajon overpowered Bruce
Wilkinson (11-3) also from the US to
test the mettle ex- world 9-ball king
Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany,
who trashed "Madmax" Max Eberle
of the US, (11-4).
Other notable winner were Neils "The
Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands
who crushed Richard Broumpton (11-3)
and Tony Crosby (11-3); while UK sensation
Raj Hundal beat Dave Hemmah (11-10)
and Larry Nevel (11-8).
Also in the winning column were Ronnie
Wiseman, Mike Davis, Thomas Engert,
John Mora and Shane Van Boening.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-15-07
BUSTAMANTE, FIVE
OTHERS IN BCA 9-BALL OPEN TODAY
FRANCISCO
“DJANGO” BUSTAMANTE, former
world no.1, along five others will spearhead
Filipino campaign at the start of 2007
Enjoypool.com (formerly Billiard Congress
of America) 9-ball Championships today
at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las
Vegas, Nevada.
The 44-years-old Bustamante from Tarlac
City will face American Jeremy Jones
according to report of AZbilliards.com
yesterday.
Bustamante, top player of RP billiards
patron Aristeo “Putch” Puyat
of Puyat Sports is fresh from topping
the 5th Annual US Pro Tour Championship
last April 1 at the Normandie Casino
in Los Angeles, California. He bested
five-time world champion Johnny “The
Scorpion” Archer in the finals.
Bustamante along with hall of famer
Efren “Bata” Reyes spearheaded
team Philippines who beat the pair of
former world champions Mika “The
Iceman” Immonen and Thorsten “The
Hitman” Hohmann of Germany of
team Europe in a special challenge match
dubbed as Philippines versus Europe.
The event was held April 18 at the famous
Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower,
California and was produced by the Dragon
Promotion outfits.
In BCA event, Jose “Amang”
Parica, the leader of Filipino invasion
in the US pool circuit in mid 80’s
goes up against Allen Hopkins of the
United States while Marlon “Marvelous”
Manalo takes on 2005 Velden, Austria
World Junior runner-up Hisashi Kusano
of Japan.
Santos “The Saint” Sambajon,
winner of the Blaze 9 Ball Tour Stop
# 12 last May 6 at the Leisure Time
Billiards in Levittown, New York will
face unheralded Bruce Wilkinson also
from the United States while Dennis
“Surigao” Orcollo clash
with David Reljic of Australia.
Warren “Warrior” Kiamco,
the reigning US Bar table 9-ball and
8-ball champion will slug it out against
Brady Golan of Canada.
The Filipinos main draw here in BCA
is not lucky. Why not? If Bustamante
luckily won his initial outings, he
will face the winner of the match between
Manalo and Kusano.
In the part of Sambajon, he is expected
to win his game against Wilkinson where
his second pairing neither another ex-world
champion Ralf “Kaiser” Souquet
of Germany and “Madmax”
Max Eberle of the US. Sambajon and Bustamante/
Manalo will cross their path each other
in the third round if they can past
their first two assignment.(MARLON BERNARDINO).
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-7-07
LEE
VANN CORTEZA EYES WORLD 10-BALL CROWN;
SEEK US VISA TOMORROW (THURSDAY) FOR
US SOJOURNS
MANILA, PHILIPPINES---LEE VANN CORTEZA,
the reigning national open champion
is schedule to renew his visa to the
US embassy here in Manila tomorrow,
Thursday, for his US campaign.
The 28-years-old top player of Negros
Billiard Stable (NBS), got an official
invitation letter from the United States
Professional Pool Players Association
(UPA) and Dragon Promotions (DP) which
signed by Cindy Lee, president of Dragon
Promotions to participate in a world
class competition as the sporting representative
of the Philippines.
Corteza, who hails from Davao City was
invited to play in the forthcoming Predator
World 10-Ball Championship on May 22-27
at the Bankshot Billiards Hall in Jacksonville,
Florida and the 4th annual World Summit
of Pool 9-Ball Championship on June
13-16 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino,
Las Vegas, Nevada.
