Foreign cue artists main draw in World 10-Ball

Organizers of the World 10-Ball Championships are banking on a host of foreign cue artists to be the main draw in the week-long tournament, which will be missing the country’s top pool players.

A total of 128 players will vie for the $400,000 purse at stake, $100,000 of which goes to the champion of the tournament slated from September 29 to October 5 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Raya Sports and Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) president Yen Makabenta said former Asian snooker champion Marlon Manalo and 2006 Doha Asian Games gold medalist Antonio Gabica will lead the country’s campaign against reigning World 9-Ball champion Daryl Peach of Great Britain, former titlists Ralf Souquet and Thomas Engert of Germany, Chinese-Taipei’s Wu Chia-Ching and Americans Johnny Archer and Shane Van Boening.

Jeffrey de Luna, Elvis Calasang, Elmer Kalaquian, Jerico Banares and Mario Tolentino will also carry the Philippine colors in the tournament.

The tournament will have 128 players divided into 16 groups in the winner's-break elimination format. The top four from each group will advance into the 64-man knockout stage.

A winner-take-all match for third place will be played on October 5 while the title match between the top two cue artists begins at 5pm.

Philippine Vice President Noli De Castro will be the tournament’s guest of honor during the opening ceremony on September 29 at the PICC.

Cash-rich World 10-Ball set at PICC

Its all systems go for the 2008 World 10-Ball Championships with no less than Vice President Noli de Castro as guest of honor in the inaugural opening at the Philippine International Convention Center on Sept. 29.

De Castro will grace the opening rites at 9:30 a.m. including the ceremonial breaks, which will formally usher the group stage elimination of the competition.

A total of 128 players from all over the world representing 40 countries will be vying for the total purse of $400,000 with $100,000 going to the champion.

“This is going to be the biggest international billiards tournament in the country since I believe the World 9-Ball Championship has been postponed for next year. Mabibigat ang mga darating na players dito,” said Raya Sports president Yen Makabenta.

Makabenta mentioned the likes of reigning world 9-ball champion Daryl Peach of Great Britain, former titlists Ralf Souquet and Thomas Engert of Germany, Chinese-Taipei’s Wu-Chia-Ching and Americans Johnny Archer and Shane Van Boening as among the top picks in the tourney.

The host country will be bannered by former Asian snooker champion Marlon Manalo, Doha Asian Games gold medalist Antonio Gabica, Jeffrey de Luna, Elvis Calasang, Elmer Kalaquian, Jerico Banares and Mario Tolentino.

However, organizers are still uncertain if the country’s celebrated cue artists can join the competition.

“It would be good if everybody would take part. But if they don’t we can’t do anything about it,” added Makabenta obviously referring to big guns Efren “Bata” Reyes, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Ronato Alcano and Alex Pagulayan, who comprised the breakaway group that boycotted the BSCP.

In the absence of some of the country’s bests, Makabenta said it’s just anybody’s game.

The tournament will group the players into 16, seeing action in the winner’s break elimination, with the top four from each group advancing into the 64-man knockout stage.

A winner-take-all match for third place will be played during the final day, preceding the championship game that begins at 5 p.m.

World 9-Ball tourney won't happen in Manila in November

Matchroom Sport has told world pool officials that it will not stage the World 9-Ball Pool Championship (WPC) in Manila this November since it failed to get sponsors for the event, information reaching abs-cbnNEWS.com said Wednesday.

"The Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) claim that the WPC would be held in Manila was just talk," the text message said.

According to Matchroom, it hopes to revive the WPC early next year. A check on the Matchroom Web site (http://matchroomsport.com) provided a November 1-9 date for the WPC. However, it said that the venue was "to be confirmed."

In a related development, Manila-based sports analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz was able get a reaction from Matchroom media director Luke Riches regarding the event's postponement. “The WPC is not dead yet. But most likely it will be early 2009 [when it will be staged again]," Nathanielsz quoted Riches as saying.

Reached for comment, Perry Mariano, one of the founders of the BMPAP, said that he has yet to be informed of Riches' statement. He clarified that as of last report, the WPC merely lost its venue after Senate President Manuel Villar backed out as one of the event's main sponsors. "We got 50 percent but the other 50 percent, was supposed to come from Senator Villar. So nawala ang 50 percent," Mariano told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

Mariano, however, clarified that they are doing everything they can to follow-up the pledges from potential sponsors so that the WPC will take place as scheduled.

Despite Villar's withdrawal of support, Mariano said nothing is final yet. "We're still trying to convince the senator pero siyempre hindi na kamukha noon," he said, adding that politics may have been the main reason behind Villar's withdrawal. At any rate, Mariano said, "it's still Villar's money." "Pera niya 'yon. Wala pa siyang pinipirmahan. Hanggang walang dokumentong pirmado, everything is in limbo," Mariano said.

The WPC held in Manila last year saw England's Daryl Peach beating hometown hero Roberto Gomez, 17-15, in the finals.

Previous Filipino winners of the WPC were Efren “Bata” Reyes (1994), Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan (2005) and Ronnie "The Volcano" Alcano (2006).