Alex Pagulayan: Alex Pagulayan

Personal Background

Achievements:

Trivia:

Early days

Pagulayan's parents emigrated to Canada when he was 15 years old. His father managed a pool hall, so Pagulayan's exposure to the game came early. Though he was attracted to others sports, he thought his stature may not have been right. "I like a lot of sports, but with pool, you don't have to be physically tough. His main hotspot was the pool call "Loma's".

Professional career

Pagulayan also has expertise in the pocket billiards game of snooker, and his capabilities enabled his Philippines team to win the Snooker Gold Medal at the 2005 SEA Games (held in Manila, Philippines) with teammates Joven Alba and Leonardo Andam. After the team's 3–2 win against Thailand at the Makati Coliseum, Pagulayan emerged as a triple Gold Medalist.

Very skilled players in nine-ball have the tendency to sometimes pocket four or even five balls on the break. Pagulayan in the first rack of the semi-finals in the 2004 BCA Open, sank six balls on the break, two-thirds of the entire rack. (But note that Rodolfo Luat also performed a similar feat in a Japanese tournament.) Pagulayan's break did not include the 9 ball, and despite the six ball advantage, he lost that game (to fellow countryman Santos Sambajon).

In 2002, Pagulayan made it to finals of the US Open Nine-ball Championship, but was defeated by Ralf Souquet, 11–13. Three years later, he got another shot for the US Open Nine-ball Championship title and won it, defeating Jose Parica in the finals, 11–6.

In 2003, Pagulayan went on the road in the United States with Canadian pool player Ronnie Wiseman to compete in pocket billiard tournaments. They both scored a double victory at the Carolinas Open at Fast Eddie's in Goldsboro, North Carolina, with Wiseman winning the one-pocket tournament and Pagulayan winning the nine-ball event. Later in 2003, Pagulayan reached the finals of the World Nine-ball Championship. Unfortunately, he was bested by Thorsten Hohmann 10-17.

In 2004 in Taipei, Taiwan, Pagulayan captured the prestigous World Pool Championship title, representing Canada. The score was a 17–13 victory over Pei-wei Chang in the finals.
In 2006, Pagulayan won the first national championship of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of Philippines (BSCP), besting Gandy Valle in the finals and earning P1,000,000 (US$20,639).

Not many pool players in the Philippines excel at or even play straight pool. For a number of years, Efren Reyes was the only Filipino player known to have made runs of 100 or more. However, at an demonstration match at the 2006 Derby City Classic in Kentucky, Pagulayan made a high run of 130, the second-highest of the event. This makes him the second Filipino player known to have run 100 balls in straight pool in controlled competition.

In 2007, won the World Summit of Pool nine-ball championship held at the Riviera Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. American Shane Van Boening defeated Pagulayan earlier in the event, 11–4, but the veteran Pagulayan came back from the losing bracket of the double-elimination tournament chart by beating fellow countrymen Francisco Bustamante and Warren Kiamco, only to face Van Boening in the final round. The semi-finals as well as the final matches were recorded by ESPN for future broadcast, and the final match between Pagulayan and Van Boening was a race to 7. Pagulayan shot out with a strong lead, 4–1, but Van Boening managed to tie the score at 5–5. However, after Pagulayan three-fouled him, resulting in a loss of game for Van Boening, Pagulayan advanced forward and captured the title in the final game, ending the match at 7–5.

Personal life

Despite his 2004 relocation to the Philippines, Pagulayan still officially has a mailing address in Canada. In March 2007, when asked where he resides in a Pool Billiards News interview, Pagulayan jokingly replied, "My suitcase. Yes. That's where I live right now – out of my suitcase!"

Alex Pagulayan