He is also schedule to play in the Florida
Pro Tour Stop 10-Ball Tournament on
June 2-4 at the Capone’s Billiards
Hall in Spring Hill, Florida.
“This is my fifth time to go in
the United States to participate in
the United States pool circuit. I hope
to do well for my flag and country.”
said Corteza, also the reigning 39th
All Japan Champion whose stint is supported
by businessman/ sportsman Jonathan “Bacolod”
Sy.
The four-time Southeast Asian Games
gold medalist Corteza, who is fresh
from a strong runner-up finish in the
inauguration of Guinness 9-ball tour
in Jakarta, Indonesia last month is
confident to secure his visa on time
after receiving his invitation from
the organizing group and endorsement
letter from Billiards and Snooker Congress
of the Philippines (BSCP) president
Ernie Fajardo.
The 96 players invitational Predator
World 10-Ball Championships had special
rules:
Hard Break will be enforced with penalty
if soft break is intentionally used
and 10-Ball on the break will not count
if made in the closest corner pockets
to the rack
The format is Double Elimination Race
to 10, Final 16 Players Single Elimination
Race to 11 and Finals one race to 13
in this total prize fund $55,920 tournament
where the champion getting the lion
share worth $14,000.
The organizing group Dragon Promotion
added that the World Summit of Pool
9-Ball competition will use race-to-11,
double elimination format and race-to-7,
alternate breaks or the TV rounds. Prize
Money Payout with $25,000 guaranteed
added and based on 96 Player Field:
Here’s the breakdown of prizes:
1st $13,000 (Guaranteed $12,000 for
1st Place), 2nd $ 6,000, 3rd $ 4,000,
4th $3,400, 5-6th $2,860, 7-8th $2,300,
9-12 $ 1,750, and 13-16 $1,300 and 17-24
$ 850 each.
Other Filipino also invited the said
tournament (World 10-Ball and World
Summit of Pool) were hall of famer Efren
“Bata” Reyes, Francisco
“Django” Bustamante, Alex
“The Lion” Pagulayan, Marlon
“Marvelous” Manalo, Jose
“Amang” Parica, Santos “The
Saint” Sambajon, Ronato “Volcano”
Alcano, Dennis “Robocop”
Orcollo, Warren “Warrior”
Kiamco “Gandy “Sapsal”
Valle and Russian Petiza.
Host country will parade Earl “The
Pearl” Strickland, Johnny “The
Scorpion” Archer, Charlie “The
Dragon” Williams, Rodney “Rocket”
Morris, Corey Deuel and Gabe Owen among
others.
Meanwhile, Ralf “Kaiser”
Souquet, Thorsten “The Hitman”
Hohmann and Thomas “The Lean Machine”
Engert of Germany and Mika “The
Iceman” Immonen and Marko Lohtander
of Finland head the list of renowned
foreign players.
Also include were Wu Chia-ching and
Yang Ching-shun of Chinese-Taipei, Raj
Hundal and Darren Appleton of England,
Kunihiko Takahashi and Hayato Hijikata
of Japan, Shin Park and Ga Young-kim
of Korea, David Reljic of Australia,
Erik Hjorliefsen and Luc Salvas of Canada,
Ditto Acosta of Aruba, Ernesto and Oscar
Dominguez of Mexico, Vilmos Foldes and
Sandor Tot of Hungrary, Konstantine
Stepanov and Evgeny Stalev of Russia,
Marcus Chamat of Sweden, Fabio Petroni
of Italy and Jasmine Ouschan of Austria.
(MARLON BERNARDINO).
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
05-08-07
MARLON
"MARVELOUS" MANALO IN FLORIDA
9 BALL TILT
ONCE
AGAIN Marlon “Marvelous”
Manalo held the Philippine Flag yesterday
when he
bounced back from the one loss side
to emerge over-all champion in the
just concluded 2007 Seminole Florida
Pro Tour 9-ball Stop at the Strokers
Billiards Hall in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Manalo,
who hails from Mandaluyong City trounced
American Tony Chohan (9-3) in the
finals according to report of famous
Arizona based website AZbilliards
to pocket the top prize worth US$3,500
on Monday.
The
30-years-old Puyat Sports stable ace
was undefeated on Sunday (Saturday
evening in US time) after demolishing
John Trelevas (7-2), Chen-Man Lee
(7-3) and Hunter Lombardo (7-3) and
Nathan Rose (8-4) to remain in the
winner’s brackets.
However,
Manalo, a former Jose Rizal University
(JRU) AB economics graduate relegated
in the loser’s brackets yielding
to Danny Harriman on a hill-hill match.
Harriman,
on the other hand bowed to Chohan
(4- for the hot-seat match.
Manalo
opened his bid in the loser’s
side with an 8-6 win against Ignacio
Chavez and face again Rose for an
8-5 triumph. Manalo had a chance to
avenge his defeat to Harriman after
curving an 8-7 victory to meet Chohan
in the finals.
Chohan
pocketed US$2,000 in second place
prize money, Harriman settled for
third prize US$1,500 and Rose satisfied
fourth prize US$1,200.
Meanwhile,
Billiards and Snooker Congress of
the Philippines (BSCP) president Ernie
Fajardo lauded Manalo’s feat
in the US pool circuit.
“I
really hope na masustain niya ang
kanyang winning ways sa US pool event.
More championships trophy pa nawa
ang kanyang mapanalunan.” Said
BSCP president Ernie Fajardo.
Fajardo
revealed that Manalo call him the
other day (Sunday) and requesting
a slot in the
4th leg of Guinness 9-ball tour Singapore
leg on July.
“Tumawag
sa akin si Marlon (Manalo) kahapon
(Linggo), sabi niya kung p’wede
daw siya maglaro sa July sa Guinness
9-ball tour. Sabi ko sa kanya ay tatalakayin
sa BSCP ang kanyang kahilingan.”
Added Fajardo.
It
shall be recalled that Manalo will
skip the 2nd leg of Guinness 9-ball
tour on May 18-20 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
to fulfill his“early commitment”
in the US pool circuit.
Manalo
finished runner-up in the 2nd BSCP
National Open with eventual winner
Lee Vann “The Slayer”
Corteza. Manalo finish twice third
place finish in his Euro tour early
this year in Czech Republic and Switzerland.
FILIPINO
MANALO TAKES CHARGE AT US 9-BALL TILT
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
FILIPINO
Marlon “Marvelous” Manalo
take charge at the start of 2007 Seminole
Florida Pro Tour Stop at the Strokers
Billiards in Palm Harbor, Florida
over the weekend.
The
30-years-old Manalo, who hails from
Mandaluyong City trounced John Trelevas
(7-2), Chen-Man Lee (7-3) and Hunter
Lombardo (7-3), respectively to face
Nathan Rose in the next round.
If
Manalo luckily beat Rose, he will
face the survivor of the matches between
Corey Deuel and Danny Harriman.
The
other players in the winning-column
marquee matches in this 64-man field
event were Dennis Hatch up against
Tony Chohan while Dave Grossman takes
on Will Bibrey.
Earlier
this, Manalo decided to skip his participation
in the 2nd leg of Guinness 9-ball
tour on May 18 to 20 in Kaohsiung,
Taipei to play in his earlier international
commitment in the US pool circuit
according to BSCP president Ernie
Fajardo.
Fajardo
added that Manalo was replace by 2004
Taiwan World Pool champion Alex “The
Lion” Pagulayan, who will join
to carry the country’s colors
along with ex-Japan Open ruler Antonio
“Nickoy” Lining, 2006
Doha Asian games 9-ball gold medalist
at 8-ball silver medalist Antonio
“Ga-Ga” Gabica and double
world champion Ronato “Volcano”
Alcano.
BATA,
DJANGO, TWO OTHERS IN PREDATOR WORLD
10-BALL
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
MANILA,
PHILIPPINES---FRESH from their smashing
victory in the Philippines versus
Europe match, the deadly duo of Efren
“Bata” Reyes and Francisco
“Django” Bustamante will
be joined by Alex Pagulayan to lead
the Philippine charge at the Predator
World 10-Ball Championship, which
unfolds next month.
- Hide quoted text -
The
setting will be the Bankshot Billiards
Hall in Jacksonville, Florida on May
23 to 27 and will have the largest
foreign field ever attended in Florida's
strong billiard history. The invitational
event was limited to 96 invitees organize
by the Dragon Promotion outfits owned
by Korean-American Charlie “The
Dragon” Williams.
Reyes
(1999 Cardiff WPC champ), Bustamante
(2002 Cardiff WPC runner-up) and Pagulayan
(2004 Cardiff WP champ), the triumvirate
playing under the banner of RP billiards
patron Aristeo “Putch”
Puyat of Puyat Sports Stable will
be joined by reigning national open
champion and 39th All Japan Championships
ruler Lee Vann “The Slayer”
Corteza, who is the top player of
Negros Billiard Stable (NBS) of businessman/
sportsman Jonathan “Bacolod”
Sy.
Reyes
and Bustamante, long-time Pillar of
Philippine Billiards defeated Team
Europe which spearheaded by former
World Pool champions Mika “The
Iceman” Immonen of Finland and
Thorsten “The Hitman”
Hohmann of Germany in a special challenge
match dubbed as Philippines versus
Europe was held last April 18 at the
famous Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower,
California and also produce by the
Dragon Promotion outfits.
“Suwerte
lamang (We are just lucky).”
said Rolly “Lando” Vicente,
manager and child hood friend of Reyes
and his bosom buddy Bustamante in
a phone interview of this writer yesterday
regarding the triumph of Team Philippines
versus Team Europe.
The
42-years-old Bustamante, the former
world No.1 is also fresh from topping
the 5th Annual US Pro Tour Championship
last April 1 at the Normandie Casino
in Los Angeles, California. He bested
five-time world champion Johnny “The
Scorpion” Archer in the finals.
While
the 52-years-old Reyes, acknowledge
“The Magician” in world
of pool because of his acrobatic shot
is the over-all champion and adjudged
Master of the table in the 2007 Annual
Derby City Classic last January in
Louisville, Kentucky, the hometown
of world boxing champion legendary
Muhammad Ali.
Meanwhile,
over 20 countries will be represented
including players from Italy, Hong
Kong, Sweden, Netherlands, Russia,
Dominica, France, Canada, China, England,
Australia, Germany, Korea, Philippines,
Denmark, Puerto Rico, Spain, Japan,
Aruba, Curacao, Belgium, Guatamala,
Finland, and the USA in the forthcoming
Predator World 10-ball championships.
"We've
sponsored this event seven years now,
but we're more excited than ever before.
Going from 9-Ball to 10-ball, and
then from open to the World Championships
has been the right evolution. The
response on this World Championship
event has been beyond our expectations."
says Karim Belhaj, CEO of Predator
Products in a press release sent yesterday
to this writer from the Dragon Promotions
outfit.
Experienced
World Championship title competitors
in attendance include Hohmann, Immonen,
Archer and Ralf “Kaiser”
Souquet. Other vastly seasoned pros
include Charlie Williams of the USA,
Niels “The Terminator”
Fiejen of the Netherlands, Marcus
“The Napoleon” Chamat
of Sweden, Thomas “The Lean
Machine” Engert of Germany,
Raj Hundal of England, Luc Salvas
of Canada, and former world trickshot
kingpin Fabio Petroni of Italy.
First
timers for a World Championship event
include newbies Rob Saez of the USA,
Manuel Gama of Spain, Goh Takami of
Japan,Pil Hyun Cho of Korea, Craig
Rileyof England and John Morra of
Canada.
As
well as being the first ever World
10-Ball Championship in history, this
will be the first time a rotation
game World Championship will be held
on American soil since 1994.
"We
revived the World Straight Pool Championship
last year, and since then we've seen
a resurgence in the game all over
the world. Creating the first ever
World 10-Ball Championship, we feel
we will help promote the growth and
popularity of this game as well."
says Charlie Williams, Founder of
Dragon Promotions.
In
conjunction with the main event, there
will also be the 2nd Annual US Amateur
8-Ball & 9-Ball Open with Open,
Womens, and Seniors Divisions from
May 23-27, 2007. These events are
only open to amateurs and will not
allow pros,semi-pros,or top rated
amateurs. The Junior World 10-Ball
Championships with Girls and Boys
Divisions will be held May 26-27,2007.
For info on amateur events go to www.dragonpromotions.com
or email dpamateurevents@gmail.com.
Junior inquiries email world10ballchampionships@gmail.com
Predator
Products is based in Jacksonville,
Florida and produces the highest quality
and most technologically advanced
playing cues, break cues, jump cues,
and cases. More than 60% of the top
pros in the world on the men and women
tours use Predator technology in competition.
Dragon
Promotions is one of the leading producers
of billiard programming in the world
today. DP produces over 40 events
a year airing on networks in USA and
Korea including The World 14.1 Championship,
King of Carom, and Korea vs USA. Dragon
also manages some of the world's best
players including Thorsten Hohmann,
Mika Immonen, Rodney Morris, Yu Ram
Cha and many more. (MARLON BERNARDINO).
REYES
AND BUSTAMANTE BEATS FORMER WORLD POOL
CHAMPIONS TANDEM; PHILIPPINES VS EUROPE
MATCHES
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
First match: Team Europe beats Team
Philippines, 100-92, in a straight pool
match race-to-100
Second match: Team Philippines defeated
Team Europe, 3-1, in a bank pool race-to-3
Third match: Team Philippines edges
Team Europe, 7-6, in a scotch doubles
race-to-7
Team Philippines: Efren “Bata”
Reyes (Player), Francisco “Django”
Bustamante (Player), Rolly “Lando”
Vicente (Manager/ Coach), Aristeo “Putch”
Puyat (Philippine Billiards God Father/
Benefactor)
TEAM PHILIPPINES bannered by hall of
famer EFREN “Bata” Reyes
and his bosom buddy former world no.1
Francisco “Django” Bustamante
defeated Team Europe which spearheaded
by former World Pool champions Mika
“The Iceman” Immonen of
Finland and Thorsten “The Hitman”
Hohmann of Germany in a special challenge
match dubbed as Philippines versus Europe
being held recently at the famous Hard
Times Billiards in Bellflower, California
and produce by the Dragon Promotion
outfits headed by Korean-American Charlie
“The Dragon” Williams.
A
packed crowd of 200 fans had waited
since 2 hours prior to secure their
seats for the match. The match was
sponsored by Simonis Cloth and Predator
Cues.
The challenge began with Reyes, the
1999 World Pool champion and winner
of a marathon, three-day Race to 120
against American Earl Strickland in
Hong Kong for a winner-take-all prize
of $100,000 some years ago, facing
Hohmann in a straight pool match Race
to 100 in what Inside Pool described
as “a very tight and triple
shimmed table.”
In
an exciting, neck-to-neck battle,
the young German prevailed, 100-92,
over Reyes.
However,
Puyat sports stablemate Bustamante,
the pride of Tarlac City playing what
was categorized as ferocious pool,
won in a bank pool Race to 3 by a
3-1 score to even the count and set
up a Race to 7 Scotch doubles match.
Immonen
and Hohmann, both frequent Manila
visitor, combining well, raced to
a 6-3 lead and all seemed lost for
the Filipinos, before Immonen missed
an almost straight shot to pocket
the 9-ball and clinch the challenge
match, enabling Reyes and Bustamante,
top player of RP billiards patron
Aristeo “Putch” Puyat,
to claw back and tie the match at
6-6.
Inside
Pool said Hohmann made two great kick-shots
to outmaneuver Reyes and Bustamante,
who had previously played some wily
safeties. Then, disaster struck the
Europeans.
Hohmann
had a difficult long shot on the 2-ball
with the cue ball frozen to the rail
but even though he hit the shot with
near-perfect speed and accuracy, somehow,
the 2-ball failed to drop and hung
on the lip of the pocket.
Reyes
and Bustamante cleaned up the table
in alternate fashion to win the match
amid the thunderous cheers of the
Filipino fans with a nerved-wracking
7-6 victory.
The US tour campaign of Reyes and
Bustamante along with manager/ coach
Rolly “Lando” Vicente
is backed up by Aristeo “Putch”
Puyat, acknowledge God Father of Philippine
Billiards.
It shall be recalled that the tandem
of Reyes and Bustamante won the 2006
World Cup of Pool Scotch doubles 9-ball
crown held at the Newport Centre in
South Wales, England. The duo take
home the top prize $60,000 after beating
American team led by Strickland and
Rodney “Rocket” Morris
in the finals.
Bustamante is fresh from winning the
UPA Pro Tour Championships recently
in Los Angeles, California after demolishing
five-time world champion Johnny “The
Scorpion” Archer, also from
the United States in the finals. While
Reyes is the over-all champion and
adjudge Master of the table in the
2007 Annual Derby City Classic last
January in Louisville, Kentucky, the
hometown of world boxing champion
legendary Muhammad Ali.(MARLON BERNARDINO).
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
04-27-07
DOUBLE
WORLD CHAMP ALCANO VYING WORLD POOL
MASTERS
BY: MARLON BERNARDINO
REIGNING double world champion (WPA
9-ball and WPA 8-ball ruler) Ronato
“Volcano” Alcano opens his
bid in the 2007 PartyPoker.net World
Pool Masters against former world trick
shot ruler Fabio Petroni of Italy as
he carry Filipino hopes in the elite
9-ball event which slated on June 8-10
at the Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan
Zee, in Holland.
The 34-years-old lanky cue artist
Alcano from Calamba City, Laguna is
fresh from a quarter-finals finish
in the inauguration of 2007 Guinness
9-ball tour was held last week at
the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“Busy tayo sa mga susunod na
buwan, marami tayong imbitasyon (I’am
busy in the next month, I had a lot
of invitation.” said the former
AZ Billiards Rookie of the Year Alcano.
A part of his preparation in the oversees
event is consistent playing money
game against compatriot reigning national
open champ Lee Vann “The Slayer”
Corteza at the Bugsy Lair’s
pool house in Quezon City. The 28-years-old
Corteza, top player of Negros Billiard
Stable (NBS) beat Alcano in the last
eight of the Jakarta leg of Guinness
9-ball tour in a nerve wracking 9-8
victory for the Davao cue wizard.
Alcano, top player of Bugsy promotion
also had an invitation to play in
the second leg of Guinness 9-ball
tour on May 18 to 20 in Kaohsiung,
Taipei.
On the other hand, Alcano and Corteza,
both also invited to play in the tough
$50,000 winner-take all International
Challenge of Champions on August 8
to 9 at the Mohegan Suns Casino in
Unscasville, Connecticut in USA.
Meanwhile, defending champion Ralf
“Kaiser” Souquet of Germany
takes on David Alcaide of Spain. Souquet
who is eyeing his sixth master crown
defeated Filipino-Canadian Alex “The
Lion” Pagulayan, 8-4, in the
finals of last edition.
In other marquee matches in the first
round of World Pool Masters: Naoyuki
Oi of Japan vs Oliver “The Machine”
Ortmann of Germany; Li He-wen of China
vs Pat Holtz of Scotland; Imran Majid
of England vs Niels “Terminator”
Feijen of the Netherlands; Wu Chia-ching
of Chinese-Taipei vs Tyler Edey of
Canada; Tony “Tornado”
Drago of Malta vs Thomas Engert of
Germany and Nick van den Berg of the
Netherlands vs lone female invited
Jasmin Ouschan of Austria.
The Masters, which is one of the most
prestigious pool events of the year’s
offers a total pot prize $62,000 and
the winner will pocket the lion share
of $20,000, while those that lose
in the opening round will collect
$1,500.
Each match will be played in a race-to-eight,
alternate break format and there will
be a 45-second shot-clock with the
loser of every tie eliminated.
by:
Marlon Bernardino -
04-27-07
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